Monkey Bread

My friend Hayley told me a while back about Monkey Bread. Surprisingly, I had never heard of it, so of course I had to know what it was and when I could have it. We tried all summer to get together to make monkey bread and finally did. It was then that my life changed forever.

Isn't it weird when someone introduces something new to you that you have never heard of, and then within a week within learning that new something you all of a sudden hear about this thing you have never heard of at least 5 more times? That might not make sense when you read that, so here is an example. I had never heard of monkey bread until Hayley told me about it. That was at the beginning of the summer. Then, the rest of the summer i saw mixes for monkey bread everywhere, got sent a recipe for monkey bread in one of my daily recipe emails, and had other people mention monkey bread. What are the odds that after all this time of never knowing about monkey bread that all of a sudden monkey bread was everywhere? Get it? Okay, so on to the monkey bread. I have heard there are different ways to make monkey bread, but this one is just perfect.

Here's what you need: biscuits, melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Now, I don't have exact measurements for you, but I'm pretty sure if you are going to be eating monkey bread, you aren't exactly concerned with calories at the time, so I say just go with what looks good. You start off by cutting each uncooked biscuit into quarters. Then you dip each piece of biscuit into the melted butter, being sure to soak it completely. Finally, you should mix together cinnamon and sugar in a bowl until it looks like a good balance, and you dip each biscuit soaked in butter into the cinnamon sugar mixture until it is fully coated. You should put each coated piece of biscuit into a baking dish. Okay, this is why I am not a recipe writer. My directions are out of order, and I don't have measurements. My goal is to be a food critic, not a recipe writer, so bear with me. I'm 99% sure that this recipe is fool proof. Just go with your gut and make adjustments as you see fit. So, each biscuit piece should cover the bottom of a baking dish. I have been told not to make a second layer because it causes the pieces to be unevenly cooked, so if you are using more than one packet of biscuits or have too many, you can use another small pan, or put all the pieces into a larger dish. Once the bottom of the dish is covered, if you're not already wondering how in the world you will ever work off this wonderfulness, I suggest pouring the excess butter, cinnamon, and sugar over the top. It adds to the experience. Now, I am not sure what the oven should be set at, but 350 degrees always seems to be a safe bet. (And I'm losing my credibility by the millisecond....) Whenever we baked monkey bread, I asked how long, and was told to just kind of watch it, but approximately anywhere from 20-25 minutes. You want the biscuits to be cooked, but you still want everything to be a soft gooey mess, or at least I do. Some people may prefer to have no gooeyness. Tada!

Delicious, huh? Can you think of a better combination of ingredients? It's like a cinnamon roll without the icing, but it's so divine that you don't even need icing. (This coming from the girl, who usually just eats icing off cakes) I also recommend to not even bother with getting individual plates. Just grab a spoon/fork, and dig in. Also, you might as well finish all of it. Here's the way I see it. You have already ruined your diet for the day, so you might as well ruin it completely by finishing the stuff. You know you want to, and besides if you let it sit for later, it will just harden and not be nearly as delicious the next time you eat it. Just trust me on this. Carpe Diem!