Monkey Bread

Monkey bread is one of those breakfast foods that really screams 'dessert'...but everyone looks the other way when it's placed on the breakfast table because it's too good to pass up.

In case you don't know what monkey bread is, I'll just say now that it has nothing to do with monkeys: it is basically composed of balls of sweet dough dipped in butter, rolled in cinnamon-sugar, and baked in a bundt pan after being drenched in more butter and sugar.

This is why we only eat it once a year...

...only on that day that is so special and anything flies, including dessert for breakfast, do we eat monkey bread. Christmas Eve we roll the dough balls, and Christmas morning it is a simple thing to pour the butter and brown sugar glaze on and pop it in the oven while everyone gathers around the Christmas tree.

I don't remember when we first started having monkey bread every Christmas, but it's a Christmas tradition that I love now. When we were little, we used to jump on helping make the monkey bread. I loved popping open the cans of biscuits, extracting the squishy dough, and forming it into little round balls for someone to roll in the cinnamon-sugar. Then in the oven, the magic happened: the balls of dough poofed up and the cinnamon sugar (or so I thought—it was actually the brown sugar-butter mixture) became a caramely, sugary crust. I could barely wait until it cooled enough to eat, and as soon as possible I would tear off the pieces with the most caramelized sugar and pop them in my mouth. Years later, I still love making monkey bread—and now I have found the perfect recipe.

For the past several years we have lived in foreign countries, so we haven't been able to use the usual canned biscuits to make it a super simple meal. Instead, we used a sweet dough recipe—but I felt that the recipe could be even better. So this year, I jumped in before anyone could even blink, and suggested trying this recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. Based on previous experience with her recipes, I knew that the monkey bread would come out good, but I didn't know just how incredibly finger-licking good it would turn out to be! (And finger-lick you must because monkey bread is too good to waste a bit—plus you don't want sticky gifts, do you?)

No matter how many pieces of monkey bread I eat (that's code for A LOT), there always seems to be enough for everyone and we end up with extras.

See? Plenty for my breakfast on boxing day (that's December 26 to you Americans).

Tearing pieces off, my family thought it was a little under-baked at 30 minutes—on the other hand, I just sank into my chair with a happy smile on my face; I thought that it was perfectly soft and delicious, melting in my mouth, mesmerizing me into taking more and more.

We skipped the glaze on our monkey bread because it was plenty rich and sugary without it! However, if used, the glaze would definitely make the monkey bread taste like (my idea of) the perfect cinnamon roll.

This monkey bread is a real treat—warm, sticky, and delicious, melting in your mouth in a perfect blend of cinnamon and sugar.

Monkey Bread

Serves: 6-7 people

Notes:
This recipe can be made using biscuits (I have not tested this, but it should work–please comment on this post about your experiences if you try this method with this recipe).
Replace the dough with 3 cans of buttermilk biscuits (non-flaky). Skip all rising of the dough. Open cans of biscuits and cut each round into quarters. Dip in butter (optional), coat in cinnamon-sugar, pour on topping, and bake; make and pour on vanilla glaze (optional).
The Pioneer Woman has a great recipe using biscuits.

Recipe adapted from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/06/30/homemade-monkey-bread-aka-cinnamon-roll-bites/

Pink Peppermint Snowcaps

Even after eating way too much food on Thanksgiving (and afterwards, thank you leftovers), I was ready to get down to Christmas decorating on the weekend. Our four nativity scenes went up (yes, four, you read that right), the stockings were hung, the tree was trimmed—and while I was helping put up our favorite ornaments, I was also starting off the Christmas baking.

Peppermint is my favorite Christmas flavor—well, peppermint and chocolate, really. They were just made to go together. Maybe that’s why when someone says “Christmas cookies”, these Pink Peppermint Snowcaps are one of the first two cookies that come to mind (the others are Swedish pepparkokker). Of course, I can never remember their name and just end up trying to describe their yumminess instead, but ultimately failing to do them justice. Anyway, for as long as I can remember, at Christmastime these cookies have been around at my house.

I don’t know about you, but I like to lick the spatula spotless. And since these were peppermint cookies—and, as I have already explained, that is my favorite Christmas flavor—I was happily licking away at a spatula covered in pink, ooey-gooey, peppermint flavored yumminess, dancing away to Christmas music. But then I realized it.
You know what I’m talking about—IT. That cookies have raw eggs...usually this wouldn’t concern me (what’s two raw eggs if I only eat a spoonful of the batter?), but this was no normal cookie dough. This was raw MERINGUE, which is, in its very essence, raw eggs!!! After realizing this, I poked my tongue out for one last guilty little lick, then dutifully, but sorrowfully, put down the spatula.

A few days later, I’m still alive, but, even if I had died, death by peppermint cookie doesn’t sound too bad—I mean, it could have been worse (death by raw salmon? no thank you, Russia).

I’m glad I survived, though…it finally snowed this week! While Michigan has already had three snow days, Russia has barely had a flake of snow in the same time. Hopefully it won’t be a repeat of last year’s rather pathetic winter. After all, I’ve only ever thought of Russia as snowy – insanely snowy (before moving here, that is). Maybe Russia will live up to the stereotype this year!

In the meantime, you need to make these cookies—before you get buried in gift wrapping.

Pink Peppermint Snowcaps
Makes: 24

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
dash of salt
red or green food coloring*
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 225ºF. Prepare a baking sheet by covering with parchment paper.
2. Beat egg whites, peppermint, cream of tartar, and salt until soft peaks form.
3. Add food coloring until mixture turns the desired shade of pink or green.
4. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.
5. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag and squeeze teaspoon-sized amounts of batter onto prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until dry but not brown. Turn oven off and allow meringues to remain in the closed oven for a few more hours until completely cool.

*gel food coloring is preferable—liquid food coloring works as well (about 7-8 drops), but it may cause the meringue to be liquidy, so that peaks will not form as well.