Quick and Easy Pull Apart Monkey Bread

Pull Apart Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread

I woke up this morning knowing that as of tomorrow, the whole family is back on the straight-and-narrow of healthier eating.  We have one day left of (over)-indulging in too much sugar, fat, too much anything that doesn't eat us first.  So of course we needed an ooey, gooey breakfast to set the tone for the rest of the day. 

A couple of years ago, I did a regular and sugar-free version of a personal sized (or maybe for two) cinnamon sugar pull apart bread, better known as monkey bread.  Today I wanted a full-sized version, so I looked at a couple of recipes on the internet and warped them together into this:

Ingredients:

• 4 tubes of refrigerated biscuit dough (these are the small, inexpensive tubes, 10 biscuits each)
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1-2 t cinnamon
• 3/4 c butter, melted
• brown sugar
• pecan pieces

Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Grease or cooking spray a bundt or tube pan.  Sprinkle a few chopped pecans in the bottom of the pan (when inverted, this will be the top of the bread.  Roll each biscuit in the cinnamon sugar mixture, and place in the pan.  Every couple of rows, or layers, I sprinkled a handful of brown sugar and a few nuts, then drizzled some melted butter over it.  When I had placed all of the biscuits, I poured the remaining cinnamon sugar and then the rest of melted butter all over the top layer, then baked for about 30 minutes.  I started off with the oven around 375, but the top started to get too brown, so I reduced the oven temp to around 300-325.  Let cool for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Mine stuck in one place, but we just dug it out and stuck it on top for the picture!  This was good, but I would do one thing different next time--some of the middle biscuits were dry-ish, so next time I'll roll every biscuit in melted butter, then cinnamon sugar.  That's what I did when I made the mini monkey breads, but I was afraid on a big one that it might be too much or too soggy.  But face it--this isn't something you're going to have every day, so when you do make it--make it good!

This recipe is linked to:

Recipe Box at Bizzy Bakes
Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

Sugar Free Sunday--Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Earlier this week I made a yummy personal-pan-sized cinnamon pull-apart bread as part of a review of Pillsbury frozen Mini Grands biscuits, but it was so good, it deserves a post of it's own.

Ingredients:

• 2 T butter, melted
• 2 T sugar
• 1 t cinnamon
• pecans
• 6 frozen Pillsbury Mini Grands biscuits

Spray an oven-proof with cooking spray, then throw in a few pecans. Dip the biscuits first in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture and place in bowl. Add a few more nuts, and pour the leftover butter and cinnamon mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until the biscuits are firm to the touch. (you won't be able to tell from browning because of the cinnamon.) Invert onto a plate.

This was so very delicious, I have to admit, I ate the whole thing myself, although not at one sitting (it was two sittings).

Then this weekend, since I had about a dozen of the cute little mini-biscuits left, I decided to try a sugar-free version, as well.


Ingredients:

• 4 T butter, melted
• 4 T Splenda (or sugar if you don't need/want sugar-free)
• 2 t cinnamon
• 12 Pillsbury frozen Mini Grands biscuits
• chopped pecans (I didn't measure)

Just as in the regular version of this I made earlier this, I melted the butter in a small bowl, and mixed the Splenda and cinnamon in another. After spraying a load pan with cooking spray, I sprinkled in a handful of nuts. Dip the frozen mini biscuits first in melted butter, then roll in Splenda-cinnamon mixture, then place in the loaf pan. The leftover cinnamon mixture and melted butter I poured over the top, then added anther handful of chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until the biscuits are firm to the touch. Invert onto a serving plate.

This was pretty good, but I have to admit--the one I made using sugar was better. The sugar-free version was good if you haven't had sugar in a while, but I've been pretty hit-or-miss with my sugar intake lately, so having both in the same week may have disturbed my taste buds just a wee little bit. I thought the sugar-free version was a little drier, and not as sweet tasting. Splenda dissolves much quicker and more thoroughly in liquid than sugar does--so it works well in many things, like the ice-box pickles I made this year. And in baking, you definitely need to follow the package directions and add additional powdered milk and baking powder to make up for the bulk and other that sugar adds. But it also doesn't melt the same as sugar, either, hence the drier result, and it doesn't candy-fy. Yes, yes, I know that this is not a technical term, but I don't know what else to call it. So I think this particular recipe, the sugar-free version at least, would be better with some additional moisture. Not butter--but maybe a little evaporated milk? Hmmm. I'll have to think about that. Any suggestions?

Meanwhile, I'd love to have you link any sugar free recipes or product reviews that you may have.

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

This post is linked to:
Recipe Swap Sunday at Remodelaholic
Just Something I Whipped Up at the Girl Creative
Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
This Week's Cravings From My Tiny Kitchen

Pillsbury Mini Grands Biscuits--Review, Recipe, and a Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed!

As a member of My Blog Spark, I had a chance once again to review a great product, as well as a giveaway to share.

Pillsbury and My Blog Spark sent me a coupon good for a free bag of frozen Pillsbury Mini Grands Biscuits, a bread basket, butter dish and spreader, and a $15 Visa gift card to buy any additional ingredients I may want to use with the biscuits.

I first tried the biscuits alone...

...or to be honest--smothered in butter and fresh fruit spread or honey. I bought a new bottle of local honey and it was so good on these fresh made hot biscuits. And since I'm home alone most of the time during the week, I really enjoyed being able to bake just as few (or as many!) as I wanted with no extra or leftovers to deal with.

I think these bite sized biscuits would be perfect to serve at a holiday brunch, or maybe to kids to tend to enjoy "kid-sized" foods. Or you could even make this yummy "goodie" that I came up with...

Ingredients:

• 6 Pillsbury frozen Mini Grands biscuits
• 2 T butter or margarine, melted
• 2 T sugar
• 1 t cinnamon
• handful of pecans

In a individual sized oven-proof bowl, greased or sprayed with cooking spray, throw in about 6-8 pecan halves. You can use chopped pecans if you have them--halves were all I had already open, and I didn't want to dirty up the chopper for just these few, so I just used halves. Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl or on a saucer. Dip each frozen mini-biscuit in melted butter, turning to coat, then roll in sugar cinnamon mixture, and place in the oven-proof bowl. Sprinkle a a few nuts on top or between the biscuits. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Regular mini-biscuits are ready in about 20 minutes, but I allowed some extra time because of the way these were stacked on top of each other. I checked them more by feel than anything else, since I couldn't tell from browning. Cover with a small inverted plate/saucer, then flip the whole thing over and gently lift the bowl off.

The only thing better than the way this looked is the way it tasted--delicious! And because I used the mini biscuits, I could make as much, or as little, as I needed.

And now for the giveaway---Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark will give one lucky reader the same prize package I received--bread basker, butter dish and spreader, $15 Visa giftcard, and coupon for a free package of Pillsbury frozen Mini Grands biscuits.

To enter, just leave your information on the entry form below. The form will stay active until Monday, November 8th, at 12:00 noon. The winner will be chosen at random and notified via email.

Giveaway is now closed--winner will be announced shortly!

Be sure to check back next week, I have several more great giveaways lined up!

Until next time, good cooking, and good eating!

(The opinion stated is that of my own)