Semi-Homemade Monkey Bread

Well, hello raisin and walnut! Welcome to the party!

Lo and behold - the Monkey Bread. This was my first time to try this delicious bread, and I loved the oooey gooey sticky goodness. The monkey bread pictured above was actually my mother-in-law's. She brought it to a school breakfast several weeks ago, and it was gone faster than I can say "save me some more!"

 
To eat monkey bread, you have to pull it apart using your hands. That is why some people call it "Pull-Apart Bread." Aside from those two names I mentioned, they are also called sticky loaf, pinch-me cake, golden crown, bubble loaf, and monkey brains. Now the last one kinda' gave me the creeps - I would hate to think that the delicious thing that I so eagerly ate would actually be brains. 

But there's still something gnawing at me - why MONKEY, of all animals? Surely, there has to be a logical answer, right?

Well, thank you Google for telling me the answer. Actually, I looked at several websites and found a number of explanations. 

Some said that the act of pulling it before eating resembles monkey behavior (although I have never seen a monkey pull apart a banana!). Others said that it requires a good amount of "monkeying around" to prepare the dough (this won't happen in this recipe because I am using pre-packaged dough!).

The one I am most inclined to believe in is that baked monkey bread resembles the monkey puzzle tree. So judging from the picture below, what do you think?

Monkey Puzzle Tree bark Picture Credit

This recipe is adapted from the Pillsbury website. Yet again, it is semi-homemade because we used pre-packaged biscuit dough. Trust me, you would want to make this as quick as possible so you can get your hands on those sticky morsels of yumminess! 


 What you need: 

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury Grands! refrigerated buttermilk biscuit
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon


What to do: 

Heat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a fluted pan (or Bundt pan) with butter or cooking spray. In a large resealable bag (like ziploc), mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Remove the dough from the cans. Separate them, and slice each biscuit into quarters. Place all the pieces in the resealable bag and shake well, making sure that each piece is covered with cinnamon sugar.

Arrange the pieces in the pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and melted butter. Pour this mixture over the biscuit pieces.

Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate, serve warm.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. Raisins and walnuts are optional in this recipe. (I recommend it, though)
2. Pecans (or your favorite kind of nuts) can also be used for this recipe.
3. Add a tablespoon of vanilla to the sugar-butter mixture to give it some depth.