Monkey Bread
Growing up in my household, there were a few recipes that my dad would make with us kids on a regular basis. Monkey Bread was always a Sunday morning favorite. It really helps to have some extra hands around when it comes to all the cutting and coating in sugar that is required. I think this recipe is the single reason why you could always find a 4 pack of Pillsbury biscuits in the fridge growing up.
I made this when Hubby’s siblings were in town and we all enjoyed the sugary sweetness just as much as I remember from my childhood. I later found out that my younger siblings back home made it that day as well since I had to call home to get the recipe.
Since this was the first time I’ve made Monkey Bread without the help of my Dad, I did overcook the syrup a bit. It caramelized more than it should. You really want it to be a gooey sticky mess gooing out of the bread. But even the more caramelized version was delicious.
One year ago – Tomatoes Stuffed with Salmon Dill Dip
Monkey Bread – recipe from my Dad – no idea where it originally comes from
4 cans Pillsbury biscuit (get the kind that come in a 4 pack, the small ones, not the Grands)
Sugar coating:
2/3 brown sugar – I was running low on brown sugar, so I used 1/3 cup white and 1/3 cup brown
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Syrup topping:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350. Spray your angel food cake or bundt pan.
Mix the sugar coating in a ziplock bag (feel free to add more cinnamon and/or sugar if you run out during the coating process). Cut the biscuits into 4 (kitchen shears work great for this). Drop the biscuit pieces into the ziplock bag and shake to coat. Drop coated biscuit pieces into the prepared pan.
Bring syrup ingredients to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then pour over biscuit pieces. Bake for 35 minutes.
Turn over onto plate and serve while hot.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Looks like these turned out great! I’m surprised they didn’t call for brushing some egg on top of the biscuits before cooking, that might get that top a little crispier…I totally want to make some of these Saturday morning.
These look very good to me. I have a favorite biscuit recipe, but want to give these a try because of the buttermilk.
Have been following your blog for a while. Nice blog!
I agree Steph. Or maybe just melted butter to give it the color.
If you want to compare even more recipes from many of the popular sites, take a look at RecipeComparison.com. Just search for “buttermilk biscuits” and you’ll see all the ingredients nicely laid out in a table with a link to jump directly to each recipe.
I worked at a KFC in the mid-90s. I had privy to the ingredients lists and methods. The biscuits came frozen and had egg in the dough. We brushed the tops after baking with butter-flavored oil that is commonly used in the restaurant industry. I remember thinking that the egg was unusual; I hadn’t seen many biscuit recipes calling for egg, and I have been baking since I was 8.
kfc.com does not list eggs in their food allergy listing for the biscuits, just an fyi
I, too, worked at a KFC when I was a teenager. The biscuits were not frozen. It was a bag mix and we mixed it with a large tub of shortening. Then mixed, rolled, cut and baked. We topped with a “liquid butter” substance fresh from the oven. They may make them frozen now, but they didn’t in the early 90’s.
Oh, and there are NO eggs in the mix. Otherwise, it would be a cake, not a biscuit. That is common baking “science”.