American•indulgent

Monkey Bread

If you're looking for an easy, absolute knockout dessert, try making the buttery, caramelized, pull-apart cinnamon loaf known as Monkey Bread.

Ingredients

Quantities are shown as originally provided.

1 cup salted butter ($2.40)
1 cup brown sugar ($0.45)
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream ($0.55)
2 tsp cinnamon ($0.04)
1/2 tsp vanilla ($0.36)
2 cans biscuit dough, 16 oz each* ($3.38)

1
Set a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat it to 375°F. Set a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and reserve the wrappers. The butter will melt, foam, and then the milk solids will caramelize into light golden-brown specks, creating brown butter. Using a light-colored pan will help you see the color change as the butter browns.*
2
Add the brown sugar to the pan.
3
Whisk until the brown sugar has completely incorporated with the brown butter and is no longer crystallized. It will form a caramel.
4
Take the pan off the heat and add the cream. Whisk until it has completely incorporated into the caramel.
5
Whisk in the vanilla and the cinnamon.
6
Grease a Bundt pan with the butter wrappers. Add more butter if necessary. While the caramel cools, quarter each of the sixteen biscuits.
7
Dip each biscuit piece into the cooled caramel, then layer it in the Bundt pan.*
8
Top the Monkey Bread with any remaining caramel.
9
Bake at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top of the Monkey Bread springs back when touched.
10
Allow the loaf to cool before inverting it onto a serving dish.