Monkey Bread

 
I love having a special breakfast on Saturdays.  I’ve been on a major French toast kick lately, but I didn’t have a chance to make the challah for that this week (now that I know how to make my own challah [post coming soon], I am unwilling to pay $5 for a loaf of it at the store!).  So I was looking through my recipe binder the other night, trying to find a breakfast item that sounded appealing.  This Cook’s Country/Cook’s Illustrated recipe jumped out at me!  Then I saw that it had two 1-hour rises involved.  Hm.  Not ideal for a Saturday morning, but not a complete deal-breaker.  I remembered that Deb at Smitten Kitchen had done one not too long ago, and wondered if hers was quicker, so I went a-looking for it – only to find that she’d used the same recipe!  Well.  I decided to go for it – I printed the recipe back in February 2005, so it had been languishing in my binder for far too long.


I’m so glad I made it – yes, we didn’t get to eat it till 10:30am, but it was WORTH IT.  Mine didn’t rise as much as it was supposed to, but the finished product was scrumptious so I don’t really care. 


I had some leftover cream cheese frosting in the fridge, so instead of making a whole new glaze I just melted that down and stirred some more milk into it – it worked great.  I think next time I make this for just the three of us, I’ll halve the recipe and bake it in my small bundt pan.  It reheats beautifully, but I don't really need this kind of temptation lying around!


Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze
From Cook’s Illustrated/Cook’s Country, and Smitten Kitchen.