Comfort Food 101: Monkeybread

Today was another lackluster day as I wait in this interminable holding pattern before the start of the new semester. I feel terrible, feel like I look terrible, and am generally miserable. What better way to remind myself there’s simple joys and easy comfort to be had than through the magic of butter?!

Little did I know, some people out there in this spectacular universe of ours are ignorant of the happiness a quarter pound of butter and some cinnamon can bring you, at least until you try to put on pants.

My gift to you, Internet, is the easiest possible monkey bread recipe ever made.

Get your stuff:

A whole stick of butter(1/2 cup)
A cup or so of sugar
Several teaspoons of Cinnamon
1 Tube of biscuits, any kind
A round or square baking dish maybe 9 inches, maybe 8, whatever, it doesn’t matter

Do some stuff:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 or so
Melt your butter in a bowl
Mix up the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl or on a paper plate or your          kids Batman sandwich caddy
Pop open those tasty biscuits and arrange everything nicely to take a picture

Now the fun starts. Prepare yourself. Wash your hands again, put a few paper towels under your work area, try saying a few things with a heavy drawl to really get into the spirit of things.

Dunk a biscuit in the butter, then slap it into the cinnamon and sugar mix. Toss it around a few times until coated, and plop it into the baking dish. Do this until the dish is too full, mushing them aside until every morsel of goodness is nuzzling in a bed of buttery, sugary joy. There should just be enough room in an 8 inch round pie dish to get 7 around and one in the middle, making a lovely flower shape that will look great on Instagram.

The next part is a trade secret that I’m going to share with you because I trust you, gentle Internet.

That dish with the cinnamon and sugar? Just pour all your left over butter on in there and make a syrup. Pour that over the petals of this glorious cinnamon flower, drenching every crevice with buttery magic. Scrape the sides. Smush it into the cracks. Don’t lick your fingers, that’s gross – go wash your hands. 

Into the oven it goes for about as long as an episode of Gallivant on Hulu. Your house should smell like joy and hugs from Grandma when it’s perfectly cooked. Or about 25 minutes, letting the sugar on top start to caramelize just the tiniest bit.

Let it cool off a minute before digging one out of the dish with a fork and eating it over the sink while making animal noises. This is the traditional eating method, but you may of course toss a couple on a plate and drizzle some of the cinnamon-sugary sauce that’s formed in the bottom over it for a lovely looking breakfast.

Enjoy!