Monkey Muffins (Monkey Bread)

We enjoy treats like monkey bread, but there were always a couple of things about the traditional recipe that I didn’t like…which meant I didn’t make it very often. 1)It made more than we could eat. 2) There wasn’t enough cinnamon and sugar compared to bread! 😉

So…I decided to make Monkey Muffins instead of monkey bread!

This is an easy recipe to cut in half or to double!

Ingredients:

2 cans (5-count) small refrigerated biscuits

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins

Makes approximately 8 monkey muffins.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray regular cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray. (Spray 8 of the 12 openings.)

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag or medium-sized container.

Quarter each of the biscuits.

Drop the biscuit quarters into the bag and shake vigorously. (This is a great job for the kiddos.)

Put 2-3 of the biscuit pieces in the cupcake pan. Sprinkle raisins over the pieces and top with 1-2 biscuit pieces. Repeat. This will probably make about 8 muffins.

Bake for approximately 16 minutes. Keep an eye on them after about 10 minutes, because the baking time will vary based on how many pieces of biscuit you used in each muffin.

Enjoy!

 

Cheesy Savory Bread Pudding – Slow Cooker

This sounds yummy! I found this in an All You magazine. Hint: Swap in a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes for the fresh ones if you don’t have the fresh tomatoes.

Prep: 15 minutes   Cook: 3 hours 30 minutes    Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 oz thinly sliced bacon (4-5 slices)

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

8 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups whole milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

12 slices soft white bread, 1/2″ think, crusts removed, cut into 1″ cubes

1 cup grated cheddar

2 fresh tomatoes, sliced

Directions:

Coat inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned and crisp, 5-7 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and pour off all but 1 tbsp fat from skillet. Add onion, bell pepper and celery to skillet. Cook, stirring often, until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute longer. Coarsely chop bacon.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Add bread cubes and stir in onion mixture, bacon, cheese and tomatoes, Stir well and pour into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. (3-3.5 hours)

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

Ok, so I chose to add this bread to a few categories…including Breads, Holiday, Sweets, and Breakfast! I think it fits into all of them! 🙂 It is easy and so delicious!

I believe I found the first version of this recipe in one of my Southern Living magazines.

Prep: 20 minutes          Bake: 1 hr 15 minutes         Stand: 10 minutes

Ingredients for Bread:

3.5 cups All-purpose flour

3 cups sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1.5 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

4 large eggs

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Filling:

8 ounces of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans (optional)

 

Directions:

Make Cream Cheese Filling by mixing all 4 ingredients together and set aside.

Stir together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. (flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt)

Whisk together pumpkin and next 3 ingredients. (vegetable oil, water and eggs)

Add to flour mixture, whisking just until dry ingredients are moist.

Spoon 3 cups of batter into each of 2 greased/floured 9″x5″ loaf pans. Spoon Cream Cheese Filling over batter. Spoon remaining batter over filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr 15 min or until a pick comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes then remove onto wire rack.

 

 

 

Calzones

I first tried a calzone at a Mellow Mushroom when I lived in Atlanta. When we moved away from Atlanta, those yummy calzones were not “out of sight, out of mind.” I was motivated enough to learn how to make my own! Even though I can get calzones at restaurants now, they always disappoint. I think it is because I can determine just how much of what filling I want when I make my own. 🙂

Don’t be intimidated by making this bread. This is incredibly easy and worth the time!

Ingredients for bread:

1 package yeast

1 cup warm (105-115 degrees F) water

2.5 – 3 cups flour (I use whole wheat flour.)

1 tbsp sugar (I’m sure this could be omitted, but I like the addition.)

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp oil

Ingredients for sauce/filling:

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp pepper

approximately 1 cup water

Add cheese, vegetables (raw or slightly cooked) and meat of your choice.

DIRECTIONS:

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 c warm water. Let activate for 5 minutes. Mix 2 c flour, sugar, salt and oil. Add remaining (3/4 c) warm water and dissolve yeast.  Add additional flour until dough is stiff. Pour out onto floured bread board. Knead in additional flour until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes.) Place in lightly greased bowl; let rise for 45 minutes (free from draft.)

Punch dough. Divide dough for individual calzones. Roll out each into circle and cover half of circle with sauce, cheese and other ingredients.

Fold over and pinch edges. Press with tines of a fork.

Place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 400 degrees basting with butter a couple of times until golden brown.

Our family usually prefers different additions to the calzones, but here are a few ideas:

packaged pizza sauce if you aren’t motivated to make your own

mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese or feta cheese

turkey pepperoni

bacon (bacon bits are a good substitute)

mushrooms

red, yellow and orange peppers

sweet or red onion

fresh or sun-dried tomatoes

banana peppers

baby spinach

Any ingredient used for pizza would go great in a calzone!