I wish alarm clocks had built-in smell alarms. Why haven’t we figured this out yet?! Imagine the possibilities!! You wouldn’t have a problem getting up for a 6am flight if the smell of these cinnamony Monkey Bread Minis assaulted you. Now to think of it…the 13 year old Tracy would have set my brother’s alarm clock to rotten farts at 4am.

OK we NEED to make this happen.

If you are familiar with monkey bread, then you should know that this recipe doesn’t produce a doughy/yeasty pull apart roll. It’s like a hybrid of a cinnamon roll (taste wise) and an old fashion donut (texturally). Yes. DONUT.  The best part is that there’s no yeast stress involved. Yup, yeast stresses me out when I’m not properly caffeinated. There I said it. I think little hands would love dipping dough into butter & cinnamon sugar. When I get over my fears of Cooper’s messy sticky cinnamon fingers on our micro suede couch, I’ll totally do it. For sure!

You’ll enjoy putting every last piece into your mouth hole. I know I did.

Let’s get started!

Butter goes in the food processor with sugar, baking powder & flour. Pulse!

Here’s the part where I realized I didn’t have buttermilk. Cue the Joy’s Buttermilk Substitution Post.

Thank god for smart phones in the kitchen. This is my old phone–before I ran over it with MY CAR.

Nuff said.

I used the lemon juice & milk trick to make buttermilk. Thank heavens for that cheat.

Spew the dough out onto your counter with flour.

Cut up your pieces to roll into balls.

Drop each round into the maple syrup & butter mixture.

Roll it in cinnamon sugar and press each ball into the muffin pan.

Your kitchen will be filled with balls. (ha!) I put about 5-6 in each muffin mold.

Off it goes into the oven.

And here it comes out. Look at that sugary crust!

Let the monkey bread minis cool. Then chisel them out. Use a non stick pan. Don’t be like me.

This process was tough because I didn’t use my non stick pan….

Don’t worry, I didn’t waste all those crumbs!

Make your glaze. Look down- you see that little muffin? That’s one of my *samples* I dunked it in that bowl.

Then you drizzle the glaze on top of your monkey bread.

I had a difficult time with a few so I piled the crumbs on a plate….

and dug right in!

Monkey Bread Minis

(recipe from Rachael Ray Magazine)

• 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, chilled
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, chilled

For the Drizzle:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

1. Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 425°. In a small bowl, microwave 4 tablespoons butter and the maple syrup at high power until melted, 30 seconds; stir. In a small bowl, stir together 1/3 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar and the cinnamon.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and the salt; pulse to combine. Cut the remaining 1 stick chilled butter into small pieces and pulse with the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form. Pulse in the buttermilk until the dough just comes together. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface; pat into a 10-inch square (the dough will be sticky). Quarter the dough, then cut each quarter into 16 equal pieces; roll into balls.
3. Dip each ball in the maple butter, then coat with the sugar mixture. Place 5 to 6 coated balls into each muffin cup and press to compact.
4. Bake until cooked through and golden, 15 to 17 minutes (tent with foil if the tops darken too quickly). Transfer the muffin pan to a rack and cool for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the sides of the monkey bread; invert onto a platter, then turn right side up. Mix confectioners’ sugar with milk and drizzle over the bread as it cools. Serve warm.

USE A NON STICK PAN!