Now that school is out, there is more time to try some of those divine looking dishes that I have been pinning on Pinterest. This morning, it was "Monkey Bread Muffins," a recipe using Pillsbury canned biscuits. Sometimes, there are "Pinterest Fails." This is not one of them! This recipe is so delicious, that I decided to share it here with extra pictures and a few helpful tips, after trying the original on Pinterest. With just a few simple ingredients, you will wow your family and friends... (Recipe at the end of this post)
Begin by dividing your canned biscuits and cutting them each into six pieces. Roll each piece in a sugar and cinnamon mixture and place in a buttered muffin tin (six pieces of dough in each muffin well).
You will fill up eight wells in the muffin tin. Then, hold whatcha got 'cause there's more..
Next, you will boil brown sugar and butter into a caramel mixture. This is when the kids will start showing up in the kitchen. Just tell them to be patient...It will be worth it.
Keep boiling until the sugar is dissolved, and then spoon this heavenly goodness over your biscuit dough.
Now, it is time to bake this for about 10 minutes in your preheated oven. Here is an important tip: Either put something under your muffin tin, or be prepared to set your oven to "self-clean," which I am currently doing...
When you take your tray out of the oven, the biscuits will have popped out partially around the wells. Just use the back of a spoon to push them back into the wells to give them more of a muffin shape. You can also spoon back any caramel drizzle that made its way off of the biscuits. At this point, the kids will be back in the kitchen. Send them away one more time, we aren't done just yet. These babies need to set for about 10 minutes so that they will pop out and stick together.
In the meantime, you can use this time to make your cream cheese drizzle (as if these weren't already delicious enough!). Mix up cream cheese and powdered sugar, adding in vanilla and about a tablespoon of milk.
After placing your muffins on a serving dish, drizzle the icing on top. My kids LOVED these, and I am now the "best mom ever!"
Monkey Bread Muffins
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 can Pillsbury Grands flaky biscuits
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Cream Cheese Icing
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temp.
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk
1. Preheat oven to 375* F. Butter 8 muffin wells (or line with paper liners).
2. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Separate dough into 8 biscuits and cut each biscuit into 9 pieces (I cut them into six pieces...each half in thirds). Roll biscuit pieces in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place 9 (or 6) biscuit pieces in each muffin well.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat butter and brown sugar (you can add a couple of teaspoons of water if needed, but I didn't) to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes, dissolving brown sugar. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
4. Carefully spoon the caramel mixture over the biscuit pieces. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
5. Remove from oven, and carefully use the back of a spoon to gently push the biscuit pieces back into the muffin wells. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing to a serving plate.
6. Prepare cream cheese icing by mixing cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer. Add in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk until well combined. Drizzle icing over warm muffins, and serve immediately.
