Yummy Sunday

This morning along with our smashed eggs (as the four year-old calls them) and omelet, we enjoyed a special treat - Monkey Bread. Before you start to think that I am ubermom and that I am so organized that I made the dough last night from scratch, let me share my super easy recipe with you.

Monkey Bread

One stick of butter

About 1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

a dash of cloves

2 tablespoons of water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup of pecans

2 tubes of Pillsbury French Bread (in the refrigerated isle)

Preheat the oven to 350. In a small pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is completely melted, add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. (Leave out the water, pecans and vanilla.) Turn the heat up to high and stir constantly. As you stir you'll notice it looks like the butter and the sugar really aren't mixing together. Once the mixture starts to bubble, continue to cook it until it looks like butter and sugar have become one. Then pour in the water. Watch out it will really bubble and steam then. Take the mixture off the heat and add the vanilla.

Get out a Bundt style pan and spray the inside with Pam type spray. Drizzle some of the sauce in the bottom if the pan and sprinkle in some pecans. Open one of the tubes of dough. Using scissors cut off small chunks of dough, perhaps the size of the tip of your thumb and drop them in a layer around the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle on some pecans and drizzle on more sauce. Continue like this until you are out of dough. For me, two tubes of bread dough filled my pan about 3/4 of the way.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. When you remove the pan from the oven, immediately place a plate over it and invert it to remove the bread from the pan. Trust me if you don't, it will stick. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then start pulling off pieces of sweet simian goodness. Enjoy...