Monkey Bread

Kellie - this is for you!

Monkey Bread is quite the delicacy in my family. It's quite a long story, but I'll try to give a quick version. Both my grandmother and aunt have a house in Avalon, NJ (on the Jersey Shore). And while Labor Day often gets a bad wrap as a holiday what with the summer ending and going back to work/school... my brother decided to make Labor Day into the second biggest holiday of the year (Christmas being the first). So... it's a huge fun filled weekend for my family and our friends. There is generally a themed party night (pirate, luau, etc) including round robin poker (another post in and of itself!), a trip to Atlantic City in a rented limo, Monday morning softball amongst obvious beach trips etc. But since Labor Day is the end of the beach season, everyone who's around (which is usually about 15-20 people... believe me, it's CRAZY) also has to help close up the two houses. Sunday morning is church, then over to gram's house to take down her awnings... the reward is brunch with the inevitable monkey bread for dessert. Clearly people like it just for the name alone. It's called monkey bread because you're supposed to eat it with your hands, simply picking off pieces (like monkeys do...)

Here is a recipe... and you can see how UN-diet friendly it is.... but good lord is it heavenly.

My aunt once found a ww friendly recipe for it which was quite yummy, but the serving size was outrageously small. If I find it I'll be sure to post it though!

Hopefully that clears up any questions on monkey bread! It's fun to make with kids as they can help roll up the dough... and a guaranteed crowd pleaser!