Grands!™ Monkey Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Layers refrigerated Original biscuits

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1/2 cup raisins, if desired

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

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1

Heat oven to 350°F. Generously grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large 1-gallon plastic food storage bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.
2

Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces. Sprinkle any remaining sugar over biscuits.
3

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces.
4

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Loosen edges of pan with metal spatula. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; replacing any biscuit pieces and caramel from pan. Pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

Basically a pull-apart bread, monkey-style breads are an ideal way to use refrigerated flaky biscuits. Work quickly with the refrigerated dough, because it will rise better if it’s still cool when the pan goes into the oven.
Large fluted tube pans come in a lot of designs—the most classic “bundt” pan has rounded sides which works best in this recipe. Be sure the pan can hold 12 cups (pour measured cups of water into it to check the volume), so there’s room for the spiced dough to rise up without overflowing. Greasing the inside well, getting into all the nooks and crannies, guarantees that the sticky bread will unmold easily.
A fragrant ground cinnamon sugar to coat the dough is a favorite, but try a blend like pumpkin spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves) or a blend of ground cardamom and freshly grated nutmeg. Switch up the dried fruit and nuts too, if you’d like. Golden raisins, dried cherries, chopped pecans, or cashews—any combo is delicious. But the essential ingredients that create that ooey gooey factor is the brown sugar-butter mixture that melds the rich dough together.