20--- Monkey Bread Muffins from Scratch

Confession: prior to making these I had never had monkey bread.

Honestly, I didn't know what the fuss was about.

And then I thought that I probably, as a food blogger, should find out what the fuss was about.

So I set out to make me some.

And all I could find were recipes using refrigerated biscuit dough.

That makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

Do you KNOW what's in that?

No, really, DO YOU KNOW????

Yes, I am a healthy food snob, but I do, on occasion, indulge. 80/20 my friends, 80/20.  Refrigerated biscuit dough, however, is not on my list of things that will ever enter my mouth.

So I made my own buttermilk biscuit dough and had me my monkey bread.

Ok I get it.  It's delicious.  And I am guessing even more delicious without the trans fats that we omitted.

Monkey Bread Muffins from Scratch
Makes 1 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

GLAZE
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin generously with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder.  Add in butter pieces and use a pastry cutter or fork to combine until coarse crumbs are formed.  Stir in buttermilk to form a soft dough (careful to not over mix).

Transfer dough onto a lightly floured flat surface.  Knead dough 5-6 times, then roll out dough until it is 1/2" thick (no need to have even edges).  Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 2" square pieces.

In a large Ziploc bag, mix white sugar and cinnamon.  Add dough pieces and shake to coat the dough.  Place 5-6 coated dough pieces in each muffin cup. 

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter for the glaze.  Add the brown sugar, whisking to combine.  Bring to a low boil, then remove from heat.

Pour glaze mixture evenly over each muffin.  Place the muffin tin on the middle rack of the oven and bake for ~20 minutes, or until cooked through.  Allow to cool 3-4 minutes prior to serving.