My husband is nuts for cinnamon anything and while I normally think of monkey bread as a kid thing, I make it for him because, well, I’m pretty sure he’s still a six-year-old at heart. It is yummy though and I definitely like it too. Lots of people (you know, the ones who have lives) make this with refrigerated biscuit dough. That offends my sensibilities. It’s just not the same so since I have no life, I make my own dough. Way, way better than what that dough boy dude puts out. Ingredients: Dough 1-1/3 C warm milk (120°) 4 TBSP butter 2-1/4 tsp yeast (1 packet) 1/4 C sugar 2 eggs at room temperature 4-5 C flour Melt butter in milk. Lightly beat eggs. Put both in the mixer, add yeast and sugar and swirl around a bit. Add flour a cup at a time until you get a nice soft dough that is no longer sticky. Let the mixer knead it for about 7 minutes. Turn out, form into a ball, place in a greased bowl turning to coat the top. Cover with a towel and let rise for 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Filling: 3/4 C brown sugar 1/4 C sugar 1 stick melted butter 1 tsp cinnamon Sauce: 2/3 C brown sugar 3 TBSP butter 3 TBSP cream or milk 2 tsp cinnamon Punch down, turn out onto a floured surface and shape into a rectangle. Slice the dough lengthwise then break off pieces to make 1” balls. Pour about half of the sauce into the bottom of a bundt or tube pan (not the kind with a removable bottom because oh the mess you will make!) Dip the balls into the melted butter then into the sugar mixture and place in the pan making about 3 layers. Only fill the pan about half way! It won’t look like much but after it rises it will more than fill the pan. Let rise for about an hour or so. Reheat the remaining sauce then pour over the risen dough. You don’t have to use all the sauce but why wouldn’t you?? Seriously. Bake for about 30 minutes in a 350° oven. Turn out onto a plate immediately letting the sauce run over the top. If you wait to turn it out, the sugar will harden and it will never come out...in that case, go find the chisel because you’ll need it. Let this cool for a good 30 minutes because the sugar sauce is basically liquid napalm. Really. Make sure you remove it from the pan right away or you’ll be sorry, I am so not kidding. Aslo make sure you let it cool before digging in. You have not felt real pain until you have molten sugar hit the roof of your mouth and stick there! There is nothing better than cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Bill loves cinnamon rolls. It’s his favourite sweet. You get these ready at night and finish the rise and bake them in the morning. Trust me, no one will sleep in when the smell of these baking is going on! Make them on a Saturday night and your kids will love you Sunday morning. Seriously, even the brats who give you attitude will be all, “My Mom rocks!” Ingredients: DOUGH 3 egg yolks + 1 whole egg at room temperature 1/3 C sugar 1 stick butter, melted 3/4 C warm milk 3-1/2 to 4 C flour 1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp) 1 tsp salt 1 tsp lemon zest Generously butter a 13x9 pan. Add yeast to warm milk (120°). Let stand. Beat eggs with sugar and butter until well blended. Add milk/yeast and beat to combine. Add salt and zest. Slowly add flour 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms and pulls away from the bowl. Dough should not be sticky. Knead for 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. I smiley my KitchenAid because it kneads for me. Just let the mixer run on speed 2 for 7 minutes. Form into a smooth ball and place in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Let rise an hour or two until doubled. Make filling. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Form into a rectangle by pressing with your fingers and palms...not pulling! Use a rolling pin to get it about 1/4” thick and as uniform a rectangle as possible. If the dough snaps back, let it rest a few minutes then roll again. Brush dough with the 3 TBSP of melted butter from the filling ingredients staying clear about 1” from the top. Use it all! Sprinkle on the filling evenly and spread it out with your hands. Use it all! Then pat the filling into the dough a bit. Start with the edge closest to you and roll tightly. The more rolls you get the better. It might seem like a narrow log. That’s ok. Turn the log so that the seam is facing up and crimp the edges to seal. Seal it good! FILLING: 1C brown sugar (I use dark brown because I like the deeper flavour) 1 TBSP ground cinnamon Pinch of salt 3 TBSP melted butter Optional: 1/2 C raisins 1/2 C finely chopped pecans Combine all except butter. Stir well. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut the log in half. Cut each half into 6 even slices. Some people use dental floss to get nice cuts but I like the serrated knife. If you don’t press hard, they won’t squish. Place each slice seam side up in greased pan. Let rise half an hour to 45 minutes ONLY! The should look like the picture below...nicely pouffy. I like to let mine do a little rise first because the refrigerator will greatly restrict yeast growth. And it seems to me, the less they have to rise in the morning, the quicker I dig in to a nice warm cinnamon roll! I’m always thinking. Seriously. Wrap them loosely with plastic wrap, not touching the tops of the rolls. Put them in the fridge overnight - up to about 18 hours. In the morning, take them out and remove the plastic wrap. Cover with a towel and put them in a nice warm spot. I just turn my oven on for 10 minutes then turn it off. I put the pan on top of the oven. Let rise for an hour or so. Since they’re cold and the pan is cold, it will take them awhile just to come to room temp. They will pop up in the oven even if you don’t wait the whole hour but try to wait. I like to sprinkle a bit more cinnamon sugar over the top because, hey, what can it hurt! Bake for about 25-30 minutes until they’re golden brown and your house smells like what I hope heaven smells like. Make the glaze. GLAZE: 1 TBSP corn syrup 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/4 C sifted confectioners sugar 2 tablespoons cream or milk 2 TBSP melted butter Put all liquids in a bowl. Add confectioners sugar until you get a good drizzling consistency. I use a fork to drizzle it over the warm rolls. Don’t be stingy! Serve warm. If you don’t eat them all (yeah, right) you can wrap individual rolls in plastic wrap and mic them for a few seconds later on and they’re practically good as new.