Sticky Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread

My week. Easter was Sunday this year. The kids were with me through Saturday night, then with Brianna for Easter morning, then back with me for Easter dinner at Mama's. The choreography of divorced holidays is its own kind of dance — you try to make sure nobody feels short-changed and the kids don't have to keep score. We mostly succeed. Sometimes we fail. This time we succeeded.

Saturday I dyed eggs with the kids. Boiled a dozen, set them out with the little tablets that turn the water into colors, gave Zaria the orange and pink because she has strong opinions about color, gave Aiden the blue and green because he doesn't care and just wanted to dye eggs without arguments. We made a mess on the kitchen counter. I'd put down a plastic tablecloth. The plastic tablecloth was a hard-won lesson from last year, when Zaria spilled red dye on my white kitchen towel and I learned that you cannot un-pink anything once it has been dyed. Saturday night I made spaghetti and meatballs — homemade meatballs, my own recipe now — beef and pork mix, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, parmesan, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, one egg per pound. Browned in oil, finished in the sauce. Aiden ate four meatballs. Zaria ate two. Both ate spaghetti like it was their job.

Sunday morning Brianna picked the kids up at seven. The Easter Bunny had visited my house too — small baskets with chocolate, plastic eggs with quarters, a little stuffed animal each. Zaria's stuffed animal was a rabbit, naturally. She named it Carrot. Aiden got a Lego set he immediately wanted to start building. I told him after Easter dinner. He sighed deeply and went with his mother.

Mama's Easter dinner was a production. Ham — bone-in, scored, glazed with brown sugar, mustard, pineapple juice, and cloves. Mac and cheese, of course. Greens. Sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows browned on top. Deviled eggs. Cornbread. Yeast rolls. Apple pie and sweet potato pie for dessert. Cheryl had been cooking since Friday. She wouldn't let me help with anything except the rolls, which she had me brush with butter as soon as they came out of the oven. That was my contribution to Easter dinner. I'll take it.

The kids came back to my house Sunday evening on a sugar high that took two hours to crash. I gave them peanut butter sandwiches at seven, water, and put them to bed at eight-thirty. Sat in the living room with a glass of bourbon — neat, two fingers, the cheap stuff because the expensive stuff is for occasions and a Sunday isn't one. Thought about Vanessa's wedding catering. Started planning the prep schedule. Five slabs of ribs would need to start brining Friday for a Saturday cook. The mac and cheese could be assembled Saturday morning and held cold until baking. The greens needed to be done Friday too — they're better the second day anyway. The cornbread, last thing, fresh out of the oven, transported in foil pans wrapped in towels.

I made notes on the back of an envelope. The same kind of envelope where my pro/con list still lives. The seed gets bigger. The math gets clearer. I'm forty days from my first catering job. I'm scared and I'm ready in the exact same proportion. That might be the right balance.

My one job at Mama’s Easter dinner was brushing butter on the yeast rolls the moment they hit the rack — and honestly, that thirty seconds was the best part of the whole meal for me. There’s something about fresh bread and melted butter that I can’t walk away from. So this week, with the catering prep list in one hand and that envelope full of notes in the other, I kept coming back to that roll moment. Sticky Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread is what happens when you take that pull-apart, butter-everything energy and make it the whole point — and next Easter, Mama might let me bring this instead.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 10

Ingredients

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 cans (16 oz total) refrigerated biscuit dough, cut into quarters
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Nonstick cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Generously spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Make the cinnamon sugar. Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in a large zip-top bag or wide bowl. Add the biscuit dough pieces in batches and toss until each piece is fully coated.
Layer the pan. Arrange the coated dough pieces evenly in the prepared Bundt pan, building them up in layers as you go.
Make the butter sauce. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir until the brown sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Pour and coat. Slowly pour the butter sauce evenly over all the dough pieces in the pan, allowing it to seep down between the layers.
Bake. Bake for 30—35 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and the center is cooked through. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil after 20 minutes.
Rest and invert. Let the pan rest on a wire rack for exactly 5 minutes — no longer or the caramel will harden and stick. Place a large plate or platter over the pan and carefully invert. Lift the pan away slowly so the caramel drips down over the bread.
Serve warm. Pull apart and serve immediately while the caramel is still soft and gooey.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sticky Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread — The Rolls I Wish I’d Made