I remember a few treats from my childhood, and a favorite is definitely monkey bread. It’s a simple treat and can be made using frozen bread dough (if you’re short on time or, ahem, skill) and I would have to say that it’s not altogether *that* bad for you. Once you’re comfortable with the recipe it’s easy to tweak it a bit to include favorite ingredients, like my variation with cardamom. Mmmmm, it tastes extra-cozy!

Cardamom-Spiced Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tsp yeast
• 3 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 c sugar
• 2 tbsp room-temperature butter
• 1 c water

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cardamom 
• 1/2 c sugar

• 1/2 c butter 
• 1 c brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp light corn syrup 
• 2 tsp ground cardamom

Method:

• Make the dough by hand, in a mixer, or using the dough setting on your bread machine using  yeast, flour, salt, white sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, and water. 

• In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt 1/2 cup of butter, stir in brown sugar, cardamom, and corn syrup. Stir until it forms a smooth syrup. Remove from heat.

• Roll dough into a long log and cut dough in one inch chunks. Mix 1/2 c sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom together and drop one chunk at a time into the spiced sugar mixture. Thoroughly coat dough pieces, then layer them loosely in a greased bundt pan, then pour the syrup that you cooked together over the whole thing.  It will trickle down and coat all the pieces (and it’s a lot more kid-friendly than trying to dip the chunks of dough).  I like to put the extra spiced sugar mixture in my cinnamon-sugar shaker since it makes the most delicious cinnamon toast.

• Let rise in a warm spot until dough is just over the top of the pan, 20-30 minutes.
  

• Bake in a preheated 375 degree F (190 degree C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or till golden brown. Remove from oven, place a plate face down in top of the pan and, using oven mitts to hold plate on pan, turn over both until bread slides out onto plate. Serve warm…and enjoy!