Before we ever met, my husband and I each had a family tradition of making Monkey Bread during the holidays. One year we even had a bake off with the two family recipes. I can’t recall who the judges were but I sadly didn’t win that competition. We had a lot of fun but, if I’m honest, we also had way too much monkey bread for two people to finish off.
A couple of weeks ago we lost my oldest brother in a car accident. There is a void in the family. I loved baking with my brother, Ron. We didn’t see each other often but when we did, activities often revolved around food. He was the bread master of the family and would make delicious loaf breads and bagels. My absolute favorite of his? Orange rolls. Nothing can compare to his orange rolls.
Let me just admit right here that breads are not my specialty. As much as I love baking, I can screw up bread with the best of them. In other words, replicating those orange rolls on my own is not a very realistic goal. To honor Ron’s baking legacy, and still keep things really easy, I’ve mashed up the family tradition of monkey bread with the flavors of his orange rolls. This orange spiced monkey bread is much lighter in flavor than the traditional version. It is bright and sweet and a perfect dish for sharing with family as a dessert or a breakfast option.
ORANGE SPICED MONKEY BREAD
Equipment
- 12 cup Bundt Pan
Ingredients
For the Monkey Bread
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest
- 2 packages 8-count canned flaky biscuits
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
For the Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12cup sized bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, ground ginger, ground nutmeg and orange zest. Set aside. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Dip each piece of biscuit into melted butter then coat with the sugar mixture. Arrange coated biscuit pieces evenly in the bundt pan.
- If you have any remaining melted butter and sugar mixture, stir them together and pour over arranged biscuit pieces. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.
- Let cool 5-10 minutes then turn over onto a serving plate.
- For the glaze, stir together powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and orange zest. Drizzle over monkey bread and serve warm.
