Sweet Baked Life

Now that you’ve feasted on your wonderful holiday meal with your loved ones, it’s time to give yourself a break, relax and enjoy the day! That’s what I will be doing today! Well, that is for the most part. If tradition stands, we will venture out and pick out the perfect Christmas tree, get down the numerous boxes of ornaments, break out the Hot Apple Cider, put on the Christmas CD’s and trim the tree! And if you’ve got some leftover cranberry sauce like me, you can whip up this Cranberry Mini Monkey Bread — the perfect way to extend your love for the holiday in a delightfully scrumptious way!

Ok sure, you can use your cranberry sauce on about a gazillion turkey sandwiches, but this quick and easy Cranberry Mini Monkey Bread is a whole new way of enjoying your sweet and tangy sauce. Fluffy dough balls surrounded by tart cranberry sauce and drizzled with lemon glaze is wonderful on a morning when you don’t really feel like doing much else. It’s a snap to make and your family will love it!

Cranberry Mini Monkey Bread

1 cab (16.8 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons fresh homemade Cranberry Sauce
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1-2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

(note this recipe can easily be doubled to yield 12 mini breads)

Heat oven to 350° degrees. Prepare a mini bundt pan or regular size muffin tin (with 6 openings) with cooking spray and set aside.

Separate dough into 8 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Put into large plastic food bag and add the granulated sugar. Shake to coat. Remove the dough and arrange in each opening of the prepared pan. To each one, add about 1 tablespoon of cranberry sauce in the center then add about 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the entire dough and cranberries.

Bake for about 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the confectioners sugar and lemon juice until you get the consistence you prefer and drizzle over the top of the monkey bread. Serve warm.

I love making fresh cranberry sauce and we always have more than enough for sandwiches, and if you do too, I hope you will take the plunge and try this wonderful holiday Cranberry Mini Monkey Bread!