Monkey Bread Muffins with Homemade Caramel Sauce

These mouth watering,, pull apart monkey bread might just be the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. It definitely ranks up there in the top 10 for sure. This is not my recipe, I came across it on another wonderful food blog, but it was like love at first sight and right then I knew I would be making it very soon for my own lips to indulge. 

The recipe was easy to follow and quite simple to make, even the homemade caramel went very smooth for my first time. I only made half the recipe, knowing that with only two of us sharing (and me one of us obsessed with cinnamon) that they would go quickly and instead of tempting my self control, I opted to just not have more than 12 muffins – 6 for me and 6 for him,

Monkey Bread Muffins with Homemade Caramel Sauce Recipe: 1 T. active dry yeast 3 1/2 cups All Purpose flour* 1 1/4 cup warm water 2 T. EVOO 2 T. honey 1/2 -1 tsp. salt 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1-2 T. cinnamon Caramel Sauce Drizzle Add flour yeast, salt, honey, oil, and water to a large bowl and mix well, follow by kneading for 10 minutes by hand or bread machine.Clean bowl and place dough back in, , and let rise 30 minutes. Roll dough into a long rope, butter the rope, and then cut into small sized balls. Mix your cinnamon and sugar into a small bowl and drop the balls in and cover, add 3-4 per muffin. Let rise again in a warm place until slightly fuller. Generously butter muffin tins (to ensure the gooey kind) and preheat oven to 350° F. Bake 18-20 minutes of until the muffins are set and the is bubbling up around the muffin. Remove from man upside down and drizzle with homemade caramel topping, enjoy with cold milk or hot coffee! You will not regret one single calorie, I promise!

*I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for a more nutty flavor, I mean I wish I could tell you that it helped make these healthier but that would be a little white lie. You can choose to believe whatever you want, which ever one helps you sleep better at night 🙂

I have never made my own caramel, and after I am not sure why I had never tried it. The taste was outstanding and the process was rather simple, as long as you pay attention while cooking ! I highly recommend the combination of these monkey bread muffins and this homemade caramel, although BOTH are very easily edible on their own too! My only warning is to make these expecting to eat more than 1-2, unless you have just perfect self-control, at which point I would like to know your secrets, seriously. V and I enjoyed a beautiful 2 hour hike from one monastery to another after our enjoyment of each bite.

Homemade Caramel Sauce:

3/4 heavy cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 tsp. butter

Mix the cream and vanilla and set aside. In a medium to large saucepan add your sugar and warm water, DO NOT STIR. It is very important to not stir, but you may swirl the sugar in the pan to help dissolve; the stirring will break down and we do not want that. Wait patiently and watch carefully for the sugar mix to turn to a cinnamon amber color, you DO NOT want to wait for it to turn any darker because it will taste burnt. Immediately remove from heat, carefully whisk in butter and then the cream mixture. It is necessary to whisk quickly to avoid sugar rocks forming at the bottom. Return to a low heat and continue stirring until creamy and smooth. Cool slightly but serve warm, add remaining caramel to a jar and keep in the fridge, hiding if you want it to last longer than one day; Keep up to one week-

 All I could think of after tasting the caramel sauce was what else I could put it on?! I dreamt of so many options but I think tomorrow I will start with a nice simple sliced apple! Enjoy one more picture before you rush to your own kitchen and make these for someone you love.

I admire so many more experienced food bloggers out there, and I must give all gratitude and thanks to this sophisticated mom whom I follow on my blog feed: Sophistimom. She was the one who introduced me, I sincerely enjoy, admire, and appreciate it.  

Hope you will enjoy these as much as we did, let me know what you think? 

Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again soon.