Monday, March 22, 2010

Lemon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake ~ and ~ Blueberry Monkey Bread

A recipe that after I had gotten started, I thought would turn out wrong; but turned out delicious after all. Plus, and unplanned recipe. 



I found a recipe in the current Pillsbury Spring Brunch magazine for Lemon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake that I really wanted to try. So I got the ingredients together, and realized I had the wrong type of biscuits, and they were too large of cans from what was called for. Plus, I didn't want to follow the recipe exactly. The original recipe calls for raisins (which my kids do no like), and nuts (which I do not like). After putting both pans of Monkey Bread into the oven, I decided I wanted to toss in a few blueberries into the Lemon Monkey Bread, so I quickly added a few into one end of the pan. As they baked, they melted into the biscuits, and were so good! So next time, I'll probably add them to the whole pan.



Printable Recipe

Lemon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake adapted from Pillsbury

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp grated lemon peel
6 tbsp butter, melted
2 cans (16.3-oz) Grands Homestyle Original Refrigerated Biscuits

Spray a 9x13" pan with Pam and line with parchment paper.

Cut each biscuit in quarters (I actually cut them in 6 pieces each.). Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and lemon peel. Dip each biscuit piece in the butter, then roll in the sugar and place in a single layer in the prepared pan.

If desired, toss sprinkle with fresh or frozen blueberries. (I used frozen that I did not thaw out first.) Bake 375 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes. I decided that that these needed a glaze after cooling a little while, so I just made one from pwd sugar and a little milk.

The Verdict: Normally, with Monkey Bread, you roll the biscuit pieces in the sugar first, put them in the pan, then drizzle the butter on top. I found that mixing the butter and sugar together made a sort of "paste" that I found a little difficult to work with. I had to warm the butter up in the microwave before rolling the biscuits in it, so this is where I thought these would not work out. However, I did my best, but ran out of the sugar mixture before I could use up the entire second can of biscuits. I didn't want to just bake them as plain biscuits, and I didn't want to throw them away, either.

The part that turned into an experiment:

Since I had leftover biscuits that I didn't want to go to waste, and I'd been wanting to make this Blueberry Coffee Cake that I found on the Lick the Bowl Good blog,  I decided I would use up the biscuits I couldn't fit into the pan from the Pull-Apart Lemon Coffee Cake. However, I made it a little differently than Monica's recipe.




First, I just sort of guessed at the amounts, because I wasn't sure if I had the equivalent of a 12-oz can of biscuits. But it still worked out just fine.

Blueberry Monkey Bread adapted from Lick The Bowl Good (original recipe can be found here)

Printable Recipe

1 (12-oz) can Grand's Biscuits
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 - 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and the cinnamon. Cut the biscuits in quarters, or sixths. Roll in the melted butter, and toss in the sugar mixture.Place in a greased 9" or 10" pie pan. Roll the blueberries in the sugar mixture and sprinkle with them over the biscuits. Drizzle any remaining butter over the top of the biscuits and blueberries. Bake 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. If desired, drizzle with a glaze made from pwd sugar and milk.



The Verdict: Since I didn't know if what I had was the equivalent of a 12-oz can of biscuits, I had to guess on the amounts of butter and the sugars. I added a little granulated sugar to the brown sugar, to lighten it up, since it was clumping up. In the end since I guessed on the amount of butter to use, I found they were a little too buttery, so you could use a little less. Nonetheless, they still turned out very tasty and my family gobbled them right up. Also, since I had drizzled a glaze over the lemon monkey bread, I had to do the same to these. Mmmm-Mmmm.

4 comments:

Reeni said...

These both look very yummy! Your experiment turned out great. I am crazy for anything with blueberries and really need to make a monkey bread - never had one before.

Pam said...

Yum!!! It looks and sounds delicious! Love those blueberries and wish I had a slice right now! Thanks!

Mary Bergfeld said...

These are both such easy treats and they look wonderful. It's always nice when a kitchen experiment turns out well. I stopped by to say hello but stayed longer than I planned. Ireally like what you are doing here and I'll be back often to see what you've conjured up. Have a wonderful day...Mary

grace said...

fact: breakfast cakes rule. that includes pancakes, cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, and this amazing monkey bread. i'm pretty much famished and only something really gooey will satisfy my cravings. :)