I have a dear friend, Ana, who lives in Mexico.  Her birthday is the 4th of July. As my husband, Scott, and I regularly travel there a week or so later, I ask her what I can bring to belatedly celebrate her special day. 

This year the response was immediate.  "Can you make Monkey Bread?"  

For those of you who have never heard of Monkey Bread, it's basically a giant cinnamon roll that is broken into tiny cinnamon sugar balls.  You serve it by gently, or rabidly depending on your sweet tooth, pulling the balls apart and popping them into your mouth.  I learned how to make Monkey Bread when I was in 6th grade.  The recipe is pretty simple - Pillsbury biscuit dough, butter, sugar, and cinnamon.  A simple request from a dear friend, right?  Wrong!  This is Mexico, where finding Pillsbury biscuit dough is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Not ever wanting to disappoint, I considered buying the rolls in the States and taking them in our suitcase, to which my ever rational husband responded - "I think we might have an issue with the pressure change".  Images of a suitcase filled with exploded dough led me to the internet.  That's how I stumbled across Sally's Baking Addiction!  

After checking out her post, which is chock full of so many great pictures and easy to follow steps, I was convinced this was the recipe for me.  Sally's got several versions of this bread.  I opted for the one with pecans and caramel sauce.  Now be warned, this is a two-day process, you need to make the dough ahead of time, but it's so worth the wait.  Once the confection is in the oven and the sweet smell of cinnamon, sugar, and caramel fill your kitchen you'll forget all about having to wait at least 8 hours to make them.  

What I love about this recipe, other than the off the hook, ooey-gooey confection it manifests, is that it's the perfect project to do with kids.  Little ones can help make the balls (it's like playing with edible playdough), dip them in melted butter, coat them in sugar, and place them in the pan.  

At this point in time, I am trying out a grain-free lifestyle, but I have to admit to sampling the corner of one of these sweet treats.  After that one bite I'm going to have to go on a detox weekend, but it was so worth it.  The bread is pillowy soft, the cinnamon sugar sweet with a touch of spice, and the caramel chewy and buttery. 

I hope you'll pop on over to Sally's site.  She certainly takes the cake.