Welcome to My Kitchen

Listening to young people talk about food, cooking and recipes can be informative and entertaining. With most families spending more time at home, children are taking an interest in meal and snack preparation.

Some love baking cookies. Others like helping with meal prep. One even told me, they should never be allowed in a kitchen unsupervised, as there was danger they would set the kitchen on fire. The most interesting was a young brother and sister telling me all about Monkey Bread, a favorite recipe both their mother and grandmother make. I don’t have that recipe specifically, but the kids description makes me think it is the traditional butterscotch pudding version. This is a set-to-rise-overnight recipe.

Monkey Bread

With Butterscotch Pudding

1 package (3 1/2 ounces) cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding mix

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 package (12 ounces) frozen dinner rolls

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

Butter or grease a large tube or Bundt pan. Sprinkle butterscotch pudding mix and granulated sugar into pan. Sprinkle with pecans and brown sugar, then drizzle the melted butter over the top.

Place pan in a cold oven and allow dough to rise overnight.

Remove pan from oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Return pan to preheated oven and bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Immediately invert pan onto a large plate to serve. Yield: about 10 servings.

Note: use only cook-and-serve pudding mix. Instant pudding is not designed to work with heat.

Herbed Monkey Bread is a savory version I suggested they might try the next time spaghetti or lasagna was on the menu. This recipe calls for refrigerator biscuits.

Herbed Monkey Bread

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 tsp dried chives

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 tubes (12 ounces each) refrigerator buttermilk biscuits

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan and set aside.

Combine melted butter and seasonings in a small bowl.

Dip biscuits in butter mixture to thoroughly coat and arrange in prepared pan. Drizzle any remaining butter mixture over rolls in pan.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting on a large plate to serve. Yield: about 10 servings.

Note: I know refrigerator biscuit tubes are scary. If no brave soul is around to open the tube for you, open a gallon zip-closure bag. Carefully pull the Peel Here strip about halfway down the tube. Place in the bag and zip it closed. Open an outside door and throw the bag vigorously on concrete while quickly closing the door to block out the pop.

Scroll back through older Welcome to My Kitchen, Facebook posts for pictures of this tube opening trick.

Pull-apart Citrus Rolls is a sweet, but lighter, monkey-style bread recipe. When time allows I use this from scratch dough recipe in the previous two recipes, preferring to avoid the additives. Just substitute water or milk for the liquid and omit the citrus peel and spice.

Pull-apart Citrus Rolls

1 large orange

1 medium lemon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cardamom

2 packages fast or regular rising yeast

5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

5-6 Tbsp butter

2 eggs

Grate peel from orange and set aside. Squeeze juice from orange and add enough water to make 1 1/4 cups liquid. Grate 1 1/2 teaspoons peel from lemon.

In large mixer bowl, combine salt, cardamom, yeast, 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. In a quart saucepan heat orange juice mixture and 4 tablespoons butter until very warm over low heat (120 to 130 degrees).

With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in heated liquid until just blended. At medium speed, beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with spatula. Beat in eggs and 1 cup of flour, continue beating 2 minutes more, scraping bowl often. With a spoon, mix in 2 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, working in about 1/2 cup flour. Shape into a ball; cover with bowl and let rest 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter and set aside. Grease a large spring-form pan, 10 to 12 inches, and set aside.

Cut dough into 36 pieces and shape into balls. Layer in prepared pan, brushing each layer with the melted butter. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bread in oven and bake 35 to 40 minutes until browned and bread sounds hollow when tapped lightly with fingers.

Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm. Yield: about 10 servings.

Pizza Monkey Bread

1 recipe of Pull-apart Citrus bread, made with milk instead of the citrus juice and peel and omitting cardamom.

When dough is ready, knead in 1 cup diced pepperoni slices and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

When ready to form into balls, roll each in pizza sauce, about 1/2 to 3/4 cup. Skip brushing with butter and sprinkle each layer with a tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Top the last layer with 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan to serve. Serve with additional sauce for dipping. Yield: 8 servings.

– Share your favorite recipes to cook with kids helping, or favorites that kids like to make on their own, by sending them to Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. When planning a garden this year, encourage your children to pick out some vegetables they like and designate a small area for them to tend their own garden.