Okay, so I decided to give this brie and cranberry monkey bread thing a whirl the other day. Sounded pretty good, right? Sweet, savory, cheesy pull-apart bread. What’s not to like?
Getting Started
First things first, I grabbed my ingredients. Didn’t make the dough from scratch this time, honestly. Just used a couple of cans of that refrigerated biscuit dough. You know the kind, the ones that pop open and scare you half to death. Easier that way sometimes.
I also needed a wheel of brie. Didn’t go too fancy, just a regular one from the grocery store. And a bag of dried cranberries. Plus the usual suspects for monkey bread: butter, sugar, maybe some cinnamon. I just kinda eye-balled the amounts for the coating.
The Sticky Part
Alright, popped open those biscuit cans. Laid the dough out and cut each biscuit into quarters. Just used a knife, nothing special. Then I cubed up the brie. Tried to make the pieces roughly the same size as the dough bits, maybe a little smaller. This got a bit sticky, cheese sticking to the knife and my fingers.
Next, melted some butter in a bowl. In another shallow dish, I mixed white sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Could use brown sugar too, probably would be tasty. Then came the messy fun: dipping each dough piece into the melted butter, then rolling it around in the sugar mixture. Made sure they got a good coating.
Putting It All Together
Got my bundt pan ready. Greased it up pretty good, don’t want this masterpiece sticking. Then I started layering. Threw in about half of the sugar-coated dough pieces. Scattered about half of the brie cubes and dried cranberries over them.
Then repeat!
Put the rest of the dough pieces on top. Sprinkled over the remaining brie and cranberries. Tried to spread them out evenly-ish. Poured any leftover melted butter over the whole thing. Why not?
Baking and The Big Reveal
Popped it into the oven. I think it was around 350°F (that’s about 175°C). Kept an eye on it. Took maybe 30-40 minutes? I just waited until the top was nice and golden brown and it didn’t look doughy inside when I peeked.
The smell coming out of the oven? Oh man. Sweet, buttery, with that hint of cheese starting to melt. That’s the good stuff.
Let it cool in the pan for maybe 10 minutes. This part’s important so it doesn’t fall apart, but you still want it warm. Then, the moment of truth: flipped it onto a plate. It actually came out pretty clean! Looked awesome, all bumpy and golden, with bits of red cranberry and melty brie peeking out.
The Verdict
We just dug in, pulling off pieces while it was warm. The dough was soft, the sugar coating gave it a little crust, the cranberries were chewy and tart, and then you hit that pocket of warm, gooey brie. Seriously good combo. It disappeared fast. Definitely worth the slightly sticky fingers.
