Lemon - er - Orange Monkey Bread

Viewing the menu for the day, I realized I needed to get the Rhode's frozen rolls out to thaw and rise.  Lemon Monkey Bread was on deck for dessert tonight.

I set them on the stove to thaw, glancing at the recipe, only to see how many I needed to put in the pan.

A short while later, something provoked me to actually READ the recipe for this monkey bread.

Glad I did.

I not only needed to cut the rolls in half once thawed, but while still cold, I also needed to prep them.

Melted butter, sugar and lemon zest needed to be drizzled over them BEFORE they were left to double in size throughout the day.

Very good.  I started my quest to get these little buggers ready to bake.

Knife in hand, I cut each roll in half then assembled them into the pan - ready for the next step.

24 rolls cut and assembled

Who doesn't love melted butter?

Little hands make for big help

Melting 6 Tbls. of butter, we (the collective we, as Selah is now  my official kitchen helper whenever I start to cook) drizzled this over the tops of all the now-cut rolls.












If you'll recall, I did not purchase lemons this week - hence my 3rd string result w/lemon parmesan broccoli.  I scavenged to the bottom of our fruit basket in the hopes I had missed the lone lemon somewhere.  No luck.

>>You see - when I planned lemon monkey bread, I had not fully re-read the recipe and though it only required lemon juice.  I reasoned the jar stuff in the fridge would suffice for such a "glaze".  Boy was I mistaken.<<

Upon re-reading the recipe - I needed the zest of the lemon in the sugar mixture that would be absorbed in the essence of the rolls as they "rose" throughout the day.  Hmmmm... I didn't think jar lemon juice would quite fit the bill.

Improvising - which I tend to do pretty well - I decided we would have Orange Monkey Bread instead.  I like those orange "rolls" from pillsbury - surely this will be even better.

So, zesting one orange, I combined the zest with 1 cup sugar.

Orange zest from one orange added to 1 cup sugar - so colorful

Next, Selah and I sprinkled half of this mixture over the butter drenched rolls, covering the whole pan with a towel upon completion, to allow it to rise and double in size.

I think her favorite part was licking her fingers when we were done.  It was sugar, after all. Couldn't let it go to waste.

Covered and left to rise - I did peek a couple times - not a good idea necessarily.

Once the rolls had done their thing throughout the day, we sprinkled the rest of the sugar/orange zest mixture atop them and stuck them in the oven to bake.  20-30 minutes at 350 degrees did the trick.

Done rising and 2nd half of sugar/orange zest added - looks yummy.

Toward the end of their baking time, a glaze was made.  That orange I zested was cut in half and the juice squeezed out.  Mixed with powdered sugar, 1 cup, a beautiful, fragrant deliciousness was formed.

This looks like it would be yummy on just about any baked good.

Upon removing the rolls from the oven, we generously poured the glaze over the top.

Just out of the oven

Yummy orange glaze

Voila - our Orange Monkey Bread was ready for the eating.  YUM! YUM!  Even with the alterations, this recipe was a HIT!

Next time, I'll try to remember the lemon and we'll try THAT version to compare.

The finished product - I won't say  how much we ate in one meal

Here's the line up for your Monkey Bread Roster

(adapted from a Pinterest recipe from Creations by Kara)

24 Rhode's frozen dinner rolls - thawed but still cold(I doubled the recipe since we feed a small army)

1 cup sugar

zest from 1 lemon (or orange) - (not doubled here by choice)

>you could do 2, but last time we had too much zest in something, no one liked it, so I went light<

6 Tbls butter - melted

Glaze:  

1 Cup Powdered sugar

2 Tbsp lemon (orange) juice

Cut rolls in half and assemble in greased 9x13 pan. (in hindsight, I didn't use a big enough pan -- apparently I should have done 12 in one pan, 12 in the other)  OOPS!

Drizzle with melted butter

Mix lemon/orange zest and sugar in small bowl. Sprinkle HALF of this mixture over rolls.  Cover and let raise till doubled.

Sprinkle remaining sugar/lemon or orange mixture over the raised dough.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from pan. (I skipped this part - who wants more dishes?)

Combine glaze ingredients - drizzle over rolls while still warm. 

Serve and enjoy.

Go ahead and give this recipe a whirl. If you find some tasty substitutions that are yumilicious, please check back and let me know. I'd love to test it out on my family.  They are lovin' this new six shootin' and cookin' mama.