Monkey Bread

My favorite flavor (along with pumpkin) is anything "cinnamon and sugar". While you sure can't eat it alot, Monkey Bread is just about the yummiest thing on the planet!! An oldie, but goodie recipe:

Prep only takes about 15 minutes and baking time is 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3, 7.5 oz. cans of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (30 biscuits)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Then, generously grease a 10-inch tube pan.

2. In a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. With kitchen shears, cut biscuits into quarters. Toss several biscuit pieces at a time into sugar mixture to coat. Layer biscuits in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture; set aside.

3. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Bring to boiling and let boil 1 minute. Pour over biscuits.

4. Bake in the 350-degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Let stand for 10 minutes before inverting onto a large serving platter. Serve warm. Makes 15 servings.

Strawberry Tiramisu

I usually don't post recipes that I haven't made or tasted, but I'm feeling pretty confident about this Strawberry Tiramisu number, so I'm going to put it out there for all of us to try before berry season passes us by!

Strawberry Tiramisu
Bon Appetit April 2006
Giada De Laurentiis

Prepare this a day ahead so all the elements can meld and the ladyfingers to soften fully.

Yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups strawberry preserves
1/3 cup plus 4 tbsp. Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1/3 cup orange juice
1 lb. mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cups chilled whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

52 (about) crisp ladyfingers (boudoirs or Savoiardi)
1 1/2 lbs. strawberries, divided

Directions:
1. Whisk preserves, 1/3 cup Cointreau, and orange juice in 2-cup measuring cup.
2. Place mascarpone cheese and 2 tbsp. Cointreau in large bowl; fold just to blend.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, vanilla, and remaining 2 tbsp. Cointreau in another large bowl to soft peaks.
4. Stir 1/4 of whipped cream mixture into mascarpone mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whipped cream.
5. Hull and slice half of strawberries.
6. Spread 1/2 cup preserve mixture over bottom of 3-quart oblong serving dish or a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
7. Arrange enough ladyfingers over strawberry mixture to cover bottom of dish. Spoon 3/4 cup preserve mixture over ladyfingers, then spread 2 1/2 cups mascarpone mixture over. Arrange 2 cups sliced strawberries over mascarpone mixture.
8. Repeat layering with remaining lady fingers, preserve mixture, and mascarpone mixture.
9. Cover with plastic and chill at least 8 hours or overnight.

To serve, slice remaining strawberries. Arrange over tiramisu and serve.

Triple Berry Cobbler

My favorite thing to bake is pie. But, I also love a good apple-crisp style dessert. So, I merged a couple recipes together to make this "Triple Berry Cobbler". Substitute whatever berries you like. If I owned a cherry-pitter, I would have used fresh cherries for sure!

Ingredients:
1 pint (2 small containers) of fresh blackberries
1 pint (2 small containers) of fresh raspberries
1 pint (2 small containers) of fresh blueberries
2-3 tbsp. white sugar
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. In a large bowl (or, I suppose a large Ziplock bag would work too), gently toss all the berries with the white sugar and set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter slices until crumbly (I just smoosh the mix around with my hands to break up the butter pieces.)
4. Press half the mixture in the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan (you may want to spray it with cooking spray - but, I didn't), cover the base with the sugared berries, then sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture evenly over the berries.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbling through the crumble mixture, and the top is slightly browned.
6. If baking ahead of time, serve slightly warmed with a good vanilla bean ice-cream or Cool Whip. Mmmmm…