Carrot Cake Monkey Bread

It is not news to you all that myself and my family have a thing for monkey bread.  Plain, salted caramel apple, and even samoa; I don’t discriminate.  We love it for breakfast, a snack or dessert.  Another thing that I enjoy immensely is carrot cake.  That deliciously moist cake studded with bits of shredded carrots and amazing spices like cinnamon, cloves and allspice and it’s all wrapped up in a delicious cream cheese frosting.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Yum!

So, since we are smack dab in the midst of carrot cake season, I decided to combine two of my loves; carrot cake and monkey bread.  The end result is a delicious monkey bread with candied carrots and cream cheese drizzle.  My knees go week just thinking about this stuff.

This idea popped in my head and I started playing around with the recipe but I was skeptical at first, and kind of  nervous too.  See, the last few monkey breads I’ve made have been out of this world amazing, so the pressure was on in a serious way.  But after a few trials and tweaks I finally nailed it and came up with a concoction that I was beyond happy with.

For the coating I started out with a brown sugar base but then added the typical spices that you find in carrot cake.  For the carrots I decided to try to candy them; not only to add a little sweetness but also to dry them out a bit.  I then added a layer of carrots to the middle of the monkey bread and to the top.  For the finale; I made a cream cheese drizzle and topped it with chopped pecans.  Oh. my.

This would be a perfect addition to your Easter breakfast or brunch.  But it doesn’t only have to stick around for Easter, this can be enjoyed any time you get a hankering for carrot cake!

Carrot Cake Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

For the candied carrots-
1 Cups shredded carrots
3 Tbsp sugar

For the coating-
1/4 Cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 Tsp ground cloves
1/4 Tsp allspice
Pinch nutmeg

2 Cans Pillsbury Jr. Biscuits

For the cream cheese drizzle-
3 Oz cream cheese
1-2 Tbsp milk
1/3 Cup + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/4 Cup chopped pecans

Directions:


Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Place the shredded carrots in a small skillet and sprinkle with the sugar.  Place over low heat and leave for about 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes, stir and leave on heat.  Allow the onions to cook over low to medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice and nutmeg in a bowl and stir to combine.

Cut the biscuits in quarters.  Toss the biscuits in the sugar mixture and place about half of the pieces in a single layer in the prepared pan.  Sprinkle over half of the carrots over the biscuits, and sprinkle with some of the coating mixture.  Coat the remaining biscuits and place in the pan.  Top with the remaining carrots and sprinkle the remaining coating mixture over the bread.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Remove from oven.  Use a knife and slide down the sides of the pan, invert the monkey bread on a platter or plate and allow to cool.

Place the cream cheese in a bowl and beat on high for 30 seconds.  Add the powdered sugar and beat to combine.  Add a little milk and mix.  If the mixture is still not able to be drizzled, add a little more milk and mix.

Drizzle the cream cheese mixture over the cake and top with pecans.

Recipe source: A Lynsey Original