Martha Monday: Cinnamon-Bun Bites

Oh Martha!  What have you done to me!?!?  These cinnamon-bun bites are irresistible!  I thought donut holes were delicious.  These are far superior and far more addictive.

Let me be clear.  If you have ever had, made, eaten, heard of monkey bread, this is it.  Only better.  The dough is rich.  It's full of eggs and butter.  And then each little sphere of dough gets a butter bath and enrobed with cinnamon sugar.  Once baked, it's like a bunch of little cinnamon donuts all clinging together.  Some are crunchy from being toasted by the oven.  Some are soft and pillowy when you dig down into the middle.  Plus there is a glaze.  It's got butter in it too.  Yum.

Thankfully I made a few minor changes to Martha's recipe.  First, I halved it.  I knew I'd eat the whole 8-10 servings if I made the whole thing so I made half the recipe.  Then, instead of making one big hunk of bites, I made smaller single serving portions in my cute little Emile Henry pie dishes.  Finally, the other change I made was simply out of necessity.  I ran out of all-purpose flour so I substituted in a cup of whole wheat flour.  And, finally, one more note.  Make sure you stand-mixer motor is in prime condition. Kneading this dough made my stand mixer motor get very heated.  I was a bit afraid it was going to start smoking.  And since it's about twenty years old, I wouldn't have been surprised.  But this dough requires a lot of kneading and a lot of power so make sure your machine is up to the task.  Just saying.

Thanks, Brette, for a great Martha Monday pick!  And you.  Yes YOU!  If you feel like joining our little club head on over here and sign up.  You don't have to participate every single Monday.  But if you like trying out some of Martha Stewart's crazy and not-so-crazy ideas, this just might be the thing for you!