An Easy Cararmel and Chocolate-Filled Monkey Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...For the next week, I'll be sharing recipes for breads and sweet rolls that I think would be wonderful addition to your holiday breakfast or brunch table. I've searched for, and was able to find, a series of recipes for breads that are usually associated with the Christmas holidays. Some of the recipes will be new to you, but they are for breads that are part of old-world holiday traditions. Others may be familiar, but as you scan the recipes you'll see they are actually new takes on breads you may already be making. I am going to start the series with a monkey bread that is unlike any that I have seen before. If you, or your family, like to start the day with something sweet, this bread has your name on it and it might find its way to your Christmas table. Because its main ingredient is prepackaged biscuits, I think you'll find it amazingly easy to make. This monkey bread is delicious, beautiful to look at and extremely rich. Each of the pull-aparts is filled with chocolate and drizzled with butter and caramel syrup. This bread is definitely meant for those who love sweets and are not concerned with calories. I do have one caution to share with you. While the bread can be assembled well ahead of time, it should be served warm, fresh from the oven. It stales quickly and does not reheat well, so I assemble mine, save for the final drizzle of syrup, the night before I plan to serve it. I let it come to room temperature the next morning and then pop it in the oven. I do hope those of you who enjoy sweet breads will give this recipe a try. Here is how this rich bread is made.

Caramel Pumpkin Pie

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Some foods are so closely associated with the holidays that it seems crass to overlook them. Every time I try to retire one of our holiday pies, the ghosts of Thanksgiving past come back to haunt me. Mincemeat gained a permanent place at our table because it was Grandpa Andy's favorite, and despite the fact that no one eats it, everyone insists we have one for the holiday. I go through the same dance with pumpkin pie. It has never been anyone's favorite, but it's so much a part of Thanksgiving tradition that it, too, always appears on our table. I do have a confession to make. I play with pumpkin pie, as a matter of fact I shamelessly play with pumpkin pie, and every year I give a new recipe a try. This year I came across a version that uses hot caramel syrup to sweeten the pumpkin custard. Given my track record and the fact the recipe came from Food and Wine magazine, there was no question as to what this year's version of the pie would be. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with the results. This pie is less spicy than most, but what could be bland pumpkin comes alive with notes of butterscotch flavoring the custard. I think you'll like this and those of you who enjoy butterscotch might even love it. Be sure to use a large saucepan when making the syrup. It will foam and bubble furiously when cream is added to it and you are going to want a pan large enough to contain it and prevent burns. This pie is a bit more involved to make than most, but if you are looking for a modern take on an old favorite, you might want to give this one a try. Here is how the pie is made.