These monkey muffins are my perfect buttermilk, and honey biscuits cut into sections and then rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar. They are buttery, sugary, and wonderfully spicy.
Monkey muffins have always been a staple at home. They are so easy to make, we always made them with store-bought biscuit dough, but they are extra amazing with homemade biscuits.
We started making these when I was in third grade. My third-grade teacher had her classes each year make tons of these in the school kitchens and sell to the rest of the students to raise money for our class trip to Washington DC. The school lived for this day, and we would make and sell hundreds of monkey muffins.
for the biscuit dough:
the ingredients:
Biscuits have just a few ingredients, so you want to make sure you are using the best ones possible. But the star is the butter, and you want a sustainable and fatty butter. My favorite is Kerry Gold. Here I used salted Kerry Gold butter because I love the flavor. But unsalted would be amazing as well.
The biscuit technique:
For these biscuits, I used a technique that I read about, and it’s how Carla Hall makes her biscuits. Instead of pressing the cold butter into the flour, she grates it with her food processor. This creates smaller and even butter pieces that are evenly distributed through the dough. This method ensures a hydrated and consistent dough. I used the grating attachment to my food processor and grated the frozen stick and half of butter. I also found that having a tiny bit of flour in the bowl or container helps the butter shards not stick to each other.
How to make the muffins:
Once you have your biscuit dough, cut it into 1/2 inch pieces. Roll each piece in melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar. Place 3-4 pieces in a lined muffin tray and bake!
For a video on how to make the biscuit dough, check out my Buttermilk and Honey Biscuit post!
PrintMonkey Muffins
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup salted butter
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp honey
- 4 tbsp melted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a muffin tray.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Using a grater or the grating attachment on a food processor, grate the butter. Once grated, if it’s no longer cold, freeze for a few minutes before adding it to the flour.
- Add the butter to the flour and toss until it’s evenly mixed.
- Add the buttermilk and honey and stir until a loose dough forms.
- Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough all comes together.
- Press or roll the dough into a 1/4 inch rectangle and fold the dough onto its self in thirds. Like you would fold a sheet of paper. Press or roll the dough out to 1/4 inch again and repeat the fold. Press or roll out the dough out again to a 1/4 inch rectangle.
- Using a floured knife, cut the dough into 1/2 pieces. Roll each piece in the melted butter and then the cinnamon sugar. Place 3-4 pieces in each of the muffin spaces.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and the tops are golden and slightly crispy.
