We had a math emergency at my house the other day. I teach math to fifth graders, and since my son has taken trigonometry and pre-calculus, I assumed that he and my husband could both handle everyday household math. I was wrong.
Chaos ensued.
We have very few vices in my household, but one of them happens to be Monkey Bread. If you’ve never tried Monkey Bread, you’ve been missing out on something akin to the nectar of the gods. It’s not healthy for you, which is why I call it a vice, but it’s definitely worth the sin.
My son made Monkey Bread for a school potluck. The next day, we all decided we wanted some as well, but we only had one can of refrigerated biscuits. The recipe calls for three. I didn’t think that was a problem, because we could just cut the recipe into thirds.
The biscuits weren’t the problem. The trouble began when we got to the butter and sugar. The recipe calls for ½ cup.
“Mom, what’s 1/3 of ½ cup of butter?”
“You should be able to figure that out.”
Blank stare.
My husband intervened. “Here, give me the stick of butter. It has lines on it. I’ll just cut it on the fourth line.”
I calmly said, “But that won’t be the correct amount. That’s four tablespoons. Besides, what are you going to do when you have to reduce the sugar by 2/3?”
Two blank stares.
“Just put a bunch in a bowl and I’ll stir in some cinnamon,” my son suggested.
They turned their backs to me and proceeded to make their modified version of Monkey Bread.
It still turned out delicious, even without the recipe. But the frustration of the math part was almost more than my two men could bear.
And in case you’re wondering, 1/3 of ½ cup is 1/6 cup, which works out to 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons.
Monkey Bread
Ingredients:
3 cans refrigerated biscuit dough
½ cup of sweet cream butter
½ cup of granulated sugar
½ cup of packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons of nutmeg
Oven: 375˚
Tear the biscuits into fourths and spread one can in a layer on the bottom of a greased bundt pan. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle a third of the mixture over the biscuits. Repeat two more times. On medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar together, stirring constantly until smooth. Pour over the top of the biscuits and sugar mixture in the pan. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Immediately turn the pan upside down on a plate and let the Monkey Bread slip out. Cool for ten minutes before eating.
Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: math, fractions, baking, monkey bread
