I spent Labor Day weekend on the Jersey Shore with some friends, and when we weren't playing touch football or tennis, riding jet skis or frolicking in the warm Atlantic ocean, we ate, and ate, and ate some more. There was simple fresh fish, creamy New England Clam chowder and crispy fries our first night at Smitty's. A barbecue at home the next night with jalapeno-spiked burgers, roasted veggies (many of which came from two different farm shares), a clambake for 18 on Sunday, and homemade lobster rolls on Monday.

And then there was the one food we talked about the most on this trip, the real winner, the one I could wake up and eat every single morning (although I'd weigh 1,000 pounds if I did): my friend Judith's amazing monkey bread.

When we arrived in Ocean City on Friday, Judith stopped off at Bennie's Bread, to pick up two balls of homemade dough. Once we settled in at our friend April's house, she placed the dough in a bowl to rise. When the dough sufficiently expanded, she ripped it into chunks, put it in a bundt pan, poured a mixture of butter, cinnamon and sugar on top and let it rise again.

Judith was introduced to monkey bread by her husband Tim's family. Tim grew up with a bunch of brothers and every time they went to visit their aunt, she'd whip up a few batches. Our other friend Josh is also a huge monkey bread fan. In fact, he still vividly remembers the day a family friend came over and just cut a chunk off of a fresh loaf. He was shocked that she'd do such a thing since everyone knows you're supposed to ceremoniously pull pieces with your fingers. I, on the other hand, had never tried monkey bread. But all this talk about fresh dough, butter, sugar and cinnamon? Monkey bread sounded like my kind of sweet.

When Sunday finally rolled around and it was time to try the much talked about monkey bread, I felt like a kid on Christmas. I woke up early and ran upstairs where Judith was preparing to pop the bundt pan in the oven. The next 35 minutes were torturous. The kitchen filled up with the most enticing scent of warm bread, butter, sugar and cinnamon. Lots of other foods were being made -- English muffins, fruit salad, homemade scones -- but I was saving room for that monkey bread and am I glad I did.

When it finally emerged for the oven, swollen and glistening with the stickiest, most delicious looking butter-sugar glaze, I was speechless. Judith expertly flipped the monkey bread onto a plate, set it on the table, and within seconds, we were all pulling off chunks, oohing and ahhing while we licked our sweet and sticky fingers. It tasted like a cinnamon bun, but the bread dough gave each bite more texture and in some ways helped balance the ultra sweet flavors. It was best straight out of the oven, but we had no problem eating it the next day as well.

Judith was nice enough to share the recipe that she used, so I've listed it here. If you have a special monkey bread recipe that you like to use, I'd love to hear about it too!

Janet Kane's Mouthwatering Monkey Bread

Bread dough (enough for two loaves)
1 cup white sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter

Allow bread dough to rise (if using frozen dough, thaw overnight in fridge). Pull bread apart into chunks, about one inch in diameter. Combine white sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough balls in sugar mixture. Stack rolled dough balls in a bundt pan. Melt butter and brown sugar until boiling. Pour mixture over dough balls in bundt pan. Cover with plastic and allow dough to rise again to the top of the bundt pan.* Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Turn baked monkey bread onto a plate.

*Note: Once bread has risen again, it may be refrigerated overnight and baked in the morning if you desire a fresh-from-the-oven monkey bread breakfast.