Monkey Bread

December 03, 2022

This delicious, pull-apart Monkey Bread recipe is one that is a favorite for holiday and weekend mornings. Everyone will be happy!

If you like to make things homemade without shortcuts, then you’re going to like this recipe. It takes a bit of time because you’re going to be making homemade dough (instead of using frozen rolls or refrigerated biscuits). But it’s all worth it in the end. This Monkey Bread is one ooey, gooey, wonderful breakfast treat!

This pull-apart bread is a sweet treat that is so special to my family. I love to make it around special times like on Christmas morning or on a birthday. The best part? This is not a difficult (homemade) monkey bread recipe. It’s just a little time consuming. If you like working in the kitchen to prepare amazing things, then this recipe will work for you!

Also known as bubble bread, your entire family will be requesting the snack with the buttery brown sugar sauce every year- it’s that good!

Ingredients needed:

milk
water
unsalted butter
white sugar
rapid rise yeast
all purpose flour
salt
light brown sugar
ground cinnamon
powdered sugar

How to make Monkey Bread:

The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.

MAKE THE DOUGH:

Place a rack in the middle low position of your oven, making sure that there are no racks placed above it. Spray a bundt pan generously with nonstick spray.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the milk, water, melted butter, sugar and yeast. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the dough hook attachment to mix them together. With the machine on low, slowly add the milk mixture. When the dough begins to come together, increase the speed to medium and continue to mix until the dough is shiny and smooth. If the dough is too wet and isn’t coming together, add 2 to 4 additional tablespoons of flour (stop the machine once to scrape sides if you need to); this should take 6 to 7 minutes.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and work with your hands a little bit to form a smooth, round ball. Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl and spray the top lightly with nonstick spray as well. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel.
Turn your oven on 400 degrees and let it warm up for 1 minute. Turn it OFF. Turn ON the oven light. Place your covered bowl of dough into the warmed oven until the dough doubles in size, about 50 to 60 minutes.

MAKE THE OOEY GOOEY COATING:

When the dough is almost done rising, prepare the coating.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, melt the butter. Set aside.

PREPARE THE BREAD

Remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat into an 8 inch square. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 64 pieces (cut the square into 4 pieces and then cut each piece into 16 pieces). Roll each piece into a ball.
Dip a ball in the melted butter, then roll in brown sugar mixture; place into the bundt pan. Continue with remaining 63 balls of dough, layering the balls as they accumulate in the bundt pan. If you have any melted butter left over, drizzle a couple of tablespoons over the layered dough balls. Cover the bundt pan with a clean dish towel, and place back into the warmed oven to let the dough balls rise for another 50 to 60 minutes (they should get puffy and rise almost to the top of the pan.)
Remove the pan from the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove the dishtowel. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top has browned and ooey gooey caramel is bubbling around the edges. Cool in the pan for 2 to 3 minutes, then flip the bundt pan upside down onto a platter to remove the contents of the pan. Let sit on the platter for a few minutes to cool slightly before glazing.

What makes this the best monkey bread recipe?

This delicious, homemade monkey bread tastes like a gooey cinnamon roll without all of the hassle. With a few simple ingredients, you are able to make a special treat with endless variations.

A word of advice on this monkey bread recipe- I always make more than I think I will need. It is so tasty and sweet that everyone will keep coming back for more all day long.

ADD THE GLAZE (optional, but so delicious!)

In the bowl of your stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to mix powdered sugar and milk. Continue to mix until lumps are gone (scrape sides of the mixing bowl, if needed).
Spoon the glaze over the top and sides of the monkey bread.
Serve warm, allowing eaters to pull apart pieces of the bread and eat with their hands.

Monkey Bread FAQs

Here are a few of the questions that I always get surrounding this recipe. Since you are probably making it during a special event, make sure you keep reading to make this the best monkey bread your family has ever had…

What type of pan works best?

You want to make monkey bread in a large bowl then add to a type of tube pan like a greased bundt pan or a loaf pan. This will help the dough cook evenly during bake time and evenly distribute all that delicious melted butter and cinnamon sugar. Before you serve, flip the pan over onto your serving platter and get ready to enjoy.

Do I need homemade dough?

For this recipe, I like to use an easy recipe for homemade dough. If you need to prepare a pan of quick monkey bread, feel free to use a couple tubes of pre-made dough in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. All you need is some yeast, white sugar, flour, butter and your dough hook attachment on a stand mixer and you can make dough! try it- it’s easier than it sounds.

What is the best way to make dough pieces?

On a lightly floured surface, lay out your dough and slice it with a pizza cutter to make small biscuit pieces. Next roll into small dough balls that are small pieces that can be bite size before setting them into the tube pan. When you are feeding a lot of people at once, having bite-size pieces of dough makes serving that much simpler.

Make sure you lay out the dough in an even layer so that the butter mixture can get on all of the individual pieces. This makes every bite delicious so don’t skip it!

What to serve with monkey bread?

On the recipe card, I have included my favorite side to monkey bread, which is a powdered sugar and milk topping. It is my absolute favorite and I would recommend it to everyone making this treat.

For more dipping options, I love to have a side of caramel sauce or the icing that is used in cinnamon rolls. On occasion, I have even set out a small bowl of the extra cinnamon-sugar mixture.

What drinks go best with homemade monkey bread?

For drinks, I love serving milk, eggnog or even a spiked eggnog for the grown ups. Opting for a creamy beverage will help the sweetness from the monkey bread be more manageable so everyone can enjoy plenty of food.

How do you save leftovers?

Refrigerated, monkey bread can be saved in an airtight container for up to 5 days. When you are ready to enjoy, just warm up in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for 3 to 5 minutes or until the dough is warm.

It’s pull-apart gooey and delicious. Enjoy! Oh, and if you’d prefer to make a super quick and easy version of monkey bread, try making monkey bread muffins using frozen biscuit dough instead.

Favorite Breakfast Pastries:

Monkey Bread

Try to eat one bite. Just try!

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Keyword cinnamon, cinnamon bread, Monkey bread

Prep Time 50 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Rising Time 2 hours

Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 804kcal

Author RecipeGirl.com (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

Ingredients

DOUGH:

1 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees)
⅓ cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup granulated white sugar
1 package instant (rapid rise) yeast
3¼ cups all purpose flour (plus extra for surface work)
2 teaspoons salt

OOEY GOOEY COATING:

1¼ cups packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1¾ cups unsalted butter, melted

DRIZZLE GLAZE (optional):

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk