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Kids and adults love this gooey, easy monkey bread made with just five simple ingredients! Easy to pull apart and perfect for any brunch! You can also make them as muffins!
If you’re looking more bread recipes try my pumpkin bread and banana bread!
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Easy Monkey Bread (With Just 5 Ingredients!)
Tried and True Favorite: I’ve been making this easy monkey bread since my nanny days, entertaining kids on Friday nights – it was always a blast (and still is 20 years later)!
Perfect for Sharing: Whether it’s brunch, Saturday mornings, or dessert, everyone loves gathering around to pull apart this gooey, cinnamon-sugar goodness.
Super Simple: Just five easy-to-find ingredients and minimal prep – plus you can bake it in a bundt pan, loaf pan, or even turn it into monkey bread muffins!
Kid-Friendly Fun: Rolling dough in butter and cinnamon sugar is the best kid activity and the smell of it baking? Pure magic.
Monkey Bread Ingredient Notes
Butter adds richness and moisture, keeping the bread soft and gooey. Use it to dip the dough balls and drizzle on top..
Canned Biscuits: Two cans of biscuit dough (like Immaculate Organic Flaky Biscuits or Pillsbury Biscuits) make for a gooey, delicious monkey bread.
Dark Brown Sugar: Adds deep, caramelized sweetness and a golden-brown color.
Cinnamon: Brings that warm, spiced flavor and signature brown hue.
Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness when mixed with cinnamon for the coating.
How to Make Monkey Bread
1. Prepare the Dough: Tear biscuit dough into small pieces and roll each into a ball, about 3 tablespoons each.
2. Prep the Pan: Grease a deep loaf pan or bundt pan with butter or cooking spray.
3. Coat the Dough: Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Roll each dough ball in the mixture until fully coated.
4. Assemble: Layer the coated dough balls in the pan. Sprinkle 1/8 cup of brown sugar over the first layer, add another layer of dough, and sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar on top.
5. Bake: Melt butter and pour it over the assembled dough. Sprinkle with extra cinnamon sugar if you have it. Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown and fully cooked.
Easy Glaze Recipe
For an extra touch of sweetness, drizzle a simple glaze over the monkey bread:
- Ingredients: Mix ¼ cup powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk until smooth.
- Alternative: Try drizzling our easy caramel sauce over the top for a sticky, buttery finish!
Another option is to drizzle my easy caramel sauce over the top as a glaze. It becomes like sticky bread and is full of buttery caramel flavor!
Recipe Tips
Boost the Flavor: Add fresh orange zest and a pinch of cardamom to the cinnamon-sugar mix for a bright, fragrant twist.
Make It Richer: Sprinkle chocolate chips and dollops of peanut butter between the dough layers for an indulgent version.
Add Fruit: Toss in small diced apple pieces and drizzle caramel sauce over the layers for a cozy caramel apple flavor.
Prep Ahead: Assemble everything the night before, cover, and refrigerate. Bake in the morning, adding a few extra minutes if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you prefer homemade, simply roll out your dough and cut it into small pieces before coating.
Ensure your pan is well-greased with butter, and let the bread cool briefly before inverting to release quickly.
Yes, assemble it in the pan, cover, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake as directed with a few extra minutes if needed.
It’s best served warm when soft and gooey, but it’s still delicious at room temperature.
Though you’ve probably seen many store-bought versions come in the traditional Bundt shape, it’s unnecessary. Monkey bread cooks in a bread pan, a cookie sheet, ramekins, or a loaf pan.
If you prefer to use a tube pan, that is fine. If you release it from the bundt pan, ensure the sides are greased.
You want to be careful to balance the thickness to avoid uneven cooking.
It’s a gooey, sweet pull-apart bread made with dough, butter, cinnamon, and sugar. It can be baked in a bundt or loaf pan until the dough is golden and perfect. Once the bread is done, a glaze is drizzled over the top. It’s one of the easiest desserts to make and SO incredibly tasty.
Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!
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Easy Monkey Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Monkey Bread Recipe
- 2 cans biscuit dough
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup butter, use 1/2 cup butter if you want less
Simple Glaze
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Break the biscuits into small balls of dough.
- Roll the dough into small balls, about 3 tablespoons per ball.
- Grease an entire deep-dish loaf pan with butter. You can also use a bundt pan for this recipe. Cooking spray is another option for greasing the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Combine cinnamon and sugar in a medium bowl and stir.
- Roll each dough piece in the cinnamon mixture.
- Add a single layer of dough balls to the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle 1/8 cup of the brown sugar over the layer, leaving the other 1/8 cup for the next layer.
- Continue creating another layer of dough over the first layer, and sprinkle brown sugar over the top.
- Depending on the size of the pan, you should have two layers of dough balls in the pan. You might have extra dough, but you don’t need it.
- Melt the butter and pour it over the top of the dough before baking.
- Sprinkle on some of the leftover cinnamon and sugar mixture.
- Then, bake the bread in a 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes. Check the directions for how long to cook depending on what biscuits you’re using.
- The monkey bread will be golden brown on the top and that’s what you want. It’s important to cook all the way through so you don’t have a doughy inside.
- To make the glaze, add 1/4 cup powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon milk and mix until smooth.
- Pour over the monkey bread before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The directions in the blurb at the start of the post are different from the directions on the recipe card. Makes things confusing. I would also agree with another commenter that it’s way too much butter, should not have bubbled over as much as it did.
Can you do this with cinnamon rolls instead of biscuits or croissants?
Calls for way too much butter, I used less and it still boiled over and burned on the bottom of my oven. It also just doesn’t taste right to use canned biscuits for this recipe, too salty.
Probably needed unsalted butter
Tried this amazing Monkey Bread today and my husband and I cannot stop eating it! So delicious!
These are good but the recipe is confusing –
4. combine cinnamon and sugars or just the cinnamon and white sugar – since later you are supposed to sprinkle with brown sugar – or the brown sugar mix?
6. Coat the bottom (with the cinnamon covered balls?)
It would help to have the ingredients listed as they are used. This is why #4 is confusing to start.
Check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions.