Experience the deliciousness of monkey bread in a whole new way with these bite-sized muffins! Perfect for a quick breakfast or snack, these monkey bread muffins are ready in less than 30 minutes and made with just a few ingredients.Â
This fun twist on the classic recipe preserves traditional monkey bread’s soft, gooey texture. It’s a great alternative to my classic monkey bread but made in muffin tins for individual servings.Â
These are perfect for brunches, Christmas mornings, or even an afternoon snack! These have become a favorite treat in our home and make the perfect breakfast when paired with a fresh fruit platter.
I’ve been making easy monkey bread muffins for years. The flavor is similar to cinnamon rolls but a lot easier to make. These cinnamon and sugar muffins are covered in brown butter icing, adding even more flavor. Add pecans or zest over the top for a festive taste! This recipe is perfect to make any time of year.Â
I love that each muffin has layers of buttery dough that you can pull apart. The glaze seeps through the layers, creating the ultimate monkey bread muffin. The edges are golden brown and crispy, and the middle is a perfect, sweet, soft biscuit.
Check out more of my muffin recipes: blueberry muffins, orange cranberry muffins, banana blueberry muffins, blackberry muffins, pistachio muffins, and my very popular coconut loaf. They’re all fantastic and perfect brunch recipes.
Monkey Bread Muffins
These are fun to make and great for kids to participate, too! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Muffin Pan + Muffin Liners: 6-cup muffin tins work for these muffins.
- Mixing Bowls: A large bowl and a medium bowl.
Ingredient Notes and Shopping List
This is an easy monkey bread muffin recipe using simple ingredients. You can find all of these ingredients at your local grocery store.
The full recipe and measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Refrigerated Biscuits—We use Pillsbury Grand Flakey Biscuits. Canned biscuits make this one of our easy recipes!
- Granulated Sugar: White sugar sweetens the recipe and is used to roll the dough.
- Ground Cinnamon: Adds flavor and a little spice. It’s mixed with the sugar to roll the dough in.
- Ground Cardamom: One of our favorite spices! It can be left out, but we love the flavor it adds to these muffins.
- Melted butter:Â Adds flavor and a super moist texture. It is used to roll the dough and make a brown butter glaze.
- Confectioners Sugar: Also known as powdered sugar, it makes a sweet and creamy glaze.
Monkey Bread Muffins in 5 Steps
1. Prepare a muffin tin with liners. Then, cut each biscuit layer into 4 small biscuit pieces and roll each piece into small balls.
2. Dip one ball at a time in the butter first, then roll in cinnamon and sugar.
3. Add 5 small balls covered in sugar into each muffin tin, gently pressing down.
4. Lastly, bake in a 350-degree preheated oven for 10 minutes or until the muffins are done. Bake time will vary.
5. The tops of the muffins will be golden brown and have almost doubled in size
Brown Butter Glaze
We top these monkey bread muffins with a delicious, homemade brown butter glaze. It adds so much gooeyness and deliciousness to the muffins!
It’s made with butter, confectioners, sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and a little cardamom for extra flavor.
- Combine the sugar, vanilla, cardamom, and milk in a mixing bowl.Â
- In a small saucepan, brown the butter by letting it simmer for about 10 minutes until it starts to brown.
- Pour the browned butter over the sugar and whisk until it’s smooth as icing.Â
You can also make a caramel sauce to drizzle over the muffins.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Only add up to 5 little biscuit balls to each muffin tin.Â
- Swap out the cardamom for nutmeg or another fall spice.Â
- Double this recipe to make 12 muffins.Â
- There is no need to shake the dough balls in a bag with the cinnamon and sugar; rolling them in the sugar mixture after dipping them in butter works perfectly.
- If you’re using frozen biscuit dough, let it thaw on the counter before making the muffins.
- Serve these when they’re warm for the best flavor and texture.
- Add chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds to the top of the muffins.Â
- Add dried fruit, like chopped cranberries or dried orange slices. Chocolate chips would be good too!
Make These Ahead of Time
If you want to make these muffins ahead of time, you can! Follow all of the steps right before they are baked. Instead of baking them, cover them in the muffin tin with plastic wrap or tinfoil.
Refrigerate overnight, remove the wrap, and bake when ready to bake the next day. Baking time may vary a little when they’re cold.Â
You can also make the glaze and whip it again before drizzling it over warm muffins.
How to Store
While it’s rare to have leftovers of these delectable monkey bread muffins, should you find yourself with extras, here’s the best way to ensure they remain as delicious as when they were first baked:
At Room Temperature: Tuck them away in a tightly sealed container, where they’ll stay fresh for up to 48 hours.
In the Fridge: For a longer storage solution, place them in the refrigerator. They can last for up to four days, keeping their delightful flavors intact.
Warming Them Up:Â You can microwave for about 10 to 15 seconds, which brings back their warm, gooey goodness. Alternatively, you can warm them in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.
More Brunch Recipes
If you love this recipe, here are my favorite brunch recipes!
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Monkey Bread Muffins
Ingredients
Monkey Bread Muffins
- 1 can biscuits , Pillsbury Grand (we used extra butter!)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Brown Butter Glaze
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, browned
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp milk
Instructions
Monkey Bread Muffins
- Prepare and muffin tin with liners. This recipe makes 6 muffins.
- Melt butter in one bowl and combine cinnamon, sugar and cardamom in another bowl.
- Pull apart the refrigerated biscuits.
- Cut each biscuit layer into four small pieces and roll each piece into small balls.
- Dip one ball at a time in the butter first and then roll in cinnamon and sugar.Â
- Add five small balls covered in sugar into each muffin tin, gently pressing down.Â
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until the muffins are done.
Brown Butter Glaze
- Combine sugar, vanilla, cardamom, and milk in a mixing bowl.Â
- In a small saucepan, brown the butter by letting it simmer for about 10 minutes until it starts to brown.
- Pour the browned butter over the sugar and whisk until it's smooth as icing.Â
- Drizzle the icing over the monkey bread muffins and serve while warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Monkey bread is a sweet, gooey cinnamon roll-like bread made from balls of dough rolled in cinnamon sugar. It has biscuit dough, cinnamon, white sugar, and butter. It is baked to create a unique, sticky cinnamon bread for brunch.
The muffins will puff up and almost double in size. The tops will be golden brown, and the butter will be bubbly.
Use a toothpick or fork to poke in the center of the muffin. You want to aim for the thicker parts. A clean toothpick means done, and a sticky one means the muffins need another minute.
Monkey bread muffins do not require a bundt pan. You can make them using a regular muffin tin or cupcake tin.Â
Monkey bread does not have to be refrigerated. The bread can be stored at room temperature in a cool, dry place for up to 4 days. If you want to extend the shelf-life of your monkey bread, you can wrap it tightly and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
There are a few theories on why this treat is called monkey bread. Some think it’s because you must use your fingers to pull apart the pieces, similar to how monkeys eat. Others say it’s because the balls of dough resemble monkey brains. Regardless of the origin, one thing is for sure—it’s delicious!
We do recommend refrigerating leftover muffins. However, you can leave them out for one day and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They are best served warm, so no matter how you store them, we recommend warming them up before eating.Â
Can you not add the Ground Cardamom?
You don’t have to add the ground cardamom if you prefer not too 🙂
This is such an awesome muffin recipe. It brings together a classic monkey bread with a muffin, so easy to eat this way too, and perfect portions. So yummy and such a great idea!
This recipe is so easy and delish. I love making it with the kiddos. I like that you can freeze them for later too.