Gooey brown sugar & cinnamon spiced Monkey Bread is going to be your new family favorite treat! Great for dessert or serve it up for brunch!
So, can I ask? When do you usually indulge in your monkey bread? Is it for tea or coffee? A snack? Or are you like me and go for the sugar hit first thing in the morning? You see, this monkey bread recipe is perfect for a make ahead for breakfast the next morning and I love make ahead anything especially my favorite Breakfast Casserole. In fact, you can make the glaze and the brown sugar sauce the night before too, so that you’ve got literally nothing to do but heat up the oven. So, let’s chat a little bit about what makes this easy monkey bread recipe (aka cinnamon roll bites!) special.
BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON MONKEY BREAD
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Firstly, we’re talking made from scratch goodness. Yes, you can use a tin of biscuits, but why bother when this dough is so quick and easy. Literally, foolproof.
Secondly, you don’t need a bundt pan to make this monkey bread. I know, I used one in the photos but, if I hadn’t already had one, a loaf tin would have worked beautifully!
What is Monkey Bread?
Delicious balls of pull-apart yeast dough with any type of sweet or savory flavoring you want! You’ll find everything you need in this recipe for Monkey Bread.
How to make Monkey Bread
- Make delicious yeast balls
- Assemble by greasing either a Bundt pan or loaf pan with butter. In a medium bowl mix cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and sugar plus a pinch of salt. Spoon some of the melted butter and spiced sugar mix along with pecans into the bottom of the tin.
- Pull dough into small pieces and roll into balls. Dunk the dough balls into melted butter, excess to drain off then roll them into spiced sugar and place in tin, repeat until there is a full layer. Scatter the rest of the chopped nuts and repeat the same steps by coating the dough balls for the next layer. Sprinkle any leftover butter and spiced sugar mix on top.
- Cover the pan with oiled plastic wrap then leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr, or until risen and the dough no longer springs back when you poke it.
- Heat the oven to 350F. Bake the monkey bread for 35 mins, or until well risen and golden. Let the pan cool for 5 mins, then give it a sharp tap on the counter. Leave in the tin until just warm.
- See the rest of the recipe below for the brown sugar sauce and vanilla glaze!
Monkey Bread recipe tips for success
- Make sure that you use instant yeast as opposed to active dry yeast. All this means is that you can add the yeast straight into the flour. With active dry yeast it needs to be activated in warm water or in the case of this monkey bread it would need to be activated in the warm milk. Either will work, it’s just about knowing how to use each type.
- It really is worth it to make the sauce and the glaze. I know it may seem a bit extravagant to have a sauce and a glaze for this monkey bread, but trust me… it is so worth it. And I’ll confess, that brown sugar sauce was actually a mistake I made for another recipe. I couldn’t bear to waste it, so I poured it over the monkey bread and this new family classic is the result.
- Don’t sweat it if you don’t have a bundt tin. As I said before, if you don’t have a bundt pan, just use a loaf tin or any other cake tin that you love. But here’s the thing, doing this just means that you maybe need to exercise some judgment in the doneness area. A loaf tin will probably take about 10 minutes longer than a bundt version but will look equally amazing in the middle of the table with all your families’ hands getting sticky as fast as possible as they fight over the last bit.
Okay. So, let’s recap! Rich buttery dough, cinnamon spiced sugar, brown sugar butter sauce, and a milky icing sugar glaze. What else do you need??? Maybe these recipes for a sweet dutch baby or this recipe for a pear and cardamom cake?! They’re my other go-to’s for a sweet start to the day!
Sorry, that’s a trick question.
You don’t need anything else! This is the first and last word on sticky, saucy, gooey monkey bread!
Make ahead breakfasts are our favorite, but here are some other amazing breakfast recipes that will make everyone happy!
- Caramel Apple and Pecan Pancakes
- Chorizo and Potato Breakfast Tacos
- Fruity Croissant Puff with Vanilla Bean Glaze
- Chocolate PB Smoothie Bowl
- Tropical Muffins
- More breakfast recipes…
Tools used to make this Brown Sugar Cinnamon Monkey Bread recipe
Medium Saucepan: I don’t what I’d do without this saucepan. It gets used in my kitchen every day.
Glass Mixing Bowl: These mixing bowls are perfect for mixing and serving. I love the varied sizes so I always have to right size bowl for all my mixing needs.
Bundt Pan: I use Bundt pans for so many things both sweet and savory, it’s an easy way to make things look so good!
Loaf Pan: This loaf pan is a staple and must have!
Clingwrap: Wrap up your dishes for storing or save leftovers. Plastic wrap is a must have for any kitchen.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup milk
- ⅓ cup butter
- 2 large eggs
- 3 ½ cups flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast (fast-acting dry yeast)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- oil or butter for greasing the tin
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup pecans lightly toasted and chopped
Brown Sugar Sauce
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
Vanilla Glaze
- 1 cup icing sugar sifted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- pinch of cinnamon
Instructions
Dough
- Put the milk and butter into a medium pan and heat gently until the butter melts and the milk is at a simmer. Cool for a few mins then beat in the eggs with a fork. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl, then add the liquid and stir to a sticky dough. Leave for 5 mins.
- Tip dough onto a floured worktop and knead for 5-10 mins until smooth and springy. Use a little oil to grease a large bowl, add the dough, turn it in the oil to coat, then cover the bowl with clingfilm. Leave in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size. Knead in a tabletop mixer with a dough hook if you prefer.
- To assemble, grease a 10-inch bundt pan with butter. Melt the rest of the butter in a pan. In a medium bowl mix the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and sugar plus a pinch of salt. Spoon 2 tbsp melted butter, 3 tbsp spiced sugar and 4 tbsp pecans into the bottom of the tin.
- Pull the dough into about 65 small pieces and roll into balls. Taking 4 or 5 at a time, dunk the dough balls into the melted butter, let the excess drain off, then tip them into the spiced sugar. Roll to coat, then put haphazardly into the tin. Repeat until there’s a full layer of dough in the tin. Scatter with the rest of the chopped nuts, then carry on filling the tin with the coated dough balls. Tip any leftover sugar and butter over the dough. Can be frozen now for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge then let proof.
- Cover the pan with oiled plastic wrap then leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr, or until risen and the dough no longer springs back when you poke it.
- Heat the oven to 350F. Bake the monkey bread for 35 mins, or until well risen and golden. Let the pan cool for 5 mins, then give it a sharp tap on the counter. Leave in the tin until just warm.
Brown Sugar Sauce
- Melt the butter and brown sugar together in a small pan and the warm sauce over the monkey bread. Leave to cool.
Vanilla Glaze
- Whisk all of the ingredients together to make the glaze. It will thicken as the melted butter cools. Turn the monkey bread onto a serving plate, then drizzle with the glaze and top with any leftover pecans.
Nutrition
Pam Sury says
I make a recipe very similar to this but I use 3 cans of biscuits; cut them into 4ths, toss in a bowl of cinnamon and sugar then, put into the bundt pan, pour melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon mixture then bake. Pam