This EASY pull-apart monkey bread recipe is made with balls of refrigerated biscuit dough rolled in cinnamon-sugar and coated with a luscious brown sugar sauce. Stick them all in a pan, bake, and drizzle with a quick vanilla icing. Totally irresistible!
Monkey bread is a type of sweet tear-apart bread. It’s one of those treats that looks fancy, but is incredibly simple to make. This recipe uses refrigerated canned biscuit dough that is dipped into melted butter before being rolled in cinnamon-sugar. The dough is layered in a bundt pan, covered with buttery brown sugar sauce, and then drizzled with a quick vanilla icing after baking. Everyone tears off pieces and piles them on their plates, like monkeys around a treat!
I guarantee that no one in your house will be able to resist digging into this soft, flaky, ooey-gooey cinnamon pull-apart bread. It’s hard to stop snacking on it. The pull apart factor makes it easy to grab a few pieces and munch throughout the day and it’s so good, you’ll want to.
Why This Monkey Bread Is So Good
- Like cinnamon rolls, without the work. Traditional cinnamon sugar monkey bread has all the flavor of a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls, without the effort of actually making cinnamon rolls from scratch. (My cinnamon roll snack cake is another such recipe, just saying.)
- So much fun. I love getting the kids involved whenever I make monkey bread. It’s a great rainy day activity and they have loads of fun making it. And, of course, pulling it apart afterward like little monkeys!
- Use canned biscuit dough as a shortcut. You could make the dough from scratch if you have a recipe that you love. I simply use refrigerated biscuit dough because it makes this monkey bread that much easier.
- Endless customizing. Stuff the dough balls with fillings like Nutella, jam, or chocolate. It’s an easy way to take your monkey bread from breakfast to dessert. I especially love this apple fritter monkey bread in the fall.
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what you’ll need to make quick, classic cinnamon monkey bread. The exact measurements can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Refrigerated biscuit dough – Such as Pillsbury.
- Butter – Melted for dipping, to help the cinnamon sugar adhere to the dough. This can be salted or unsalted butter.
- Cinnamon and granulated sugar – For coating the dough balls.
- Brown sugar – You’ll combine the brown sugar with more melted butter and vanilla extract to make the sugar sauce.
- Powdered sugar – Combined with milk and vanilla extract to make a simple vanilla icing.
How to Make Monkey Bread
One of the things I love about making monkey bread is that it’s fun and easy, which means that kids like to help. Dipping the dough it in butter and cinnamon-sugar is a great hands-on activity for busy little ones. Here’s how to make it:
Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and melt 1/2 a cup of the butter.
Dip each biscuit piece into the melted butter and shake off the excess…
… then coat it well in cinnamon sugar.
Add the biscuit pieces to a well-greased 12-cup fluted tube pan or bundt pan pan.
Combine the brown sugar, remaining melted butter and vanilla extract and pour evenly over the top of the biscuits in the pan.
Bake at 350ºF for 35-45 minutes or until golden. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a plate.
After you’ve inverted the monkey bread, whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Drizzle over the monkey bread while it’s still warm. If you have leftover icing, save it for serving. You can dip the bread pieces in it!
Tips for the Best Monkey Bread
- Grease the pan. Don’t skip this step! Generously grease the pan with baking spray or shortening. With all the sugar in this monkey bread, you don’t want things to stick.
- Don’t allow it to cool in the pan for too long. Since the dough is coated in lots of sugary goodness it can get stuck in the pan if allowed to cool for too long. The sticky glaze will start to solidify and stick to the sides.
- Variation ideas: You can add some nuts, some fresh fruit into the mix, or even swap out the biscuit dough for refrigerated cinnamon roll dough!
- For an easy morning treat, make this recipe ahead. Just follow the instructions up to layering the dough balls in the pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Then in the morning you can proceed with making the buttery glaze, baking your monkey bread and drizzling it with icing.
Serving Monkey Bread
This pastry is meant to be eaten with your fingers, so you really don’t have to do anything fancy to serve it. Just pull off a piece and pop it into your mouth! That being said, I’ve also been known to enjoy monkey bread topped with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream and fruit.
And of course, it always goes well with a hot cup of coffee in the morning, or a cold glass of milk at night. This easy treat makes a great holiday dessert, or you can enjoy it anytime, anywhere.
More Sweet Breakfast Recipes
Easy Monkey Bread
save this recipe
Enter your email & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus get new recipes from us every week!
Ingredients
Monkey Bread
- 1 ½ cups (310g) granulated sugar
- 3 ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cans refrigerated biscuit dough (16.3 oz each refrigerated biscuit dough such as Pillsbury)
- 1 cup (225g) brown sugar (packed)
- 1 ¼ cups salted butter (divided, melted)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- 1 cup (115g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 12-cup fluted tube pan or bundt pan with baking spray.
- Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
- Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and melt a ½ cup of the butter.
- Dip each biscuit piece into the melted butter and shake off the excess, then coat it well in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Add the biscuit pieces to the prepared pan.
- Combine the brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract and pour evenly over the top of the biscuits in the pan.
- Bake 35-45 minutes or until golden. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a plate.
- Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract together and drizzle over the monkey bread, then serve warm with any remaining icing.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Categories:
Breakfast, Christmas, Easter, Holidays, Other Sweets, Recipes, Recipes with video, Sweets and Treats, Thanksgiving,
How many Servings?
Family staple in our house! Thanks for the recipe!
How long does it last? Do you need to store it in the fridge for long-term?
It should be good for 2-3 days. You can store it covered with clear wrap or in an air-tight container at room temperature.
I’d like to make this for the holidays. Do you think I can make it ahead of time and freeze it? Either before or after baking?
Thanks!
I think that’d be fine. I’d probably prep it right up until you bake it and then freeze it, so that it’s a little more “freshly baked” and warm when you do use it. But you could bake it and then freeze it too.
Thanks for your quick response. Can’t wait to try it!
I made the monkey bread and I used a square baking dish a pirates small baking dish and it came out wonderful we just cut it out like a coffee cake and I dressled all the icing most of the icing on it and then we did have some on the side had it with our coffee for breakfast it was amazing amazing and easy to put together and do was very relaxing got it done and the way it was explained on the recipe ingredients and directions easy peasy anybody can make this it is the best monkey bread I have ever tasted and that I made I’m going to do it more and more and share it with my family and friends thank you for your recipe. Sincerely Christine frontino frontino. ♥️🌟🎊
So glad you enjoyed it!
Is there a savory recipe to make using the monkey bread process such as Italian garlic or even a Greek version using feta and Parmesan
Oh my, those sound delicious. I’m sure you could. I just haven’t tested them or anything.
Can you not add Icing?
I’m not sure what you’re asking. There is an icing recipe listed.
Huge fan of Lindsay’s recipes, especially the cheesecakes, and this one is another hit! Only one complaint and that regarding the butter. The recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups divided- 1/2 cup for the biscuits which leaves 3/4 cup butter for the topping. The recipe should specify the numbers instead of saying “divided”. Being nit-picky I know but for someone who is anal-retentive, I like SPECIFIC instructions. Thank you Lindsay.
Wow….that looks lovely! Monkey bread is a staple in my household, will have to try that one out.