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Once you start eating Monkey Bread, it’s really hard to stop! This pull-apart bread is soaked in cinnamon, sugar, and butter and couldn’t be easier to make.
It is a simple pull-apart bread is OOZING everything that is delicious about breakfast sweets: Cinnamon, sugar, and butter.
This tasty bread is a brunch staple across the Midwest, especially at the holidays. A big thank you shout-out to my sister-in-law Erin, an Iowa native, for sharing her family’s version! It’s a keeper.
Table of Contents
How do I make Monkey Bread?
Start with refrigerated biscuits (aka “exploding biscuits” in some circles), quarter, and toss them in a simple cinnamon-sugar topping.
Add them to your bundt pan, then smother in a mixture of boiled sugar, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Why do you call it Monkey Bread?
The name comes from the fact that you can eat this delicious dessert by hand. You can pick it apart with your fingers the way a monkey would. (source: Wikipedia)
It is also known as:
- Monkey puzzle bread
- Sticky bread
- Hungarian coffee cake
- Golden crown
- Pinch-me cake
- Pluck-it cake
- Pull-apart cake
Does Monkey Bread need to be refrigerated?
No need to refrigerate the bread. It could dry out and become stale, and you will have to call it funky monkey bread.
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Monkey Bread
Ingredients
For the Monkey Bread:
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar divided
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon divided
- 4 (7.5 ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (see notes)
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a Bundt pan generously with vegetable shortening or nonstick spray.
- Whisk 2/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut biscuit dough into quarters. Drop the dough pieces into the sugar and cinnamon mixture in batches, tossing to coat. Transfer to prepared pan.
- In a small saucepan, combine remaining 2/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon with butter and vanilla. Bring to a boil and pour evenly over the dough.
- Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool about 10 minutes in the pan, turning out onto a serving plate while the bread is still warm. Loosen around the edges of the pan with a plastic knife if necessary to help dislodge the bread.
- Meanwhile, whisk together powdered sugar, water, and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over the bread and serve warm.
- To reheat the bread from room temperature, warm in a 350°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Question: Can u make this in any other kind of pan? Looks so yummy but I have no Bundt pan. ☹
Hi Cherie, yes! The bake time may vary and depending on the pan, you may need to slide a knife along the side to get the bread to release. Hope this helps! – Meggan