Classic Monkey Bread January 30
I have always assumed that monkey bread gets its name from the fact that you need to pull it apart with your fingers to eat it, getting all sticky from cinnamon and caramel as you indulge in bite after bite of warm, sweet bread. The bread is nothing more than a big pile of dough balls that have been dunked in butter and sugar before baking. If you like gooey, sweet cinnamon rolls and warm, sugary donuts, you will love monkey bread.
There are a lot of recipes for monkey bread that use refrigerated biscuit dough. This bread is made entirely from scratch, starting with a simple, yeasted bread dough. The dough only has a little bit of butter and sugar in it to give it some flavor; the vast majority of the flavor of monkey bread comes from the butter, cinnamon and sugar coating that the dough is dipped into. I did give in and add a tiny bit of vanilla to the dough - although you could certainly leave it out - for a little bit more flavor.
It’s helpful if you have an assistant (or child) for making this recipe, as your fingers tend to get a bit messy when working with the dough. The balls are formed by hand, loosely rolled from small pieces of dough. Each one needs to be dipped in butter and rolled in sugar before it goes into the bundt pan for baking. The process doesn’t take too long and certainly isn’t difficult, but it’s nice to have two sets of hands moving things along (plus, the dough is easier to handle if your fingers aren’t covered in butter and sugar).
Monkey bread can really be made in any size or shape of pan, but it is most often found in a ring shape, like that of a bundt or kugelhopf pan. This large ring makes for a great presentation, and it also makes the hands-on food easily accessible to a big group - making it perfect for a family brunch or other get together.
Classic Monkey Bread
1/4 cup water, warm (100-110F)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (.25-oz)
3 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup milk, warm (100-110F)
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 cup butter, melted
Lightly grease a standard 10-in bundt pan with vegetable oil. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (all mixing can be done by hand, as well), combine warm water and yeast. Let stand for 2 minutes, until yeast is slightly foamy.
Stir in 1 cup of the flour, along with the salt, sugar, vanilla, egg, 2 tbsp melted butter and warm milk. Mix well, until dough is fairly smooth. Put the dough hook attachment onto your mixer and gradually add in the remaining flour, mixing at medium speed until dough comes easily away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for 3-4 minutes on medium speed. Remove dough hook and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar and spices. Place melted butter in a nearby bowl and get a fork out, as well.
Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and gently deflate so that dough is relatively flat (maybe 1/2-3/4 inch thick) Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut off small pieces of dough to form 1/2 to 1-inch balls (I prefer slightly smaller ones, personally). As you cut each piece of dough, roll it into a ball in the palms of your hands. Dunk each ball in butter, use the fork to remove it and transfer it to the sugar mixture to be thoroughly coated. Place all coated dough balls into prepared bundt pan.
Once all balls have been coated and places in the pan, cover the pan lightly with plastic wrap and let bread rise for 60 minutes, until almost doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350F while the bread rises.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Bread will spring back when lightly pressed.
Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a serving platter. Eat immediately (or reheat leftovers), as the bread is best served warm and gooey.
Serves 10 (or 4-5 people with big sweet tooths!)
mutritious nuffins Jan 30
I love monkey bread! We used to have this frequently on Saturdays when I was a kid. And then mom decided to eat more healthily, and the rotation of the recipe went out the window. Oh well. It is nice to see that this dish is still alive and kicking in other households. It looks as good as I remember!
Jenni Jan 30
I love monkey bread. I like the variation w/orange zest and cardamom. On the other end of the spectrum, I even liked the kind made from the blue tube of biscuits when a friend had made it that way.
Once those little balls of sugary goodness are in the pan, it’s really hard to wait for that second rise before eating!
You brought back some lovely childhood memories w/this post. Thanks:)
Jen Jan 31
Many friends have made monkey bread in the past, but I have never actually given it a try. It sounds like a great treat for the cold winter. I will definitely give your recipe a try!
Thanks!
Anonymous Jan 31
I have had the biscuit made Monkey Bread before but I like the sounds of this and want to give it a try. I am wondering if you can take the recipe to a certain step one day and then perhaps put it in the fridge so that it can be baked the next day for a nice warm morning treat. Do you think this is possible? Where would you stop in the process …. perhaps just after the coated balls are put in the pan? Maybe you would have to let it come to room temp before baking? Here’s hoping your vast baking knowledge can answer this for me. Love your blog!
Karen L Jan 31
I have had the biscuit made Monkey Bread before but I like the sounds of this and want to give it a try. I am wondering if you can take the recipe to a certain step one day and then perhaps put it in the fridge so that it can be baked the next day for a nice warm morning treat. Do you think this is possible? Where would you stop in the process …. perhaps just after the coated balls are put in the pan? Maybe you would have to let it come to room temp before baking? Here’s hoping your vast baking knowledge can answer this for me. Love your blog!
Nicole Jan 31
Karen - You are right that you can put the bread into the fridge and let it rise overnight before baking it in the morning. As you said, it would be just after the coated balls are put in the pan.
I would pull the bread out of the fridge while I preheated the oven (maybe 15-20 minutes) then bake it.
dudeguy Feb 1
It’s ok to have a comment.
Jenn’s Baking Chamber Feb 1
My mom makes these every year on christmas day and i love it, soooo good
Scott at Realepicurean Feb 1
Using an endangered animal in this way is just cruel! Looks delicious though. Now off to find some fresh monkey.
Acai Feb 1
Monkey bread is simple but so addicting. I have to hide it from my husband.
Michelle Feb 1
Looks delish! Do you think this could be made with dairy-free margarine instead of butter? My son is allergic to milk?
Nicole Feb 1
Michelle - I’m not sure how margarine would work out, but you could always give it a try and see. Please report back to let everyone know how it went!
Maureen Feb 2
Try making the monkey bread, dipping the dough balls into melted butter and garlic, then rolling them in Parmesan cheese. It’s delicious!
Steph Feb 2
When I was in Girl Scouts we always requested this girl’s mom to make her infamous “Plucky Cake” - we all absolutely loved it! - I tried searching for ‘Plucky Cake’ recipes so many times but never had luck; however, I recently discovered the Plucky Cake I loved so much was in fact Monkey Bread!!
Need A Nap2 Feb 5
Michelle,
I have only made the biscuit variety and I always use Parkay (margarine) and it’s always tasted delicious so I think it would work perfectly fine!
Rocío Feb 7
I´m very excited! After three years living in USA, Im back in Spain. One of my favorite treats there was the Monkey Bread but I was´t sure if I would be able to make this delicious recipe without the commercial biscuit dough. Now I am going to give it a try and bake one by myself….Wish me luck!
cinnamon Feb 11
I always wanted to bake a monkey bread and now reading your recipe I finely decided to do it today for may husband. Wish me luck!:):)
Amanda Feb 18
I just made this recipe and it’s absolutely amazing! I had a little extra brown sugar left over, and I used a cinnamon/clove/nutmeg mix instead of the allspice (I was all out), but it’s still fantastic. Thanks!
Sandy Apr 20
I am wondering if any of you have tried this with peacans? I know my late grandmother maid me some Pecan Rolls for my birhtday brought them over to me to have, but my step mom did not let me have them and threw them out, so I went over to grandma’s across the alley and told her about it, so grandma made me some more and took them to my late mother’s house that was the second house on the corner from my grandmothers. I was able to enjoy them.
Please let me know if you have made monkey bread with pecans. I sure would appreciate it.
sher Apr 28
made this recipe exactly as written; it was wonderful. thank you for this delicious treat
Lvpecery Jun 25
d0gdGg comment5 ,
SWEETS FROM THE HEART Jul 21
YOUR BLOG IS SUPER CUTE, THANKS FOR THE RECIPE
Sachet Aug 11
I love monkey bread my sister would make it with me as a child and now that I am older it’s something that my son and I share I love it!
Roha Oct 15
actually i tried it quiet many times and it turned out to be really delicious and i recommend it…i simply love it