My monkey bread recipe is a homemade cinnamon sugar dessert made entirely from scratch with a soft and fluffy milk bread-style dough. I coat each piece in butter and brown sugar, then bake everything in a Bundt pan until golden brown. With about 20 minutes of hands-on prep plus rising and baking time, you get the ultimate pull-apart treat to share with family and friends.
The first time I tried monkey bread was at a Bible study back in 2010. I had never had it or heard of it in my life. It was a buttery, gooey, soft dessert, somewhere between a cinnamon roll and a doughnut, and I loved it immediately. Then I found out most people make it with canned biscuit dough. Nothing wrong with that, and I get why the convenience wins on a Saturday morning. But, you know me, I like to know exactly what is in my food, and I like to control the technique so I can see if I can beat the original. I put the from-scratch version on the same tier of weekend baking as my homemade brioche bread and my classic coffee cake. I knew this one was a keeper the first time I baked it, made with my own two hands.
Monkey Bread Recipe
Monkey bread is a pull-apart sweet bread, baked in a bundt or tube pan. The small pieces of yeast dough are individually coated in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar before they are stacked into the pan and baked together. The result is one delicious sticky loaf that tears apart in the hand at the table.
My recipe is pretty unique, I swap the classic can of biscuit dough for a homemade milk-bread-style yeast dough. Since the finished bake is already heavy from all the butter and brown sugar, I’m game if I can lighten the dough slightly without losing flavor. I also add vanilla to the dough, which I don’t see in other hundreds of monkey bread recipes online. It gives the crumb a soft and caramelized sweetness beneath the coating. Caramelly goodness for sure!
From there, the recipe is super easy. I mix and knead a soft yeast dough in a stand mixer, let it proof until it triples in size. From there, I pinch off 40 to 50 small balls, roll each one in melted butter and cinnamon brown sugar. Then stack them in a buttered Bundt pan and bake until the top is dark golden brown. I pour any leftover melted butter and cinnamon sugar over the top before it goes into the oven because, with a dessert like this, dang why not.
Now, let me show you exactly how to make it step by step so you can nail it too. I recommend to follow my chef tips along the way. You’ve got this, my friends!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here are the ingredients I use to make this Monkey Bread Recipe, split by the dough and the coating, and what each one brings to the bake:
For the dough:
- Whole milk – The main hydration of the dough, and the reason the yeast has something warm and rich to activate in. Whole milk brings more fat, which means more flavor and a softer crumb; skim, 1%, or 2% will all work.
- Vanilla extract is the ingredient I do not see anywhere else on a monkey bread dough. Honestly, it’s what makes the crumb taste soft, sweet, and slightly caramelized before the coating even gets on it. The seeds of one fresh vanilla bean is a straight swap if you want to go that direction.
- Active dry yeast – The leavening. This is what puts the air into the dough and gives the finished bake its light airy texture. Instant yeast is a swap, and fresh yeast works if you double the amount.
- Kosher salt seasons the dough and helps the crumb take on color as it bakes. I have been using Diamond Crystal lately.
- Granulated sugar; two jobs at once. It feeds the yeast so the dough proofs faster and stronger, and it adds a base sweetness and helps the crust color in the oven.
- Large egg – Brings richness, color, and structure to the dough. Room-temperature or straight from the fridge is fine.
- Unsalted butter, melted – Fat in the dough itself, which is what takes it from bread territory toward soft roll territory and gives the crumb its tenderness. I always use unsalted so I control the sodium.
- All-purpose flour – The structure of the dough, and the reason it can hold gas and rise tall. Bread flour is a swap if you want a slightly chewier crumb.
For the coating:
- Unsalted butter, melted – The wet coat that sticks the cinnamon-sugar onto every ball, and the fat that lets the outside of the bake caramelize in the pan. Do not skimp.
- Ground cinnamon – The warm and sweet-spicy flavor that defines the whole bake. There is no substitute for it here, and no other flavor ties this dessert together the way cinnamon does with sugar.
- Light brown sugar has to be packed. This is where the caramel-like flavor of the crust comes from once the sugar melts in the pan and cooks with the butter. Granulated is a swap, but brown gives a richer, more toffee-forward finish because of the molasses. Dark brown works too if that is what is on the shelf.
- Pinch of salt is what season up the coating to balance things out.
How to Make Monkey Bread
Wet ingredients into the mixer bowl: Add the warm milk, vanilla, yeast, salt, sugar, egg, and melted butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk together until combined. The milk should be 105 to 110 degrees. Colder and the yeast is sluggish; hotter and the yeast dies before it starts.
Knead the dough: Fit the mixer with the dough hook and add the flour on low speed in 3 batches, letting each batch mix in before the next one goes in. Once all the flour is in, knead on low for 15 minutes. The dough is ready when it clears the sides of the bowl and stops sticking.
Proof until doubled or tripled: Cover the mixer bowl with plastic or transfer the dough to a container with a lid. Set it in a warm spot for about 60 minutes, until the dough has doubled or even tripled. Check my pro tip below for more details.
Roll the balls: Punch the dough down. Then pinch off pieces about the size of a small ping-pong ball and roll each one into a tight, taut ball between your hands or on the cutting board. Work through the whole batch. You should get 40 to 50 balls.
Set up the coating: Put the melted butter in one medium bowl. Then in a second medium bowl, stir together the cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt until combined.
Dip and stack: Dip one dough ball into the melted butter, let the excess drip off, then roll it in the cinnamon-brown-sugar mix until fully coated. Drop it into a buttered or sprayed 10-to-12-cup Bundt pan. Repeat with every ball, stacking them next to each other and on top of each other to fill the pan. Once the pan is full, let it rest 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees with no fan.
Pour the leftover butter and sugar over the top: Drizzle any remaining melted butter and cinnamon-sugar mix across the top of the pan before it goes in the oven.
Bake: Set the Bundt pan on a sheet tray to catch any overflow and bake on a middle rack at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. The top will be dark brown, and the dough will be firm when it’s done. An instant-read thermometer in the thickest part should read 195 degrees or higher when the bake is done.
Rest, invert, and serve: Take the pan out and let it rest 6 to 8 minutes before inverting it. The rest is not optional ok. I like serving this warm.
Chef Tip + Notes
The key to success when making this monkey bread recipe is getting the dough hydration right during the kneading stage. Based on my experience, a dough that is too wet is where you guys could run into trouble. If the dough is still sticking to the sides of the mixer bowl halfway through the 15-minute knead, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour. Keep going until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Let me tell you, I tested this recipe several times, and the ingredient amounts are spot on, so you may not need any additional flour. However, hydration can vary from house to house depending on the flour and humidity.
- Use the oven-light proofing trick. Here is the proofing trick I have used for the last 10 years: put the covered dough on a rack inside a cool oven, no heat on, with the door cracked open and the interior light left on. The bulb alone holds the oven at 80 to 85 degrees, which is a near-perfect proofing environment, and doughs that would normally double in an hour will triple in the same window.
- Pour the leftover butter and sugar over the top before baking: Any melted butter and cinnamon-sugar left in the coating bowls goes over the top of the packed pan. This is the step that gets the top layer to caramelize into a glossy sticky crust goodness once you invert the pan.
- Rest before inverting: I can’t stress this enough. The monkey bread needs this resting time so the sugar coating can set enough to hold everything together when you flip it. If you invert it too soon, the loaf can collapse, stick to the pan, or lose that caramelized top crust.
- Take the internal to 195 degrees or higher: The top color will look done a few minutes before the middle is. Trust the thermometer, not just the color, or the balls at the center of the pan will come out doughy.
Serving Suggestions
I have to confess that lately, I love placing a pan of monkey bread in the middle of the Sunday brunch table whenever friends come over. I serve it alongside a stack of buttermilk pancakes, a platter of breakfast sandwiches, and a warm plate of brioche French toast for the sweet-tooth crowd. Everyone seems to gather around the monkey bread first because it’s the one thing you can eat with one hand. The other hand, of course, is occupied with coffee.
For a smaller weekend meal, I serve it as dessert after dinner with a drizzle of homemade caramel over the top. This is how I personally love to eat it. My wife and daughter absolutely destroyed this one. Ha! I made it one day, and within 24 hours, it was gone. They pulled that thing apart like you wouldn’t believe, and it was great to watch. I’m so glad they enjoyed something I made completely from scratch with my own two hands.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: I bake this within a day of when I plan to serve it. Monkey bread is at its peak when warm and fresh from the oven. Serving it soon after baking is the best window for the tender, tear-apart texture and the sticky top. It will hold up to 1 day ahead if you have to bake it early. Cover the finished loaf tightly and reheat before serving.
How to Store: I set the loaf out covered at room temperature and it usually disappears in 2 days. It’ll hold covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also store it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Room temp holds the texture best.
How to Reheat: I reheat in the microwave in 30-second blasts until warm for one or two pieces. I cover the whole loaf in foil on a sheet tray and warm it in a 350 degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes until the inside is hot and the sugar coating is glossy again.
How to Freeze: I have not personally frozen this one, but a sealed container should hold it for up to 2 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge. Then either serve cold or warm it back up in a 350-degree oven under foil until heated through.
More Sweet Baking Recipes
Monkey Bread Recipe
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 3/4 cup milk, 105° to 110° F
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 tsp active yeast, 1 packet
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 3/4 cups flour
For the Coating:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- pinch of salt
Instructions
For the Dough:
- Add the milk, vanilla, yeast, salt, sugar, egg, and butter to the bowl and of a stand mixer and mix with a whisk to combine.
- Transfer it to a stand mixer with the hook attachment. On low speed, add the flour in 3 batches. Don’t add in the next batch until the previous one is mixed in. Then, knead it on low speed for 15 minutes. The dough should clean the bowl.
- Remove the bowl and cover it in plastic, or transfer it to a container with a lid and proof in a warm place for 60 minutes or until it has doubled or even tripled in size. See my video below for my proofing trick.
- Punch down the dough, then pinch off a small ping pong ball size, or smaller, of the dough and roll it into a taught ball with both hands or on your cutting board. Repeat the process. You should get 40 to 50 dough balls.
For the Coating:
- Add the melted butter to a medium sized bowl. In a separate medium sized bowl mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and salt until combined and loose.
- Dip 1 ball at a time into the butter, removing any excess, then coat it in the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Transfer it to a buttered or non-stick sprayed 10-12 cup bundt pan.
- Repeat the process with all the dough balls placing them next to each other and on top of each other to fill up the bundt pan. Once it’s filled up, let it rest for 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350° F no fan.
- Before baking, evenly pour or drizzle on any remaining melted butter or brown sugar and cinnamon from coating the dough balls over top of the Bundt pan.
- Transfer it to a sheet tray and bake on a middle rack in the oven at 350° F for 40 to 45 minutes or until browned on top and the dough has firmed up. It The dough will be right at 195°F internally or higher when done.
- Remove the pan and let it rest for 6 to 8 minutes before inverting it onto your serving plate. Be sure to let it rest or else it may not hold together.
- Serve it warm. I like to personally drizzle on a bit of homemade caramel over the top.
Monkey Bread Recipe