Monkey Bread Recipe
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 and caramelized on the outside. 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.
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.
Notes
The key to success when making this monkey bread recipe is getting the dough hydration right during the kneading stage, and 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 and 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.
Make-Ahead: I bake this within a day of when I plan to serve it whenever the schedule allows, because monkey bread is at peak warm and fresh from the oven, so soon after baking is the best window for the tender, tear-apart texture and the sticky top. It will hold up to 1 full 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 inside 2 days at my house, though it will hold covered at room temperature for up to 3 days, or 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, or 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 overnight in the fridge, then either serve cold or warm it back up in a 350 degree oven under foil until heated through.
Nutrition
Calories: 510kcalCarbohydrates: 73gProtein: 7gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 225mgPotassium: 165mgFiber: 2gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 673IUVitamin C: 0.03mgCalcium: 89mgIron: 3mg