Mary’s Monkey Bread with Step-by-Step Instructions and Homemade Yeast Dough Recipe
My collection of comfort food recipes just wouldn’t be complete without this delectable monkey bread recipe. No monkeys involved! Just tons of gooey cinnamon dough balls piled on top of each other in a Bundt pan. Half the fun of making monkey bread is seeing the kids pull apart the delicious cinnamony bread. A little mess never hurt anyone, right?
The last time I made this one, I stayed up until 3 in the morning perfecting the recipe—so you can make the perfect monkey bread at home, too. When I made the real thing the next day, everyone kept coming back for more. It disappeared so fast, I probably should have made extra. I mean, the whole house smelled fabulous, so I guess I can’t blame them!
It’s All in the Homemade Yeast Dough
My recipe uses a yeast-based dough, but if you’re in a pinch—or are nervous about working with yeast—just grab 3 cans of buttermilk biscuits at your local grocery store. The directions for this easy hack can be found at the end of the recipe! Trust me, the homemade yeast dough version is totally worth the extra effort. If you have any questions while you’re working on this one, feel free to reach out to me on Facebook or Instagram—I’m so excited about the yeast dough that I’d be happy to help you out!
How to Make the Perfect Monkey Bread: Pro Tips
1: You Can Make Monkey Bread Dough Ahead of Time
If you want to make the dough for your monkey bread ahead and save some time later, just make the dough, form it into 1½” balls, arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and pop them in the freezer for 30-45 minutes. You can transfer them into a freezer bag once they’re frozen and save them for later use, though frozen dough tends not to rise quite as well. If frozen, you will need to thaw the balls in the refrigerator overnight on a baking pan covered lightly with plastic wrap. After that, you’ll still need to let them rise at room temperature as described in the recipe.
2: Dealing with Balls of Dough that Stick to the Pan
When you remove your monkey bread from the pan after baking, some of the dough balls might be stuck to the pan. It’s no problem if this happens! You can just pop them back into place and then add the drizzle on top. It’s a no-fuss presentation, and everybody likes to pull the bread apart by hand anyway, so no biggie.
3: Easy Hack: Skip the Yeast Dough and Make Monkey Bread with Buttermilk Biscuits
If you don’t want to make your own yeast dough, just pick up 3 to 4 cans of regular buttermilk biscuits (not the flaky variety). The amount of dough you need depends on the size of your Bundt pan—I’d grab 4 cans just to be safe. When you’re ready to start, cut each biscuit into quarters, roll them into balls, and proceed with the recipe as written.
Store-bought biscuits don’t need to rise in the pan like yeast dough does, so you’ll save a little time too. Just pour the brown sugar butter mixture over the dough, and your monkey bread is ready to go in the oven! One last thing: monkey bread is best served the day it is made, but you can store it at room temperature and serve it the next day too. It won’t taste as good any longer than that, so call your friends before you get cooking!
first, add before serving. Top each bowl off with pesto, and bravo! You’ve got minestrone!
Back to Marie’s Homemade Minestrone Meatball Soup
Mary’s Monkey Bread Recipe withStep-by-Step Instructions and Homemade Yeast Dough
Ingredients
- 1½ cups whole milk, warmed to 105 – 110 degrees
- 1 package (2¼ teaspoons) dry yeast, not instant rise
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 cups all-purpose flour plus more to dust work surface
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, for coating the rising bowl
- 24 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, divided
- 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1⅓ cups packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Mary’s Artisanal Cognac Barrel-aged Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk, as needed
- ½ teaspoon Mary’s Artisanal Cognac Barrel-aged Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Prepare the Bundt pan. Spray the inside of the Bundt pan liberally with nonstick cooking spray.
- Prepare the dough. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the warm milk, yeast, and ½ teaspoon sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture will start to foam on top. This process is referred to as proofing the yeast.
- Remove the plastic wrap. Attach the dough hook or flat paddle attachment to your stand mixer. Add the eggs, butter, salt, and 1 cup of the flour. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, scraping the side of the bowl with a silicone spatula.
- Add the remaining flour and beat on medium speed until the flour is incorporated and the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl (about 3 minutes).
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 2 minutes. If the dough is sticking to your hands and work surface, just sprinkle it with a little more flour.
- Using a paper towel, grease a large mixing bowl with 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil. Place the dough into the bowl and turn it so the oil lightly covers all of the dough. Place plastic wrap over the bowl and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
- While the dough rises, you can start to prepare the monkey bread coating. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt 12 tablespoons of the unsalted butter and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon.
- When the dough is ready, punch it down gently to release the excess air. Take small pieces of dough and roll them into balls about 1½ inches in diameter. Dip each ball into the melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar. You should get about 40 balls in total. After each ball is coated, place it into the prepared Bundt pan. Once all the balls are in the pan, cover the whole thing loosely with a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes. The dough will rise slightly.
- While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Adjust your oven racks so you can place the Bundt pan on the lower rack. If you bake it too close to the top of the oven, it has a tendency to overbrown. Don’t put the bread in just yet!
- Melt the remaining 12 tablespoons of butter in a small pan. Whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture evenly over the risen monkey bread.
- Bake on the lower rack of the oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. If the top is getting too brown, loosely cover it with foil. I like to check the internal temperature of the bread for doneness. Insert an instant-read thermometer halfway into the bread. The bread is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Place your serving platter upside down over the pan and do a quick flip to get the bread out of the pan. It’s great right out of the oven, but if you like, you can give it a little drizzle of my confectioner's sugar glaze: In a mixing bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and vanilla. If needed, use the additional 1 tablespoon milk to make the icing a drizzle consistency. Drizzle over the monkey bread and enjoy!
Notes
You’ll need nonstick cooking spray to grease your Bundt pan. My favorite for this recipe is classic PAM.