This easy monkey bread recipe makes soft, gooey pull-apart bread coated in cinnamon sugar and a rich buttery glaze. Made with simple ingredients, it’s a classic, crowd-pleasing treat that’s perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
This easy monkey bread recipe is one of those classic recipes that’s always a hit. With soft pieces of dough coated in cinnamon sugar that are baked in a rich buttery sauce, it comes out warm, sticky, and perfect for pulling apart and sharing.
It’s the kind of recipe that feels special but is actually really simple to make. Whether you’re making it for a weekend breakfast, holiday brunch, or just a fun treat, this monkey bread is always one that disappears quickly at our house.
“This monkey bread is on point! This was the first time I made the dough and it was easy. No more canned biscuits for this girl!” – Chelsea
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Made with simple, easy-to-find ingredients
- Soft, gooey, pull-apart texture
- Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert
- Great for holidays or weekend baking
- Easy to customize with add-ins
Ingredients notes and substitutions
- Milk: You can use any milk you prefer, but whole milk will give you slightly richer, softer dough.
- Yeast: You can substitute an equal amount of instant dry yeast.
- Butter: If using unsalted butter, increase the salt to 1/2 teaspoon in the dough and add a small pinch of salt in the sauce.
- Flour: Too much flour will give you dry, heavy dough. To properly measure it, either weigh it (click “metric” just above the ingredients for the weights) or sift the flour, lightly spoon it into the measuring cup, and level.
How to make monkey bread
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, whisk together warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add egg, melted butter, salt, and flour. Mix on low speed until combined, then increase speed to medium and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. Continue to mix the dough in the mixer for another 5-10 minutes.
Step 3: Lightly grease a clean bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a clean towel.
Let dough rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Step 4: Grease a large bundt pan with nonstick spray.
Step 5: For the coating: In a shallow bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
Step 6: After the dough has risen, punch it down to release the air. Working one at a time, shape a small amount of dough into about a 1-inch ball.
Step 7: Roll each ball of dough into the cinnamon sugar mixture then place it into the prepared bundt pan until all dough is used. Pour any remaining cinnamon sugar on top of the dough in the bundt pan.
Step 8: Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Step 9: Make sure your oven rack is on the lowest setting to prevent the top of the monkey bread from burning. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 10: For the sauce: Melt butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Whisk in brown sugar and salt until the sugar dissolves.
Step 11: Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and pour on top of the monkey bread in the bundt pan.
Step 12: Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cover loosely with foil during baking if the top starts to brown too quickly.
Step 13: Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip onto a large serving plate.
Step 14: Make the icing: Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour over the top of the monkey bread.
Recipe Tips!
- Cut the dough into evenly sized pieces: Try to keep the dough pieces about the same size so they bake evenly. Smaller pieces also give you more of those gooey cinnamon-sugar layers.
- Layer loosely, not tightly packed: Place the dough pieces in the pan without packing them down too much. This gives the dough room to rise and creates that light, pull-apart texture.
- Let it cool slightly before inverting: Let the monkey bread sit for about 5–10 minutes after baking. This helps it hold together when you flip it out of the pan.
Monkey bread variations
Here are some ideas for ways that you can change up this recipe.
- Sticky bun monkey bread: Skip the icing and add chopped pecans or walnuts between the layers for a little crunch and extra flavor.
- Cream cheese stuffed monkey bread: Add small cubes of cream cheese inside some of the dough pieces.
- Chocolate chip monkey bread: Sprinkle mini chocolate chips between the layers for a slightly dessert-style version.
Recipe FAQs
The short answer is yes. Please don’t use something like a springform pan or a tube pan because the hot cinnamon sugar could run out and make a mess or burn you.
You could absolutely experiment and make this in other ways (i.e. muffin tins), but, again, please use bakeware that is a solid piece to avoid mess and burns.
You can! I recommend waiting to ice the monkey bread until after freezing and thawing as the icing can melt into the bread.
To freeze the monkey bread, wrap pieces of baked and cooled bread in plastic wrap. Placed the wrapped pieces in a resealable plastic baggie and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Yes! If you prefer a quicker version, you can use refrigerated biscuit dough instead of homemade dough. Simply cut the biscuits into pieces and follow the same coating and layering steps.
Storage
Store any leftover monkey bread in an airtight container at room temperature. It will keep for 2-3 days when properly stored, but it is best eaten when freshly made.
More sweet breakfast breads
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Easy Homemade Monkey Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups warm milk about 105-110 degrees F
- 1 packet active dry yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ½ cups sifted all purpose flour properly measured
Coating
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
Sauce
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, whisk together sugar, warm milk, and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes.¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 ¼ cups warm milk, 1 packet active dry yeast
- Add egg, melted butter, salt, and flour. Mix on low speed until combined, then increase speed to medium and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes.1 large egg, ¼ cup salted butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, 4 ½ cups sifted all purpose flour
- Continue to mix the dough in the mixer for another 5-10 minutes.
- Lightly grease a clean bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a clean towel.
- Let dough rise for about 1 ½- 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Grease a large bundt pan with nonstick spray.
- For the coating: In a shallow bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.½ cup granulated sugar, ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
- After the dough has risen, punch it down to release the air.
- Working one at a time, shape a small amount of dough into about a 1-inch ball.
- Roll each ball of dough into the cinnamon sugar mixture then place it into the prepared bundt pan until all dough is used.
- Pour any remaining cinnamon sugar on top of the dough in the bundt pan.
- Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
- Make sure your oven rack is on the lowest setting to prevent the top of the monkey bread from burning. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- For the sauce: Melt butter in a small sauce pan over low heat.6 tablespoons salted butter
- Whisk in brown sugar and vanilla extract until the sugar dissolves.¾ cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Remove from heat and pour on top of the monkey bread in the bundt pan.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cover loosely with foil during baking if the top starts to brown too quickly.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip onto a large serving plate.
- Make the icing: Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to a small bowl. Whisk to combine.1 cup powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour over the top of the monkey bread.
Notes
- Milk: You can use any milk you prefer, but whole milk will give you slightly richer, softer dough.
- Yeast: You can substitute an equal amount of instant dry yeast.
- Butter: If using unsalted butter, increase the salt to 1/2 teaspoon in the dough and add a small pinch of salt in the sauce.
- Flour: Too much flour will give you dry, heavy dough. To properly measure it, either weigh it (click “metric” just above the ingredients for the weights) or sift the flour, lightly spoon it into the measuring cup, and level.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Judy says
Wrap a cube of cream cheese inside each dough ball and add top each layer of dough balls with toasted chopped pecans. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the top before baking. It takes this monkey bread to the top of the tallest tree in the jungle!!
Kate says
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing that tip. =)
Chelsea says
This monkey bread is on point! This was the first time I made the dough and it was easy. No more canned biscuits for this girl!
Kate says
Thanks! I’m so glad that you liked it! =) Thank you for coming back to comment.
diane caso says
mmm reminds me of my grandmother’s sticky buns,,,her’s had chopped pecans
Kate says
Anything that reminds you of your grandma’s food has to be a good thing! And I love chopped pecans, too! Those would be a great addition to this recipe. =)