Granny's Monkey Bread is a sweet, gooey, sinful cinnamon sugar treat made with canned biscuit dough and lots of butter. It's perfect for Christmas morning!
This recipe is incredibly easy to make because it uses store bought biscuit dough (in a tube). If you want to make money bread from scratch, check out my Apple Fritter Monkey Bread and Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread recipes!
This recipe can be prepared the night before so your kids can wake up to the heavenly smell of taste bud heaven. Or, because this is a pretty quick and easy recipe to put together, you can easily assemble and bake the same morning you plan on devouring it.
There are lots of variations of monkey bread out there. You can go all out and make it with dough from scratch like I did for my other variations. Or you can cheat, like I do for this recipe, and make it with cans of biscuit dough.
Ever heard of monkey bread?
I never experienced anything like this until my mother-in-law (my kids' granny) made it for us during one of our family vacations.
- According to Wikipedia, Monkey bread is known by many names including: monkey puzzle bread, sticky bread, African coffee cake, golden crown, pinch-me cake, and pluck-it cake
- It is a soft, sweet, sticky pastry served in the United States for breakfast or as a treat. It tastes very much like the inside of a cinnamon roll, only with lots of that buttery cinnamon sugar syrup.
- It consists of pieces of soft baked dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and lots and lots of butter.
This is basically the opposite of healthy, but definitely a treat everyone should experience at least once. It's sweet. It is gooey. It's incredibly naughty. It is my favorite.
This recipe isn't just for the holidays.
Want to be a rock star parent? Next time you go camping, delight your kids when you make Monkey Bread on the campfire in the dutch oven. Can you imagine a better treat to wake up to?
How about enjoying a batch on a vacation morning? This is one of those recipes that just becomes tradition.
Five simple ingredients:
- You'll need a total of 24 ounces of buttermilk biscuit dough. I use three 8-ounce tubes from Trader Joe's. Opening those pressurized cans is like torture for me, but I put on a brave face and do it anyway. For my readers outside of the US that can't find canned biscuit dough, you can make your own homemade dough or use pizza or bread dough, although it will taste a bit more dry.
- You'll use both granulated sugar and golden brown sugar.
- One cup of butter. That's two sticks! I wasn't joking when I said this recipe was naughty.
- And, of course, cinnamon. If you're familiar with my recipes, you'll know that I often substitute pumpkin pie spice for cinnamon, so feel free to do so with this recipe if you wish.
Easy steps to make this recipe:
- I find that this monkey bread cooks best in a bundt pan. I'm sure you can use any other kind of baking dish, but the bundt pan gives it a great shape. You'll need to preheat the oven and heavily grease (more butter!) the pan.
- The biscuit dough will need to be cut into small bite sized pieces. Clean kitchen shears work better than a knife. You'll toss these dough pieces in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon and then set them in the prepared pan.
- The syrup is made by combining 1/2 cup of that sugar cinnamon mixture with the brown sugar and butter in a saucepan. You'll bring it to a boil to dissolve the sugars and then drizzle it over the dough in the pan.
- Pop it in the oven and cook and bake until it's done. When it's still warm, you'll cover the pan with a plate and invert it. Take care not to burn those fingers when fighting for the first bite!
You can make it ahead of time.
I actually prefer preparing this recipe on the same morning I want to bake it. Watching the kids and their anticipation for this annual treat is so much fun!
But, if you want to be able to just wake up and pop it in the oven, you can simply prepare the recipe as written and store it in the refrigerator until you're ready to bake it.
Keep in mind you'll either need to increase the cooking time or allow it to come closer to room temperature before baking.
Full RECIPE and VIDEO is below!
Watch me re-create this gooey masterpiece.
Granny's Monkey Bread Recipe
RECIPE VIDEO WILL AUTOPLAY
Ingredients
- 24 ounces buttermilk biscuits (I used three 8-ounce packages )
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or you can use pumpkin pie spice)
- 1 cup butter (salted or unsalted)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed )
Instructions
- Prepare Bundt pan by heavily greasing with butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut each biscuit into four equal bite-sized pieces.
- Combine 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a bowl or plastic bag. Drop roll the pieces of dough in the sugar cinnamon mixture and gently arrange them into the prepared Bundt pan.
- In a small sauce pan, combine 1/2 cup of the remaining sugar cinnamon mixture (discard remaining or use for another recipe) with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 cup butter. Bring mixture just to a boil and then immediately remove from heat. Stir until sugars have fully dissolved. Carefully drizzle the mixture over the rolled dough balls in the Bundt pan.
- Bake in center of preheated oven for 30 minutes. Time may vary, see note below.
- Allow pan to rest for about 5 minutes, then cover with a large plate and invert. To eat, pull desired amount off with your fingers and enjoy the gooey sweet sinful treat.
Notes
- To prepare the night before, follow all steps except the baking part. Cover and refrigerate. Bake as directed in the morning (may need a few extra minutes if its cold).
- Use the kids! Although the heating and melting of the butter should be handled by the adults, let the little ones cut the dough with kitchen scissors and dip each dough ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture!
- Cooking time may vary depending on oven and pan used. Continue cooking until tops are starting to crisp and turn golden brown. To be entirely sure that the monkey bread is fully cooked and not doughy in the center, use a thermometer to verify that the middle has reached 190 degrees F. If the top is getting overly cooked and the center is still not at 190F, lower the monkey bread in your oven or cover with foil to prevent over-browning.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
This recipe has been viewed over 2 million times since it was originally posted in September 2014 and was most recently updated in November 2019 for your reading pleasure.
Megan
Two questions:
1. If you made this while camping, would you still use a bundt pan, and then put that in the Dutch oven over the fire?
2. I saw someone mentioned a cream/glaze/sauce . . . Any suggested recipe for something like that?
Krissy
Hi Megan - Yes - I would put the bundt pan in the DO. Just remember to have twice as many coals on top to simulate an oven (heat rises so more is needed on top to keep the temperature even) and make sure the top of the bundt pan isn't too close to the DO lid. This particular recipe is so sweet it doesn't need a glaze, but if you wanted to add one I love the glaze from my apple fritter monkey bread recipe: https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/apple-fritter-monkey-bread/
Abbie Barron
Hello! Was wondering if the heat from the prepared sugar suace will do anything bad to the buiscuits if I plan on preparing now and baking later? Tia
Krissy
I would just refrigerate until you're ready to bake and then let it come to room temp before you stick it in the oven!
Annabelle Todd
Could you make biscuit dough from scratch instead of canned? would it turn out right?
Krissy
yep!
Annabelle Todd
Would this recipe turn out right if i made my biscuits from scratch? would i change anything?
Krissy
It would! I've also made it with yeast dough using this recipe: https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/apple-fritter-monkey-bread/
Mckenzie
I’m wondering if this recipe would work with roads rolls instead of biskets?
Krissy
Yep!
Marci
This is by far, the best Monkey Bread I've ever made. I added quite a bit more cinnamon, about a TB, but its absolutely perfect!
Larry Gaines
Can this be made in the Instant Pot
Krissy
I've never made it in the Instant Pot... but now I'll have to try! Sorry I can't help.
Cheryl
I made this Christmas morning....well I got it ready the night before and stored in fridge and baked off next morning....so easy and yummy!!
Melanie
Thank you for this delicious recipe! We made it for Christmas morning and it was such a hit that all four of my children requested it for every Christmas from now on! Last year we used a different recipe that was hard and not nearly as good. Your recipe was so gooey and delicious we couldn’t stop eating it. I prepared it the night before and baked in the morning. Thanks again and happy new year!
Natalie
This was a really good version of monkey bread. Tons of goo! I had to cook it ten minutes longer in my oven. This will be my go to recipe! Yum!
Brittany Gale
I think what a lot of people don’t realize when they think the dough isn’t cooked is that it IS cooked. It should be very very soft and “dough-like”, not “firm” like actual bread. I accidentally had the oven on at 375 for the first 20 min. Lowered it to 350 and left it in for another 5. Turned out perfectly! Very soft, almost squishy on the bottom while crispy on top. Remember folks, there is a huge difference between RAW dough and extra soft (but cooked) dough. Thanks for your post, Krissy! This monkey bread is delicious (eating while I write this) and really helping soothe my New Year hangover. Hahaha!
Krissy
Glad you liked it! And thank you for the great comment. Glad all that butter and sugar helped get you through the day. 🙂
Ren
This was the best treat!! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Pamela Fengfish
I make this every Christmas morning for many, many years now. But I've never made it the night before. It really works? Doesn't change the texture, and it still rises well?
Krissy
Hi Pamela, It does work. Since it's easy enough to make the morning of, that's how I usually do it, but you can make it the night before and it will still turn out.
Sherry
Made this exactly as stated, and it turned out beautifully. My Mom used to make Ronald Reagan’s monkey bread recipe when I was a child, and it was so delicious. I still have the magazine clipping of that recipe, but have never made it myself. Way more steps than this recipe, but this tastes just as amazing! Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Susan Walkiewicz
What’s the best way to reheat leftovers.
Krissy
Hi Susan, About 30 seconds in the microwave on half power is the way I like to do it!
Stephanie Roush
Can I use Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough instead and if so how many pieces would you recommend I cut each into?
Krissy
I think it would work! As long as you use the same size packages, that is. The pieces can be any size you want, but I prefer the dough balls to be around 1 inch wide.
Jack
I used them as well and it still came out perfectly
Rachel
My go to monkey bread recipe. Simple and delicious!
Katie Hessler
super easy recipe and it is delicious! I made it for mothers day (today) breakfast so the whole house would smell good and she loved it as well as everyone else!
Katherine Lo
I made this a few days ago and it was PERFECT, brought it to a potluck and almost daily I'm having friends come up to me saying, "I'm still thinking about that monkey bread you made."
Just wanted to add my two cents as to why some people are getting uncooked dough in the comments! I noticed that in your video, there are 10 biscuits per can (which you say are 8 oz each); that is really important considering the variety of store-bought biscuit doughs available. I personally used Trader Joe's brand, which contains 8 biscuits per can- and each can is 16 oz! Doing some math, that means each of your biscuits is 0.8 oz, while each of mine would be a whole 2 oz!
Following conventional Monkey Bread instructions of quartering each biscuit, a 0.8 oz biscuit would be split into four 0.2 oz pieces; meanwhile, you would need to cut a 2 oz biscuit into TEN pieces to get 0.2 oz per piece. I assume that the people who ended up with raw/uncooked dough started with larger biscuits that, when cut into quarters, are not small enough to cook properly. To make it easier (because who can cut 10 even slices from a circle?), I just cut mine into 8 pieces each (0.25 oz per piece) and it turned out perfectly.
Hopefully I wrote that coherently enough to follow; it's difficult to put math into paragraphs. But long story short-- for everyone looking to try this recipe, make sure you take note of not only the size of the biscuit cans, but also the size of the biscuits themselves.
Krissy
Great recommendations! I need to update the recipe to specify the size (in ounces) of each piece. I use TJ's biscuits too, but I know a lot of people don't/can't. I've also realized the best way to avoid a doughy center is to check the internal temperature. Thanks!!! -Krissy
Kimberly
I just made this. It came out perfectly. Fully baked throughout. Nice recipe! Thanks😊
Linda
DO you use light or dark brown sugar? I can’t waiting to make this!!!
Krissy
light brown sugar. Enjoy! Krissy
Noel
I haven’t made this in 50 years!!! Used to make it for army wives coffees. We all loved it! Think will make it next weekend . Holiday and family will be here. Grandkids will love it! Thanks for sharing.
Taylor Rutledge
Can you use Cinnamon rolls instead of biscuits?
Krissy
Yep! It will be INSANELY sweet though. -Krissy
Cheryl Ravert
Do you have to use butter milk biscuits
Krissy
Nope! You can use any kind of biscuit dough or even something like pizza dough.
Jesse
I got 2nd place in a work desert competition with this delicious treat. The more fresh, the better.
Jesse
We used chocolate chip canned biscuits because the store we shop was out of buttermilk and they were pretty darn good. I still prefer the buttermilk though.
Linda
I first made this for my family about 2 years ago. I then tried it with homemade yeast bread dough.I have probably made this over 100 times since. I give it as gifts, share with friends and take ti to work. Everyone says it is the best monkey bread they ever tasted. The sauce is the secret and it is the BEST!