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This monkey bread with biscuits is a sticky, pull-apart breakfast made with refrigerated biscuit dough, cinnamon sugar, butter, and brown sugar. Ready in under an hour and perfect for a holiday morning or weekend brunch.
The 80s are back and they’re delicious.
If you didn’t grow up eating monkey bread for breakfast, first, I’m so sorry to hear that, and second, I’m about to change your life.
This monkey bread recipe (made with biscuits because we like life to be easy) is a game changer.
Sticky and sweet and just the right amount of ooey gooey.
Feels both a little fancy (in a very 80s nostalgia kind of way) and super simple (in a busy mom on a Saturday morning kind of way).
It’s basically just canned biscuit dough, cinnamon and sugar, and a little monkey bread sauce recipe that is made with butter and brown sugar. Easy stuff here.
You’ll usually find me making monkey bread for holiday mornings, but every now and then I like to surprise the family on a random day and it always goes over so well.
Add a little air fryer bacon on the side and you’ve got a solid breakfast.
Update: We used this recipe to make Monkey Bread Muffins and they’re a big hit too! Must try!
3 Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple ingredients, big results. You probably have everything you need in your kitchen right now. What are you waiting for?
- Practically no cleanup. A zip-top bag does most of the work, and the bundt pan does the rest.
- Always a crowd-pleaser. Kids love it, adults love it, and it disappears fast every single time.
Ingredients, Swaps, & Tips:
Biscuit dough: This recipe uses two tubes of refrigerated biscuit dough. You can use homemade biscuit dough in a pinch. If you go that route, pat the dough out and cut into 1-inch pieces. The dough should be a little sturdier (less soft) than a typical biscuit so it holds up in the caramel sauce.
Coating – You’ll need granulated sugar and ground cinnamon to coat the biscuit dough.
Monkey Bread Sauce – We make an easy caramel sauce with butter and brown sugar to pour over the top.
Add-ins: Stir in chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate chips with the biscuit pieces before baking. For a fun birthday spin, drizzle with a simple vanilla glaze and add sprinkles after baking.
Pan size: Use a 9-cup (or larger) bundt pan. Anything smaller and the caramel will overflow. A baking sheet under the pan is a smart move (just in case) either way.
How to Make Monkey Bread:
Dough: Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and pop them in a zip top bag with the cinnamon and sugar. Shake to coat and then pour into a greased bundt pan.
Monkey Bread Sauce: Melt together the butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat to form a smooth caramel sauce. Pour it right over the biscuits.
Bake: Pop this on a baking sheet and place it in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before you flip it out onto a serving dish and then let cool for another 10 minutes before digging in.
Helpful Tips!
- Pan Size: Make sure you use a 9 cup (or larger) Bundt pan for this recipe, anything smaller and it will overflow and create a sticky mess. Be sure to place the Bundt pan on a baking sheet just in case.
- Cooling: Do not let it cool for too long before flipping it onto a serving dish or the mixture could cool and begin to stick to the Bundt pan.
- Serve Warm: Monkey Bread is best when warm. It can be reheated! If you are going to eat it all within a couple of days, it can be stored at room temperature in a plastic zip top bag. You can also freeze monkey bread for up to a few months by tightly wrapping it in plastic wrap and foil.
- Boiling Sugar: I’m a mom, so I have to say this everytime we work with boiling sugar – sugar is hot hot hot (and sticky) when it’s melted and it will burn you on contact. Be very careful. We love letting kids help in the kitchen, but we don’t let younger ones help with the caramel sauce here.
My Favorite Bundt Pan!
A quality bundt pan is essential! This one is non-stick, budget friendly, and gets used often in my home. It’s the classic choice for monkey bread recipes!
Additions!
Monkey Bread can be made in many ways, with many different ingredients. Some possible additions include:
- Nuts – pecans and walnuts are a great choice.
- Raisins – my family would revolt, but maybe this will work for you. 😉
- Chocolate Chips – Not quite sweet enough for you? Try sprinkling in some chocolate chips.
- Drizzle a simple vanilla glaze or cinnamon roll icing over the bread and sprinkle with sprinkles for a fun birthday breakfast.
- Pumpkin spice makes everything better! Try our Pumpkin Monkey Bread!
Serving:
Monkey Bread is best served warm. This is one dish that the kids love to eat!
We pop it on a serving platter or cake stand, have everyone wash their hands (important step for what’s to come next…), and then everyone picks apart the bread like little monkeys, pulling off bits of sweet, sticky dough and popping them onto their plate or into their mouths.
Monkey Bread makes a great brunch. Serve it with a fruit parfait, some scrambled eggs, or our air fryer sausage links.
Can I make this with homemade biscuits?
So, here’s the million dollar question…do I think homemade biscuit dough would work in this monkey bread recipe?
The answer…yes, I THINK so, but I’ve not tried it.
If you want to attempt, double a batch of my dad’s biscuits and pat the dough out into a large rectangle and then just cut into 1-inch squares. I would be a bit more liberal with the flour so that the dough is a bit sturdier and not quite as soft.
I have not tested this myself, but this is where I would start if I were going to.
More breakfast favorites!
- Air Fryer Donuts
- Cinnamon Crunch Bagel
- Sausage Gravy
- Chocolate Glazed Donut
- Chaffle
- Old Fashioned Donut
Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- 2 tubes refrigerated biscuit dough 8 biscuits each
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally grease a 9 cup bundt pan.
- Remove the biscuits from the can and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces.
- Place biscuit pieces into a large zip top bag and add the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Seal the bag and shake to coat the biscuit pieces in the cinnamon and sugar.
- Add the biscuit pieces to the prepared bundt pan.
- Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often. Once smooth and combined, pour the mixture over the biscuits.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until no longer doughy in the center.
- Let cool for 5 minutes and then carefully flip onto a serving dish.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Gail says
I’ve made monkey bread for years, but have stopped because I can rarely, if ever, find regular 8 count dough! It’s either jumbo size or 5 count size. Then there’s buttermilk, flaky, home style, or maybe it’s southern style, but original is rarely one of the selections. I live in central WI. Anyone else run into this problem?
Elizabeth Neal says
I bought jumbo biscuits, should I just use one tube?
Karly Campbell says
You’ll probably won’t most of them, but maybe leave out a couple? As long as your pan isn’t overly full (they’ll rise as they bake) it should be okay either way.
Beth says
Can I use an angel food cake pan as I don’t have a bundt pan.
Karly Campbell says
That should work, though I haven’t tried it.
Rachel C says
So I didn’t have a Bundt pan and used a Loaf pan instead , it’s currently in the over and I decided to finish reading through and seen you said not to use anything smaller ?, LOL am I going to be introuble with a miss once it’s done ?
Karly Campbell says
Perhaps! It might rise up and bubble over the pan. Let us know how it went!
Allie Sprague says
This past Christmas brunch was the 3rd year in a row I made this delicious bread. Always a big hit with my family. It cooks perfectly each time and smells amazing. This year I served with your Amish Breakfast Casserole and it was a winner meal! The contrast of the sweet and savory was enjoyed by everyone. One tip – I swapped the cane sugar for Splenda for my diabetic mom. No one noticed! ?
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you all enjoyed the recipes! Thanks, Allie!
Tracy says
My family loved it! Very easy recipe and will make again!
Rosemary Vickers says
Add pecans ?
Karly Campbell says
Yes, you could add pecans.
BG says
I made this. Followed every instruction and it came out raw.
Karly says
Sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you. The recipe does state to bake until it’s no longer doughy…sounds like it just needed more time in the oven.
Jackie says
I made this using cinnamon rolls…its a keeper!
Karly says
Oh, sounds delicious!
JD says
Easy and delicious — a big hit with my family
Margie Avera says
I made this recipe last night and it was scrumptious we’ll make it more often
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed it, Margie! 🙂
Deborah Molchan says
Amazing and so much better than store-bought. This recipe couldn’t be any easier to make.
Karly says
Thanks, Deborah!
Kathy Pritchett says
I haven’t made this yet but I was wondering if I can make this in a muffin/cupcake pan?
Karly says
Oh, it’s funny you ask, because I just shared a recipe for monkey bread muffins! Find it here: https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/monkey-bread-muffins/
Kimmy Carver says
Quick & Easy recipe.
Karly says
Thank you!
Tina says
Perfect! It seems the cooking time would have been too long but it wasn’t. We will be making this again!
Karly says
Thanks, Tina!
Karen Brandenburg says
When should i add raisins and nuts, gonna make 2morrow
Karly says
Sprinkle them in as you add the biscuit pieces to the pan.