Straightforward Monkey Bread – My Baking Habit

With a sticky brown sugar syrup and loads of cinnamon and sugar, this straightforward monkey bread makes for a decadent breakfast or dessert. Thanks to at least one easy trick, your loved ones won’t ever guess that this recipe began with canned biscuit dough!

I don’t begin each day with a decadent breakfast. We don’t even have fancy breakfasts each weekend! 

More often than not, I’m fortunate to get a batch of bisquick pancakes made for the children. 

However for vacation mornings? That’s a time to tug out the entire stops for a particular breakfast deal with.

Whether or not it’s Easter, Christmas morning, Thanksgiving, or somebody’s birthday, that’s when I’ll make one thing like this straightforward monkey bread.

The youngsters can decide off bites of the cinnamon-y, caramel-y bread whereas I sip a soiled chai or iced shaken espresso whereas all of us keep in our pajamas a bit longer than regular. It’s a good way to begin the day!

What’s monkey bread?

Have you ever ever had monkey bread?

No, there aren’t any monkeys in it (promise!), and it’s not made with bananas.

Monkey bread is produced from small balls of dough which are coated in cinnamon sugar and baked collectively in a bundt pan. Typically the dough is topped with a sugary syrup earlier than baking, and generally the completed bread is topped with a powdered sugar glaze.

When you flip it out of the pan, you may form of decide off the items of dough and eat them separately. Some folks assume that’s why it’s referred to as monkey bread, however I don’t assume anybody actually is aware of for certain.

It’s a candy pull-apart bread that may be served for a particular vacation breakfast or brunch. However it’s additionally decadent sufficient that it could possibly make a scrumptious dessert. You actually can’t go fallacious both method!

My trick for one of the best straightforward monkey bread

Some monkey bread recipes are made with a yeast dough, much like in a single day cinnamon rolls, whereas others are made with biscuit dough.

I really like the feel of do-it-yourself dough however need the convenience of utilizing refrigerated biscuit dough. So right here’s my trick:

Bear in mind how we used heavy cream to make our cinnamon rolls with heavy cream style do-it-yourself? We’re going to make use of that very same technique right here with canned biscuit dough to make this straightforward monkey bread style do-it-yourself, too.

A number of cans of buttermilk biscuit dough get paired with cinnamon sugar, then topped with heavy cream. Earlier than baking, we’ll add a brown sugar syrup everywhere in the high.

You get the wealthy flavors of cinnamon and caramel notes from the brown sugar syrup with the fluffy biscuit items. The syrup is a bit gooey, the bread is fluffy, and your entire factor is so, so scrumptious.

(If it is a combo you actually love, you must attempt my pecan sticky buns too!)

The right way to make this recipe

Because the title suggests, that is a straightforward recipe to place collectively! You may even prep it the evening earlier than if you need. 

In any case, I’m at all times on the lookout for methods to make vacation mornings even simpler.

Components you’ll want

The substances for my straightforward monkey bread are actually easy. There’s a great probability you might have most of what you want in your pantry already:

• 3 (16 ounce) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup evenly packed mild brown sugar
• Pinch of fantastic sea salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For one of the best texture, I like to recommend skipping the “flaky layers” biscuit dough. Search for buttermilk biscuit dough as a substitute; you may normally discover it in 16-ounce cans. 

I pack 2 full tablespoons of cinnamon into this recipe. It would sound like quite a bit, however you don’t wish to skimp on that cinnamon taste! 

Brown sugar is the bottom of the syrup and helps give the entire thing a wealthy caramel taste. If you’re out of brown sugar, make a easy brown sugar substitute to make use of as a substitute. 

You may also study easy methods to soften brown sugar if yours hardened within the pantry.

Making my straightforward monkey bread

This straightforward monkey bread will get baked in a bundt pan. As a result of the bread is so dense, utilizing a bundt pan helps the bread bake extra evenly.

I like to recommend utilizing a 12-cup bundt pan when you have one, however a 10-cup will work as effectively. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Pop open all 3 cans of biscuits and lower every biscuit into quarters. 

Put the granulated sugar and the cinnamon into a big zip-top bag and shake to mix. Add the biscuit items and shake the bag to coat the entire biscuit items within the cinnamon sugar.

If it’s simpler for you, be at liberty to do that in batches.

Add the entire coated biscuit items to your ready bundt pan, arranging them evenly within the pan. Slowly pour the heavy cream excessive. Put aside for not less than 5 minutes to permit the heavy cream to soak into the dough.

In a small saucepan over medium warmth, add the butter and brown sugar. Cook dinner, stirring often, till the butter is melted and the combination simply begins to bubble across the edges.

Take the pan off the warmth and stir in a pinch of salt and the vanilla. Slowly drizzle this combination excessive of the biscuit items.

Set the bundt pan on a rimmed baking sheet – it will assist catch any syrup that bubbles over within the oven.

Bake the monkey bread at 350°F for 45-55 minutes. Let it relaxation for 5-10 minutes earlier than inverting it onto a serving platter.

If you’re utilizing a smaller (10-cup) bundt pan, the monkey bread might begin to get very browned across the high edges earlier than it’s accomplished baking. If this occurs, merely tent a chunk of foil excessive of the pan to forestall additional browning whereas it finishes baking.

Straightforward monkey bread variations

This recipe is for a brilliant basic model of monkey bread. However you may simply change it up with a couple of ingredient swaps and additions.

To include much more taste, attempt swapping the cinnamon for apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, or chai spice. The extra spices reminiscent of cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg pair rather well with the wealthy caramel sauce.

You may also add different substances to the bread, reminiscent of raisins, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or dried apple items. Sprinkle these in if you add the dough items to the pan, ensuring to evenly incorporate them all through. 

Make-ahead tip

In case you’ve been studying MBA for some time, you recognize that I really like breakfast recipes that may be made forward of time. 

You may assemble this straightforward monkey bread recipe the evening earlier than you propose to serve it and bake it within the morning. 

Assemble the bread via step 6. After topping with the syrup, cowl the pan tightly with plastic wrap and place it within the fridge in a single day.

The following morning, let the pan relaxation at room temperature whereas the oven preheats. Bake as directed.