Forget canned biscuits. This monkey bread is made with fluffy milk bread dough—real ingredients, perfectly sweet, and the only version you need!
What Is Monkey Bread?
Monkey bread is a sweet, pull-apart bread made from small pieces of dough rolled in butter, sugar, and cinnamon, then baked together in a bundt pan. The result is a sticky loaf that you eat by pulling off pieces with your hands — no slicing required. Its shareable nature makes it perfect for family gatherings and holidays!
Sometimes you just need something warm, sweet, and comforting — and this one pulls triple duty as breakfast, dessert, teatime snack, or all of the above.
Instead of the usual canned biscuit dough (a go-to ingredient in many recipes out there), our version uses our beloved Asian milk bread dough: rich, fluffy, and absolutely made for pulling apart.
With Easter right around the corner, this deserves a spot on your celebration menu. Go ahead and pull off a piece. Or two, or three. Or four. No judgement here!
A Resounding Endorsement
You know this monkey bread recipe is good when the queen of the household, my mother, deems it to be not just good, but excellent. Judy is a self-proclaimed dessert skeptic, so it was a shock when she had a bite of this and declared it perfect—for dessert and even breakfast!
The milk bread soaks up the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon beautifully, staying fluffy and pull-apart without the gummy density (or artificial-ness) you get from canned biscuits. This is why we also use our milk bread dough to make what many of you have declared the fluffiest cinnamon rolls ever.
Just think of this monkey bread as a ring made entirely of the best part of a cinnamon roll — just the soft, gooey centers. I dropped half the ring off with friends, and it didn’t survive the day.
A Perfectly Sweet, Fuss-Free Recipe
There were a few things about this dessert that made me dread taking it on.
First, monkey bread recipes vary from dry to drowning in crusty caramelized sugar syrup. Looking at how much sugar many recipes out there call for (2 cups or more), I wasn’t sure I’d have the nerve to do what needed to be done, quite frankly! However, after several tests, I landed on a great sugar and butter balance that is perfectly satisfying without being overwhelming or cloyingly sweet.
Secondly—The. Individual. Rolling. Of. Each. And. Every. Ball. of. Dough. Even as someone who goes through the arduous process of making linzer cookies every holiday season, it just seemed needlessly tedious.
So we’ve cut all that out of this recipe. The great thing about this enriched milk bread dough is that by the time you’re ready to assemble, the pieces of dough are sturdy and elastic enough to be tossed in butter and cinnamon sugar in just two batches. You just dump the dough pieces unceremoniously into the bundt pan and save so much time!
Monkey Bread Recipe Instructions
First make the milk bread dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the ingredients in the following order: heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt. Turn on the mixer to “stir,” and knead for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough together.
If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add a little more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it pulls away from the sides (it should be sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl, but not the sides). If kneading by hand, extend the kneading time by 5-10 minutes.
Next, cover the dough with a damp towel, and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size (1-2 hours). We proof our dough in a closed microwave with a mug of just-boiled water next to it.
After the dough has doubled in size, put it back in the mixer, and knead for another 5 minutes to get rid of air bubbles.
While that’s happening, melt 1 cup of butter in a pot or in a heatproof wet measuring cup in the microwave. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a separate medium bowl.
Dump the dough on a lightly floured surface, and cut it into quarters. Cut each quarter into 12 roughly equal 1½- to 2-inch (4-5cm) chunks of dough, for a total of 48 pieces. (There’s no need to roll them into balls unless you want to.)
Place half of the dough pieces into a large bowl. Pour over ¼ cup of butter. Use a rubber spatula to gently toss the dough pieces to coat. Sprinkle over ¼ of the cinnamon sugar mixture and mix. Then sprinkle over another fourth of the cinnamon sugar mixture, and toss to coat. This double coating ensures that it is even! Spread the pieces evenly on the bottom of a 12-cup bundt pan.
Repeat with the remaining half of the dough pieces, ¼ cup butter, and the remaining half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Make sure the dough is in an even layer. Cover with a clean dish towel and proof in a warm place for 45 mins to 1 hour. The dough should increase in size by 1.5X.
When the dough is nearly done proofing, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. When the dough is ready to go into the oven, whisk together the remaining ½ cup butter, dark brown sugar, and vanilla. (You may need to put the butter back in the microwave to melt it again). Pour the butter and brown sugar mixture evenly over the dough. It will pool quite a bit, but don’t worry.
Place the bundt pan on a baking sheet (to catch any bubbling sugar—though this didn’t happen to us!) and bake for 35-40 minutes. The dough may look a little softer than usual because the butter soaks into it. A thermometer inserted into the center of the bread should read 195°F/90°C.
Let the monkey bread rest for 5 minutes. Place a round serving plate upside-down on the bundt pan, and flip it to turn the monkey bread out. It should come away easily. In case it doesn’t, tap the bottom of the overturned pan with a wooden spoon to loosen it. If it sounds hollow, you know the monkey bread came out successfully.
Serve warm!
Recipe Notes!
Like most of our milk bread recipes, if you’re reheating this monkey bread the next day, it’s best microwaved for 20 seconds to warm it back up. It’s great at room temperature, but even better with that little extra step.
After the first kneading of the dough, allow it to proof overnight in the refrigerator (covered). The next day, you can let the dough come back up to room temperature. Then continue with the recipe to assemble the monkey bread.
Make a half or full batch of our cream cheese frosting from our cinnamon roll recipe. Serve it on the side or drizzle over the entire monkey bread after it’s out of the bundt pan!
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Recipe
Monkey Bread (Fluffiest Recipe!)
Ingredients
For the milk bread dough:
- 2/3 cup heavy cream (at room temperature)
- 1 cup milk (plus 1 tablespoon, at room temperature; you can use whole, 1%, or 2% milk)
- 1 large egg (at room temperature)
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
- 1½ teaspoons salt
For the coating and sauce:
- 1 cup butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- First make the milk bread dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the ingredients in the following order: heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt. Turn on the mixer to “stir,” and knead for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough together. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add a little more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it pulls away from the sides (it should be sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl, but not the sides). If kneading by hand, extend the kneading time by 5-10 minutes.
- Next, cover the dough with a damp towel, and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size (1-2 hours). We proof our dough in a closed microwave with a mug of just-boiled water next to it.
- After the dough has doubled in size, put it back in the mixer, and knead for another 5 minutes to get rid of air bubbles.
- While that’s happening, melt the butter in a pot or in the microwave. Mix the granulated sugar (not brown sugar) and cinnamon in a separate medium bowl.
- Dump the dough on a lightly floured surface, and cut it into quarters. Cut each quarter into 12 roughly equal 1½- to 2-inch (4-5cm) chunks of dough, for a total of 48 pieces.
- Place half of the dough pieces into a large bowl. Pour over ¼ cup of butter. Use a rubber spatula to gently toss the dough pieces to coat. Sprinkle over ¼ of the cinnamon sugar mixture and mix. Then sprinkle over another fourth of the cinnamon sugar mixture, and toss to coat. Spread the pieces evenly on the bottom of a 12-cup bundt pan.
- Repeat with the remaining half of the dough pieces, ¼ cup butter, and the remaining half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Make sure the dough is in an even layer. Cover with a clean dish towel and proof in a warm place for 45 mins to 1 hour. The dough should increase in size by 1.5X.
- When the dough is nearly done proofing, preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. When the dough is ready to go into the oven, whisk together the remaining ½ cup butter, dark brown sugar, and vanilla. (You may need to put the butter back in the microwave to melt it again). Pour the butter and brown sugar mixture evenly over the dough.
- Place the bundt pan on a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the center of the bread reads 195°F/90°C.
- Let the monkey bread rest for 5 minutes. Place a round serving plate upside-down on the bundt pan, and flip it to turn the monkey bread out. Serve warm!
