Monkey Bread – Balls of sweet bread dough coated in sugar and cinnamon, baked in a bundt pan and drizzled with a creamy glaze!

Monkey Bread served on a white cake stand.

Raise your hand if you love Monkey Bread! *Raises both hands.*

I love Monkey Bread for breakfast AND dessert, it fits both perfectly. If you’ve never heard of Monkey Bread before, think cinnamon rolls in ball form.

Monkey Bread is little balls of sweet bread dough rolled in melted butter then sugar and cinnamon, baked in a bundt pan and drizzled with a glaze.

Sounds perfect, right?

Why do you call it Monkey Bread?

The origin of the term “monkey bread” comes from the pastry being a finger food. You would pick apart the bread as a monkey would. And who doesn’t LOVE finger food? 🙂

A close-up of cinnamon-sugar coated Monkey Bread served on a white cake stand.

Monkey Bread is a lot easier (and fun!) to make than cinnamon rolls because there’s no rolling and slicing, and it’s even more fun to eat, too!

How to make Monkey Bread

Ingredients you’ll need for the dough:

  • plain/all-purpose flour
  • instant (fast-action) yeast
  • caster/granulated sugar
  • salt
  • milk
  • unsalted butter
  • large egg
  • vanilla extract

For the coating:

  • unsalted butter
  • caster/granulated sugar
  • brown sugar
  • ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

  • icing/powdered sugar
  • vanilla extract
  • heavy/double cream

To make this bread, whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Add the milk, butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix well, then bring everything together with your hands to form a sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

For the coating, melt the butter in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the sugars, and cinnamon.

Pull apart pieces of the dough and roll into about 1-inch balls. Dip each ball in the melted butter, and then roll them in the sugar mixture. Place the balls of dough into a greased 10-inch bundt pan.

Mix together any remaining melted butter and cinnamon sugar, and pour over the dough balls. Cover the pan with clingfilm and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for another hour.

Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 5 – 10 minutes, then remove onto a serving plate.

For the glaze, whisk together the icing sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until smooth and combined. Drizzle over the warm bread, and serve.

The printable recipe card with the full list of ingredients, their measurements, and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.

NOTE: For best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup measurements. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough, and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

Monkey Bread drizzled with a glaze served on a white cake stand.
Monkey Bread drizzled in a glaze with a piece of bread removed to show fluffy centre.

This Monkey Bread is:

  • super quick and easy to throw together
  • incredibly soft and fluffy
  • LOADED with flavour
  • perfect for serving at parties!

How long will this Monkey Bread last? This bread can be stored, covered tightly, in the fridge for up to 1 week. Warm up before serving.

Can I freeze Monkey Bread? Yup! This bread also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.

Tried this recipe?

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and hashtag it #simplybakeblog. I’d love to see!

Monkey Bread served on a white cake stand with a piece being taken by hand.
Monkey Bread - Balls of sweet bread dough coated in sugar and cinnamon, baked in a bundt pan and drizzled with a creamy glaze! #monkeybread #breadrecipes

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let’s make

Monkey Bread

Balls of sweet bread dough coated in sugar and cinnamon, baked in a bundt pan and drizzled with a creamy glaze. Perfect for breakfast AND dessert!
Author: Marsha
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yields: 12 – 14 servings

Ingredients

For the Dough

  • 4 cups 500g plain/all-purpose flour
  • 2 and 1/4 teaspoons, 7g or 1 sachet instant fast-action yeast
  • ½ cup 100g caster/granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup 240ml milk, warm
  • ¼ cup 56g unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Coating

  • ¾ cup 170g unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup 150g caster/granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup 150g brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the Glaze

  • 1 cup 125g icing/powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 – 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

For the Dough

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
  • Make a well in the centre, and add in the milk, butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix well, then bring everything together with your hands to form a sticky dough.
  • Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  • Grease a 10-inch bundt pan and set aside.

For the Coating

  • Melt the butter in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the sugars, and cinnamon.
  • Pull apart pieces of the dough and roll into about 1-inch balls. Dip each ball in the melted butter, and then roll them in the sugar mixture. Place the balls of dough into the prepared bundt pan.
  • Mix together any remaining melted butter and cinnamon sugar, and pour over the dough balls. Cover the pan with clingfilm and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 5 – 10 minutes, then remove onto a serving plate.

For the Glaze

  • Whisk together the icing sugar, vanilla, and cream until smooth and combined. Drizzle over the warm bread, and serve.

Recipe Notes

Leftovers can be stored, covered tightly, in the fridge for up to 1 week. Baked monkey bread also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
You can make this bread ahead of time! Roll into balls and place into the prepared pan as instructed, then cover with clingfilm or foil and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, let rise in a warm place for 1 hour before baking.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1ballCalories: 440kcalCarbohydrates: 71gProtein: 5gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 97mgFiber: 1gSugar: 42g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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19 Comments

  1. Thank you so much showing the American conversion measurements! This looks delicious, so much better than using refrigerator biscuits. Can’the wait to try!

    Reply

  2. Thank you so much showing the American conversion measurements! This looks delicious, so much better than using refrigerator biscuits. Can’the wait to try!

    Reply

  11. LOVE this!!! Marsha, so funny, I was looking for a monkey bread recipe last weekend! I wanted to make something super special for my sister, and since she LOVES monkey bread, I was sure that was the thing!! Wish I had found this sooner! Saving this recipe for a future special occasion. 😉 Pinning, of course! xo

    Reply