Description
This Easy Monkey Bread recipe creates a deliciously sweet, sticky, and pull-apart bread with cinnamon, sugar, and pecans, perfect for serving warm as a dessert or special breakfast treat. Using refrigerated biscuit dough and a homemade caramel-like sauce, this recipe is simple to prepare and yields a fluffy, gooey, and flavorful monkey bread everyone will love.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter for greasing
- 2 16 oz. packages refrigerated biscuit dough (Pillsbury Grand's Buttermilk Biscuits)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (or salted and omit the salt)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grease the Pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 12-cup capacity Bundt pan with softened butter using a pastry brush or a crumpled piece of wax/parchment paper to cover all surfaces including the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chopped pecans evenly over the bottom of the pan and set aside.
- Prep the Biscuits: Cut each biscuit into 4 quarters using a pizza cutter or knife. Roll each quarter into a small ball to create fluffier and prettier pieces, though this step is optional.
- Coating and Layering: In a freezer-size plastic bag, whisk together the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Working with about 12 dough balls at a time, add them to the bag and shake to thoroughly coat each piece. Arrange the coated dough balls in the Bundt pan, layering pecans between them and staggering so pieces are not stacked directly on top of each other. Reserve leftover cinnamon-sugar mixture for the sauce.
- Caramel-Like Sauce: In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture, brown sugar, butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a boil. Remove immediately from heat and stir in the vanilla extract until sugars dissolve completely.
- Drizzle the Sauce: Evenly pour the caramel sauce over the dough balls in the Bundt pan, rotating and tilting the pan occasionally to ensure the sauce reaches the bottom and evenly coats the dough.
- Bake: Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake at 350°F for 35 minutes or until the dough is fully cooked and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the biscuits reads 190°F to 200°F.
- Cool and Invert: Let the monkey bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then invert it onto a large plate. If any sauce remains in the pan, brush or spoon it over the top of the bread. Serve warm for the best flavor and texture.
Notes
- Use the Pillsbury Grand's traditional Buttermilk Biscuits, not the flaky layers type, as flaky biscuits won't hold together well in this recipe.
- Rolling the biscuit quarters into balls is optional but creates a better presentation and fluffier texture.
- Greasing the Bundt pan well is important to prevent sticking, especially in crevices.
- Including pecans is optional, but they add a nice crunch and flavor contrast.
- The caramel sauce should be removed from heat as soon as it boils to prevent burning or crystallization.
- Use a pastry brush to coat hard-to-reach areas of the pan if you don’t have a pastry brush, wax or parchment paper works as an alternative.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 420 kcal
- Sugar: 35 g
- Sodium: 400 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
