This Overnight Monkey Bread combines several buttery balls of bread coated in cinnamon and brown sugar! There isn't a better way to greet yourself Good Morning!
Try my Moist Pumpkin Muffins next. Oh and these fresh Apple Cinnamon Rolls will make you jump outta bed! How about this Apple Crumb Cake? Find all my Easy Breakfast Recipes here!
I was typing the title of this post (after sipping a tall cup of coffee) and I wrote "overnight Banana bread" instead of "Monkey Bread". What!!!
But I don't blame my brain one bit, as bananas go with monkey and all... 😉
But this got me thinking, why is it called Monkey Bread? And I found the answer very interesting! Because we tear and pull apart the bread like a monkey would, it is called Monkey Bread. So relatable! 😀 😀 😀
What is Monkey Bread?
It is basically a pull apart bread that features tiny and sticky cinnamon rolls like balls, baked together in a bundt pan.
Homemade Monkey Bread dough is rolled in melted butter first, then cinnamon sugar and arranged in a bundt pan. We then top the bread with a brown sugar-butter sauce and leave this bread to rise overnight in the fridge.
That is why we call it overnight Monkey Bread!
Bake it the next morning and you are ready to taste sweet and sticky mini cinnamon rolls (but better!) in every bite!
Monkey bread ingredients:
FOR THE DOUGH:
- Milk: Use full fat milk to create a rich homemade bread dough.
- Butter: Butter ensures a flavor rich bread
- Sugar: Sugar feed the yeast and tenderizes the dough.
- Yeast: You can use Instant yeast or active dry yeast. I added active dry yeast for a slower rise and better flavor. Dough with instant yeast rises quickly. Add it if you don't wish to wait overnight to enjoy your bread!
- Flour: We are using all purpose flour to make our bread. Bread flour may be substituted here.
- Salt: For sweet-salty flavor!
FOR COATING AND SAUCE:
- Butter: For dipping the dough balls first and then using the left over for making sauce
- Brown Sugar: For a deep flavor.
- Cinnamon: Are you really looking for a reason! 😉
How to make Monkey Bread?
There are 2 parts to today's recipe. One is making the bread dough and other is making the coating. Let us see how this bread comes together.
- Make the bread dough: Now dough can be made in a mixer or by hand. But remember you will need to knead it for 5-7 minutes to make a pliable dough if kneading by hands.
- Prove the dough: Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or till doubled in size.
- Shape into balls: Now punch the dough down and divide it into 32 balls of equal size. Or alternatively, you can eye ball and form them.
- Roll the balls in melted butter first and then into cinnamon sugar: The heavier you coat balls with cinnamon sugar the better will be the flavor of your bread. So go nuts and opt for a heavy coat! 😉
- Arrange half of the balls in a bundt pan
- Pour half of the sauce over
- Arrange the remaining dough balls and pour the left over sauce: This additional step is to ensure an even spread of sauce throughout the bread
- Let the dough rise overnight (covered) in the refrigerator: This step promises a better flavor profile of bread
- Bake!!!
how to make monkey bread without a bundt pan
You can bake this bread in a bread pan. Alternatively, monkey bread can be baked in muffin pan. Stack 3 dough balls in each cavity. Baking time and oven temp will be same!
How do you keep monkey bread warm?
Leftover bread can be reheated in oven at 250 deg F for about 7-10 minutes or till heated through!
Can you use baking powder instead of yeast to make bread?
Baking powder would require an acid to make the dough rise, which this monkey bread recipe lacks. Yeast makes bread, bread! If you too are picky about the texture of your bread, I recommend yeast as opposed to baking powder.
What happens if water is too hot for yeast?
This could kill your yeast. The dough might not rise well, resulting into a dense and doughy bread. Water should only be warm at around 100 deg C not hot to touch.
Now you could take a shortcut and make monkey bread with canned biscuits. But it tastes nowhere closer to a gooey, warm, buttery, sweet and cinnamon-y homemade monkey bread baked from scratch.
Wait till you smell this in your kitchen!
More Fall Desserts:
Sweet Potato Chocolate swirled Pound Cake
Apple Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Overnight Monkey Bread
Ingredients
For Bread Dough
- ⅔ (160 ml) Cup Milk full fat, warmed to about 110°F
- 1 tsp Yeast (use instant yeast, if not resting the dough overnight)
- 1 ½ tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 ¾ (228 gms) Cups All purpose flour
- 2 tbsp Butter room temperature
For Coating
- 1 Cup Butter Melted
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar (Light/dark both are fine, I used dark)
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp Salt
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Mix warm milk, yeast and sugar together in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Allow to sit for 4-5 mins.
- Add a cup of flour and beat on low for 30-45 seconds. Now add the remaining flour, butter and salt. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 4-6 minutes. The dough will be sticky. (If you don't own a stand mixer, knead dough by hand.)
First rise:
- Spray lightly with an oil/butter spray and cover the dough with a cloth. Allow to rise for an hour or till the dough doubles in size. Now punch the dough down and divide and roll it into 32 balls.
Make the coating:
- Mix cinnamon into brown sugar and melt your butter in a separate bowl. Spray a 6 inches bundt pan with baking spray and set aside.
Dunk the balls:
- Dip balls in the melted butter and then generously roll into cinnamon sugar, working with one ball at a time.
- Melt remaining butter (which is left after dipping all the dough balls), salt and cinnamon sugar together in microwave till the sugar melts and a sauce is formed. Arrange the dough balls in the prepared bundt pan and pour the cooled sauce over.
- Cover and allow to rise in the refrigerator up to 8 hours or till the balls have risen well.
Second Rise and Bake:
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and bake for about 30-35 minutes or till the bread sounds hollow to tap and appears golden brown on top. Place a rimmed baking tray underneath the bundt pan to capture any drips of sauce in the oven.
- If you see the bread is browning too quickly on the top, lightly cover with an aluminium foil. Cool the baked bread for 5-10 mins and then invert on the serving plate. Enjoy warm!
I must have done something wrong - the dough did not rise much once in the refrigerator and didn’t rise at all while baking. Should the instructions have said to remove from fridge and set out for an hour or so before baking?
Hi Brandy! Sounds like refrigerator hours were not enough for your bread to prove for the second time. You can continue to prove it in the fridge till it proves well (which can be longer than 8 hours). Or can do this process on the countertop if you are in a hurry to bake in the morning. Either way, the bread needs to prove before putting it in oven. Hope it helps.
I can sense the tasty crunchy Glaze. Awesome. I love the name of this bread too.
My husband asked me to make this AGAIN so this is a winning recipe for sure!
I've always been a fan of monkey bread. I've been looking for an easy recipe to make over the holidays! After trying this, I'd say it is a winner!
Buttery, sugary goodness, just what I need on a crisp fall morning!
Wow this Monkey Bread looks fab!! It is so good to do some baking and this looks like the kindof recipe which would be very fun. Love how you have explain what Monkey Bread is too, cheers!