AMAZING Traditional Monkey Bread Recipe
There are some recipes that are different all over the place. Monkey bread is definitely one of them. It’s one of my mom’s favorite breakfast dishes she makes, and I – silly me – assumed that monkey bread was … monkey bread.
And then I had it at a bed and breakfast years ago, and it wasn’t the same thing at all. I saw it on a menu at a restaurant and tried it, and it was again totally different. Who knew there were regional differences to monkey bread?
That said, I did a careful taste testing and comparison of the various monkey breads I’ve come across in my time, and my mom’s recipe is still my favorite, hands down. Trust me, I don’t say that about many recipes.
Though summer is still in high gear, I’m starting to look at back to school and some of the comfort foods I love to make and eat. So I made Mister Man (and my husband) happy by baking some monkey bread the other day. My mom’s version, of course. While her recipe calls for two frozen loaves of Rhodes’ Bread Dough, I make my homemade bread dough and use the equivalent of two loaves, so go whichever route works best for you.
Monkey Bread
Ingredients:
2 loaves of bread dough, unrisen
1 t cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter
2 T milk
1 big box vanilla pudding not instant
Directions:
If you are using frozen bread dough, let it thaw but not rise. If you are making your own dough, chill it just a little to make it easier to work with before you start.
Make the sauce before you start with the rest of it. Over medium low heat, add the butter, sugar, cinnamon, pudding mix, and milk to a pan. Stir until melted and incorporated, then remove from the heat and set aside.
Break half the dough into walnut size pieces, rolling them slightly, then popping them into a greased bundt pan.
Pour the entire sauce over the dough balls.
Continue making walnut size dough balls with the remaining dough and place them into the bundt pan atop the sauced dough balls.
Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled. If you’re using previously frozen dough, this may take about two hours. If you are using fresh dough, it will be closer to one hour.
Remove the towel, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let the monkey bread cool for ten minutes. You want it to firm up and finish baking just a touch, but you don’t want the sauce to cool before you remove it.
Place a large plate upsidedown atop the bundt pain and quickly flip it over. Lift the bundt pan to remove the monkey bread. Serve immediately. This will keep for a couple days if you can’t eat it all in one sitting….
Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- 2 loaves of bread dough unrisen
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 big box vanilla pudding not instant
Instructions
- If you are using frozen bread dough, let it thaw but not rise. If you are making your own dough, chill it just a little to make it easier to work with before you start.2 loaves of bread dough
- Make the sauce before you start with the rest of it. Over medium low heat, add the butter, sugar, cinnamon, pudding mix, and milk to a pan. Stir until melted and incorporated, then remove from the heat and set aside.1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 big box vanilla pudding, 2 tablespoons milk
- Break half the dough into walnut size pieces, rolling them slightly, then popping them into a greased bundt pan. Pour the entire sauce over the dough balls.
- Continue making walnut size dough balls with the remaining dough and place them into the bundt pan atop the sauced dough balls.
- Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled. If you're using previously frozen dough, this may take about two hours. If you are using fresh dough, it will be closer to one hour.
- Remove the towel, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let the monkey bread cool for ten minutes. You want it to firm up and finish baking just a touch, but you don't want the sauce to cool before you remove it.
- Place a large plate upsidedown atop the bundt pain and quickly flip it over. Lift the bundt pan to remove the monkey bread. Serve immediately. This will keep for a couple days if you can't eat it all in one sitting.
Notes
- You can use the equivalent of two loaves of homemade bread dough or purchased. My mom has always used Rhodes' frozen white bread dough, and it turns out perfectly. Just defrost first - don't let it rise.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
It would be cool to have a Monkey Bread bake off… like a chili cook off, but with Monkey Bread, of course. Everyone bakes their own version, and then the judges (one of whom would be me) would sample all of them and decide which one is the best!
My husband loves monkey bread too but I have found a really fast way use all the same ingredients but i use 2 packages of the grands biscuit’s so there is no need for the rising. But don’t get me wrong I do love it with homemade dough 🙂 PS I never used the vanilla pudding until your recipe called for it and it is awesome thank you.
Kimberly Parker
Mount Dora, FL
I’m sure the Grands biscuits work, as well. I personally prefer the homemade dough, and I enjoy making it, so I posted the traditional way we’ve always made it at my house, but I’m glad you found a way that works for you and that you enjoy!