Breads

Serving

Gooey Monkey Bread

Name: Gooey Monkey Bread
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Breads
Ingredients: 450 g all-purpose flour; 240 ml warm milk; 7 g instant yeast; 50 g sugar, plus 150 g for coating; 8 g salt; 60 g unsalted butter, softened, plus 115 g melted for sauce; 1 egg; 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon; 200 g packed brown sugar

Pull-apart balls of soft dough tossed in cinnamon sugar and baked in a caramel-brown sugar glaze.

150 minutes

Serves 10

Snack

53 min prep

83 min cook

Contains common allergens

Egg Dairy Wheat

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Instructions

10 steps

1
Whisk warm milk, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar; let stand 5 minutes until foamy.
2
Add flour, remaining 50 g sugar, salt, softened butter, and egg; knead 8 minutes until smooth.
3
Cover and rise 1 hour until doubled.
4
Mix 150 g sugar with cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
5
Divide dough into 30 small balls; roll each in melted butter, then coat in cinnamon sugar.
6
Layer coated balls in a greased Bundt pan, staggering seams.
7
Whisk brown sugar into remaining melted butter and pour evenly over the dough balls.
8
Cover and proof 30-40 minutes until puffy.
9
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake 30-35 minutes until deep golden and cooked through.
10
Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a platter, letting the caramel drip over the top, and serve warm.

Gooey Monkey Bread — plated and served — Serving moment. How Gooey Monkey Bread looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

66/100

Works for many families

Allergen-friendly 70

Kid-friendly 55

Weeknight-easy 49

Budget-friendly 86

Great leftovers 87

Pantry-friendly 58

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

330

Calories

6 g

Protein

61 g

Carbs

7 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Monkey bread is a North American pull-apart coffee cake with roots in older sweet yeast breads made from small pieces of dough. It became especially familiar in home kitchens once Bundt pans and shortcut biscuit versions made the dramatic ring shape easy to bake and serve.

Listahan note

This version keeps the from-scratch dough soft and simple, then leans into the part people remember: cinnamon-sugar edges and a brown sugar butter glaze that runs into every gap. The method gives you separate pull-apart pieces instead of one dense sticky loaf.

Technique cues

The dough should feel smooth and slightly tacky after kneading, not stiff. A dry dough makes the finished pieces less tender.
Coating each ball first in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar builds the separate sticky layers that make monkey bread pull apart cleanly.
Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting. Too soon and the glaze can run off; too late and the caramel can grip the pan.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Grease the Bundt pan, mix the cinnamon sugar, and melt the butter while the dough has its first rise.
Make-ahead: Shape and layer the coated dough balls in the pan, cover tightly, and chill overnight; let the pan sit at room temperature until puffy before baking.
Leftover move: Cut leftover pieces into chunks and warm them in a skillet until the sugared edges get lightly crisp.
Cleanup rhythm: Wipe butter and sugar from the counter before the second proof, then soak the Bundt pan as soon as the bread is unmolded.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

All-purpose flour

Dough structure

Purpose: It gives the bread enough strength to rise into soft pull-apart pieces without becoming chewy.

Handling: Measure by weight if possible, and hold back a spoonful only if the dough seems too wet during kneading.

Adaptation: Bread flour makes a slightly chewier, more elastic loaf; use it only if you like a firmer pull.

Warm milk

Tender liquid base

Purpose: Milk softens the crumb and helps the dough brown gently in the oven.

Handling: Use milk that feels warm to the touch, not hot, before mixing it with the yeast.

Adaptation: Water can work in the dough, but the finished bread will taste less rich and the crumb will be a little leaner.

Instant yeast

Rise and lightness

Purpose: It lifts the dough so the pieces bake fluffy instead of compact.

Handling: The brief foaming step is a useful check that the milk temperature and yeast activity are on track.

Adaptation: Active dry yeast can be used in the same amount if it is fully dissolved and foamy before the flour goes in.

Unsalted butter

Richness and glaze carrier

Purpose: Softened butter enriches the dough, while melted butter helps the cinnamon sugar and brown sugar sauce cling to each piece.

Handling: Keep the dough butter soft, not melted, and use the melted portion for dipping and sauce.

Adaptation: Salted butter works if you reduce the added salt slightly in the dough.

Ground cinnamon

Warm spice

Purpose: Cinnamon is the main flavor in the coating, so it needs enough sugar around it to spread evenly over every dough ball.

Handling: Mix it thoroughly with the 150 g sugar before coating so there are no bitter concentrated streaks.

Adaptation: A small pinch of cardamom or nutmeg can join the cinnamon, but keep cinnamon as the lead flavor.

Packed brown sugar

Caramel glaze base

Purpose: It melts into the butter and creates the sticky sauce that drips over the inverted bread.

Handling: Whisk it into the remaining melted butter until the mixture looks evenly sandy and glossy.

Adaptation: Dark brown sugar gives a deeper molasses note; light brown sugar keeps the glaze milder.

Technique notes

Stagger the dough balls instead of stacking them in straight columns so the glaze can flow through the pan more evenly.
Bake until the top is deep golden, not just pale tan; the center pieces need enough time to cook through under the glaze.
Invert onto a rimmed platter, not a flat board, because the warm brown sugar butter will drip down the sides.

Ingredient swaps

Biscuit shortcut: Use cut refrigerated biscuit dough for a faster pull-apart bread; the texture will be more tender and less yeasty than the from-scratch version.
Dairy-free direction: Use a neutral plant-based milk and plant-based butter; expect a slightly less rich dough and watch the glaze closely because some spreads melt thinner.
Less-sweet direction: Reduce the cinnamon-sugar coating slightly, but keep the brown sugar sauce generous enough to run between the pieces.
Nutty variation: Scatter chopped pecans or walnuts into the Bundt pan before layering the dough for crunch and a toasted flavor.

Serve alongside

Scrambled eggs with chives
Crisp bacon strips
Greek yogurt with berries
Orange and grapefruit salad
Hot coffee
Cold brew with milk
Spiced apple cider

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Keep leftovers covered at room temperature for the first day, or refrigerate in a sealed container for longer storage.
Reheat individual portions gently in a low oven or microwave until the glaze softens again.
Freeze pulled-apart portions in a sealed container, then thaw and warm covered so the bread does not dry out.

Equipment

Bundt pan
Stand mixer or sturdy mixing bowl
Shallow bowl for cinnamon sugar
Rimmed serving platter

Make this household-aware

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