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Monkey Bread is the ultimate pull apart breakfast treat, gooey, buttery balls of cinnamon sugar biscuit baked together in a sweet caramel glaze. This version is stuffed with warm spiced apples and a little cream cheese, and you make it the night before, so Christmas morning is easy. My girls love pulling off the sticky pieces straight from the pan. It is just as fun to share as our crescent roll cinnamon rolls.
Made with canned buttermilk biscuits, this easy overnight monkey bread comes together in minutes and bakes up irresistibly gooey and golden.
Monkey Bread Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 55 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 9 hours
- 🍽️ Serving: 10 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 330kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Gooey, sweet, and buttery with cinnamon, apple, and caramel
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, no mixer needed, about as simple as our crescent roll cinnamon rolls
Quick Answer
To make monkey bread, flatten canned buttermilk biscuits and stuff each with a little spiced apple filling and cream cheese, then fold and roll into balls. Roll each ball in melted butter and cinnamon brown sugar and layer them in a greased bundt pan. Chill overnight, then pour a brown sugar butter glaze over the top and bake until golden. Invert onto a platter and pull apart to serve.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Canned biscuits make it shortcut easy. Using buttermilk biscuits means no yeast and no rising, so this monkey bread comes together in minutes with no special skills.
- Stuffing the biscuits adds a gooey surprise. A little spiced apple and cream cheese tucked inside each ball melts into a warm, gooey center as it bakes.
- The overnight chill makes it perfect for company. Assembling it the night before means all you do in the morning is bake, so it is ideal for holidays and brunch.
- A brown sugar glaze creates the caramel. Pouring a boiled butter and brown sugar glaze over the top bakes down into the sticky, gooey caramel that makes monkey bread irresistible.
- The bundt pan gives it the classic shape. Baking in a bundt pan lets the balls bake together into that iconic tear and share monkey bread ring.
- It is made for sharing. Everyone pulls their own gooey, sticky pieces right from the platter, which makes it a fun, crowd pleasing treat.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is gooey, buttery, and sticky sweet, with warm apple and cinnamon in every pull apart bite.
- It is a make ahead breakfast you assemble the night before, perfect for holidays alongside our pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
- It uses canned biscuits for a shortcut, so it is easy enough for kids to help make and impressive enough for company.
Key Ingredients
Simple ingredients and a can of biscuits make this easy monkey bread. Here is what each one does.
- Buttermilk biscuits: Canned biscuits are the shortcut base, baking up into soft, fluffy pull apart pieces with no kneading.
- Apple filling: Diced apple cooked with butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar adds a warm, gooey spiced center.
- Cream cheese: A little tucked into each biscuit melts into rich, tangy pockets throughout the bread.
- Cinnamon and brown sugar: The classic coating that gives monkey bread its signature sweet, spiced, caramelized flavor.
- Butter: Melted for coating and boiled with brown sugar into the glaze that makes it sticky and gooey.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This monkey bread is easy to make your own:
- Skip the apples: Leave out the apple filling for a classic plain cinnamon sugar monkey bread.
- Add nuts: Sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts between the layers for a little crunch.
- Make it pumpkin: Swap the apple for a pumpkin spice filling, like our pumpkin monkey bread.
- Bake it right away: If you are short on time, skip the overnight chill and bake it right after assembling, adding a few extra minutes.
How to Make Monkey Bread
- Make the apple filling first. Cook the diced apple with the butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a skillet over medium low heat for about 15 minutes, until soft. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
- Working with one can of biscuits at a time, flatten each biscuit and add about 1/2 teaspoon of the apple filling and 1/4 teaspoon of cream cheese in the center. Fold the biscuit over, pinch to seal, and roll into a ball.
- Roll each ball in the melted butter, then in a bowl of combined brown sugar and cinnamon. Layer the coated balls into a greased bundt pan, repeating until all the biscuits are used.
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, take the pan out about an hour before baking so it can come to room temperature.
- Make the glaze by boiling the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan, whisking constantly. As soon as it boils, pour it evenly over the biscuits.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 to 55 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Let it cool 10 minutes, then very carefully invert onto a serving platter and enjoy warm.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Do not overfill the biscuits, a small amount of apple and cream cheese seals more easily and will not leak out.
- Seal the edges well, pinch each biscuit tightly so the gooey filling stays tucked inside while baking.
- Grease the bundt pan generously, so the sticky monkey bread releases cleanly when you invert it.
- Let the apples cool first, warm filling can make the biscuits hard to handle, so cool it before stuffing.
- Invert while warm, turn it out about 10 minutes after baking so the caramel does not set and stick to the pan.
- Bake it the same day if needed, the overnight chill is for convenience, but you can bake it right after assembling.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
This gooey monkey bread is the star of any breakfast or brunch, perfect for Christmas morning, Easter, or a lazy weekend. Serve it warm right from the platter so everyone can pull off their own sticky pieces, with coffee or hot cocoa alongside.
Round out a cozy brunch spread with our pumpkin cinnamon rolls, lemon blueberry coffee cake, and a platter of fresh fruit. It is the kind of treat that makes a holiday morning feel special.
Drizzle any extra glaze or a little cream cheese icing over the top for an even more decadent treat. Monkey bread is best the day it is baked, but leftovers reheat beautifully for a few seconds in the microwave.
Monkey Bread FAQs
Yes, the overnight chill is mainly for convenience so you can bake it fresh in the morning. If you are short on time, you can assemble the monkey bread and bake it right away. You may need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time, and check that the center biscuits are cooked through.
Canned buttermilk biscuits are the classic shortcut for monkey bread. The regular sized flaky or homestyle biscuits work best because they are easy to flatten, stuff, and roll into balls. You can use any brand you like, and the larger biscuits give you nice big pull apart pieces.
To avoid a doughy center, make sure your oven is fully preheated and bake the monkey bread until it is deep golden brown and the center biscuits are cooked through, about 45 to 55 minutes. If the top browns too fast, loosely tent it with foil so the inside can finish baking.
Monkey bread is best fresh, but you can freeze leftovers. Wrap cooled pieces tightly and freeze for up to two months. Thaw at room temperature and warm in the microwave or oven to bring back the gooey texture. You can also freeze the assembled, unbaked bread, then thaw overnight and bake.
Monkey bread sticks when the pan is not greased well enough or the caramel sets before you turn it out. Grease the bundt pan generously with cooking spray or butter, and invert the bread onto a platter about 10 minutes after baking while the caramel is still warm and loose.
Store leftover monkey bread covered at room temperature for up to two days, or in the fridge for up to four days. Warm individual pieces in the microwave for a few seconds to bring back the soft, gooey texture. It is so good fresh that leftovers are rarely a problem.
Love a cozy fall breakfast? Try our caramel swirl pumpkin bread and cranberry pumpkin muffins next.
Balance a sweet pan of this monkey bread with our savory avocado toast at brunch.
These Nutella French toast sticks pair perfectly with a warm slice of our apple cinnamon monkey bread for a big breakfast spread.
Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Apple filling:
- 1 granny smith apple cored, peeled, fine dice
- 2 Tbls unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbls light brown sugar
Monkey Bread:
- 3 cans 12 oz buttermilk biscuits
- 6 Tbls unsalted butter melted
- 3 oz cream cheese
- 1 Cup light brown sugar
- 1 Tbls ground cinnamon
Glaze:
Instructions
Apple Filling:
- Make the apple filling first by placing the butter and apples in a skillet over medium low heat. Add in remaining ingredients and let cook down for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Take off the heat and let cool.
Monkey Bread Assembly:
- Working with one can of biscuits at a time, place all the biscuits on work surface and flatten out. Add in 1/2 tsp of the apple mixture with 1/4 tsp of the cream cheese in each. Fold biscuit in half, pinching to secure the edges and with hand, roll into ball. After all the biscuits are stuffed and rolled, roll them in the melted butter then into a separate bowl that has the brown sugar and cinnamon combined. Place into a bundt pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Repeat this process until all the biscuits are done. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge over night.
Glaze:
- In the morning, take out the bundt pan about an hour before cooking to let it come to room temperature.
- Make the glaze by placing the butter and brown sugar in a sauce pot and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. As soon as it comes to a boil, pour evenly over biscuits.
- Bake in a preheat 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes, until the outside is golden brown and the biscuits are cooked through. Let sit on counter top 10 minutes to let cool slightly and VERY CAREFULLY invert bundt pan onto serving platter, enjoy!
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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Looks yummy. I’ve never made monkey bread.
This looks perfect for a weekend breakfast! Looks like I’ll need to have some friends over…;-)
Oh yum! I love monkey bread, but I bet the apples take it to the next level!
Hi, Dana- me again! I’ve picked this as my favorite link from last week’s Snickerdoodle Sunday Link Party! It’ll be my featured link when the new party goes live this afternoon- I hope you’ll come by with new blog posts!!
Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)
Kind of like an apple fritter and I love me some apple fritters. This has got to rock! I tried a way to do this with a monkey bread recipe and it was a FAILURE. LOL
I’ll have to try your version.
Pinning it!
EVERY WEEK you make my mouth water- and this is definitely no exception. Ohhhh, it looks so yummy. Thank you so much for linking up at Snickerdoodle Sunday- I hope you’ll come back later this week with more makes!
Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)
Oh my GOODNESS this looks amazing!! I love making cream cheese monkey bread, it’s one of my favorite breakfast dishes (especially for pot lucks)…but adding apples?? Why didn’t I ever think of that!! I am definitely pinning to try sometime…it would be perfect for a noon football game breakfast tailgate!
This looks so delish! My boys will love this! Thanks so much for linking up to Autumn Abounds! Pinned! ~ Heather
Hi Dana! Wow! This looks so scrumptious. You’ve got me salivating! Ha,ha! I pinned it and I plan on making it this weekend. Thank you for sharing!