Easy Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread with Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 10 inch bundt pan or tube pan generously with nonstick baking spray so nothing sticks later.
- Put the butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir every so often until the butter has melted completely and the sugar looks glossy.
- Tip the melted butter and sugar mixture into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer across the bottom.
- Whisk the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl until no streaks remain.
- Slice each cinnamon roll into four pieces, then toss the pieces in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Keep the spiraled layers intact rather than pulling them apart.
- Lay the coated pieces over the brown sugar layer in the pan, spreading them out evenly so the bread bakes at the same rate throughout.
- Scatter any cinnamon sugar left in the bowl over the top of the assembled bread.
- Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. If the surface starts browning too fast, lay a sheet of foil with a crease down the middle over the pan as a loose tent. To test for doneness, gently pull up a piece near the center of the pan; if the underside still looks raw and doughy, return it to the oven for more time.
- Pull the pan from the oven and let it stand for no more than 5 minutes.
- Set a platter with a raised rim upside down over the pan, then flip the two together so the platter sits flat on the counter. Take care, since the hot syrup can splash.
- Slowly lift the pan off the bread. If a piece clings to the pan, ease it out and press it back into place while the syrup is still warm and sticky.
- Allow the monkey bread to cool down to room temperature before serving.
- Microwave the frosting that came with the rolls for about 10 seconds until pourable, then drizzle it back and forth over the top.
- Keep leftovers in a cake keeper or wrap the bread tightly with plastic wrap and store it at room temperature.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!What Is Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread?
Let me tell you about the first time monkey bread hit my table on a cool October morning. My kids were already seated before the coffee finished brewing, and by the time the platter landed, there wasn’t a single piece left.
Monkey bread is a pull-apart bread made from small pieces of dough rolled in cinnamon sugar, stacked in a pan, and baked under a butter and brown sugar caramel. You don’t slice it. You just reach in and pull.
As for the name, the popular theory is that it echoes the way monkeys pick at their food with their fingers. Which is exactly how this bread gets eaten, so it fits.
My version swaps the from-scratch yeast dough for refrigerated flaky cinnamon roll dough with frosting. That turns it into a real 5-ingredient monkey bread: butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and the dough.
Because the dough is already spiraled, every piece bakes up with soft, buttery layers built right in. No mixer. No proofing. No waiting around for yeast to wake up.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This easy monkey bread shows up at my house every Thanksgiving morning. It looks like you fussed for hours. It takes about 20 minutes of actual work.
- Five ingredients. That’s the entire shopping list.
- No special skills. If you can open a tube of dough and melt butter, you’re qualified.
- Caramel in every layer. The brown sugar mixture starts at the bottom of the pan and bubbles up through all the pieces as it bakes.
- Kids can help. Mine handle the cinnamon sugar tossing, and they take it very seriously.
- It feeds a crowd. One bundt pan serves 10 to 12 people.
- It’s forgiving. Even an imperfect monkey bread disappears in minutes.
The texture is the whole point. Caramelized and slightly crusty on the outside, soft and steamy in the middle, with a little stretch when you pull a piece away.
Ingredients & Cookware You’ll Need
Here’s what to grab. Three tubes of refrigerated flaky cinnamon roll dough with frosting, the Grands! style ones, which gives you 15 rolls total. Check the label twice, because you want the tubes that include the frosting cup.
Then a stick of butter, a cup of packed light brown sugar, plus granulated sugar and ground cinnamon for the coating.
- Cinnamon roll dough: Keep it cold until the second you cut it. Warm dough is sticky and miserable to handle.
- Light brown sugar: Packed, not loose. Dark brown sugar works too and gives a deeper caramel.
- Butter: Real butter, not margarine. It caramelizes better.
- Ground cinnamon: Fresher is better. If your jar has been sitting since last fall, treat yourself to a new one.
For equipment, a 10-inch bundt pan or tube pan is what this recipe is built around. You’ll also want nonstick baking spray, a medium saucepan, a whisk, a small bowl, a rimmed serving platter, and a sheet of foil just in case.
If your oven runs hot, that foil matters. More on that below.
How to Make Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
The whole thing breaks into four stages. Heat the oven to 350°F before you start, because once you begin cutting dough, you’ll want to keep moving.
Make the Brown Sugar Caramel
Melt the butter and brown sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring every so often, until the butter is fully melted and the mixture looks glossy. Pour it into a generously greased pan and spread it into an even layer across the bottom.
Here’s why that matters. The caramel sits at the bottom of the pan during baking, and when you flip the bread out, it becomes the gooey top. Every bit of it soaks down through the pieces on the way.
Grease the pan like you mean it. Every curve, every crevice. A bundt pan has a lot of surface area, and caramel is sticky business.
Toss and Layer the Cinnamon Roll Pieces
Whisk the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl, or shake them together in a zip-top bag. I use the bag because it coats more evenly and there’s less cleanup.
Cut each cinnamon roll into four pieces. Four. Not two, not six. Uniform biscuit pieces are what make the whole pan bake at the same rate, and you want the spiraled layers to stay intact rather than getting pulled apart.
Toss the pieces in the cinnamon sugar until they’re well coated, then lay them over the caramel in the pan. Spread them out evenly instead of letting them pile up in the middle. Scatter whatever cinnamon sugar is left in the bowl over the top.
It’s going to look like a chaotic heap of dough. That’s the magic. Don’t press anything down, because the caramel needs room to travel between the pieces.
Bake Until Deeply Golden
This is a long bake: 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes at 350°F. That’s normal for this much dough in a bundt pan. Don’t pull it early, and don’t crank the heat to speed things along.
If the tops of the pieces start getting dark before the centers are cooked, tent the pan loosely with foil for the last 20 minutes. A crease down the middle of the foil keeps it from resting on the bread.
For the doneness test, gently pull up a piece near the center of the pan. If the underside still looks raw and doughy, it goes back in. Golden brown, bubbling at the edges, and springy when you press the top is where you want to land.
Flip, Rest, and Drizzle the Glaze
Let the pan stand for no more than 5 minutes after it comes out of the oven. Not longer. Five minutes is the window where the caramel is still fluid enough to release, but the bread has set enough to hold together.
Set a rimmed platter upside down over the pan and flip the two together, then lift the pan off slowly. Stand back a little, because hot syrup can splash. If a piece clings to the pan, ease it out and press it back into place while everything is still warm and sticky.
Let the monkey bread cool to room temperature, then microwave the frosting that came with the rolls for about 10 seconds until it’s pourable. Drizzle it back and forth over the top.
Tips for Perfect Monkey Bread
A few things I’ve learned the hard way, so you don’t have to.
- Grease beyond reason. Nonstick spray, every nook. If you’re using a two-piece tube pan, wrap the outside with foil so syrup doesn’t leak into your oven.
- Keep the dough cold. Pull the tubes from the fridge one at a time. Warm dough turns into a sticky mess fast.
- Tent with foil early. If the top is browning too fast, cover it loosely and keep baking.
- Rest exactly 5 minutes. Not 15. Past 5 minutes, the caramel cools against the pan and glues the bread in place.
- Serve it warm. The caramel is at its best while it’s still soft.
Common monkey bread mistakes and how to fix them:
- ❌ Resting the pan for 15 minutes → ✅ Set a timer for 5 minutes and flip while it’s hot.
- ❌ Cutting the rolls into 2 big pieces → ✅ Cut each one into 4 pieces for even baking.
- ❌ Pressing the dough down in the pan → ✅ Let the pieces sit loosely so caramel can flow between them.
- ❌ Pulling it out when the top looks done → ✅ Test a center piece; the underside tells the truth.
- ❌ A skimpy caramel layer → ✅ Spread the butter and brown sugar mixture across the entire pan bottom.
How to Serve & Reheat It
Set the monkey bread on a platter in the middle of the table and let people pull. Forks optional. A cup of coffee next to it and you’re set.
To reheat a single portion, 20 seconds in the microwave softens the caramel right back up. Anything longer and the bread gets tough, so go in short bursts.
Easy Variations & Swaps
The base recipe is five ingredients, but it plays well with others.
- Dark brown sugar: Swap it for the light brown sugar in the topping for a deeper, more molasses-forward caramel.
- Chopped pecans: Optional, but a handful scattered over the caramel before you add the dough adds crunch. Toast them first if you have five spare minutes.
- Plain refrigerated biscuit dough: It works if you toss the pieces with extra cinnamon sugar and finish with cream cheese frosting.
- Homemade cinnamon roll dough: If you love a from-scratch bake, go for it. Cut it into pieces the same way.
- Cream cheese frosting instead of the frosting packets, if you want a tangier finish.
- Muffin tin monkey bread bites: Portion the coated pieces into a greased muffin tin and start checking around 20 minutes.
Keep anything you add small and dry. Wet add-ins like fresh fruit will steam and leave you with soggy centers.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating
Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 4 days. It genuinely tastes best on day one or two, so don’t count on it lasting.
To freeze, cool it completely, wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap plus foil, and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
For make-ahead monkey bread, the smartest move is prepping components instead of the whole pan. Mix the cinnamon sugar, melt the caramel, and refrigerate the dough tubes the night before. Assembly takes 10 minutes in the morning.
If you do assemble the whole pan the night before, cover it and refrigerate, then set it on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes while the oven heats. Expect to add a few extra minutes to the bake.
Monkey Bread FAQ
Go Grab a Can of Biscuits
When you make this for Thanksgiving brunch, everyone will ask for the recipe. Tell them it took five ingredients. Watch their faces.
And if you snap a photo of that first gooey pull, come find me on my Pinterest board of fall baking ideas. I want to see that stretch.
You’ve got this. Your house is about to smell incredible.
Source: Learn More About This Dish
Can I assemble this monkey bread ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight?
Yes, and it works beautifully for holiday mornings. Cover the assembled pan and refrigerate, then set it on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes while the oven preheats. Add a few extra minutes to the bake and use the center piece doneness test before flipping.
