An easy homemade Monkey Bread recipe with no rising or yeast required. You’re going to love this classic favorite, remade entirely from scratch!
Homemade Monkey Bread
I am guessing you’re no stranger to monkey bread.
If you’re lucky, your childhood was like mine and you spent many mornings cutting up pre-made biscuit dough, rolling it through cinnamon and sugar, and all-but drooling in front of the oven while it baked. Let’s not forget the scalding burns from dripping hot oozing caramel sauce all over yourself because you just can’t wait another second for that first bite.
As much as I campaign for from-scratch recipes, I really can’t knock the original Pillsbury monkey bread version. Not too much, anyway. It’s genius, quick, easy, and it just tastes like nostalgia. But… if I’m being honest, nostalgia doesn’t always taste quite as good as from-scratch. And while there’s a time and place for the quick & easy version, you know I’m here to tell you that homemade is the way to go.
A lot of homemade monkey bread versions use yeast to make the dough, but considering the OG Monkey Bread recipe is made with biscuit dough (which does NOT use yeast), that just didn’t seem right to me. Instead, I set about modifying my own popular biscuit recipe to work as the base for this monkey bread.
Much easier than using yeast, and the results did a better job of mimicking the texture and buttery flavor of the original (but, you know, better).
How to Make Monkey Bread from Scratch
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl, then use a grater to grate butter into the dry ingredients (alternatively you can use a pastry cutter!). Stir so all butter pieces are evenly distributed through the flour.
- Add milk and stir well
- Stir until dough is cohesive and clings together. Once I’ve worked the majority of the ingredients together with a spoon, the dough is usually a bit dry and shaggy still and I’ve found it’s often easiest to briefly use my hands to work the dough together until it clings together.
- Transfer dough to a lightly flattened surface and flatten to ½″ thick. Use a knife to cut into pieces smaller than 1″.
- Roll each square of dough in cinnamon/sugar mixture then layer into a lightly greased bundt pan or tube pan.
- In a saucepan, cook together butter and brown sugar until boiling, then pour over monkey bread pieces. This sauce is like a caramel sauce and it’s going to work its way through our pan and smother every bite of our monkey bread!
- Bake until dough is cooked through, then serve warm!
How Can I Tell if My Monkey Bread is Done Baking?
There’s a lot of dough in your bundt pan, so it can be tricky knowing for sure whether all of your monkey bread pieces are cooked all the way through. Personally I like to use a long wooden skewer and pierce through a few pieces to the bottom, making sure my skewer doesn’t come out doughy.
Since the monkey bread is much too hot to actually remove a piece and test it at this point, it’s sometimes helpful to use the skewer (or a toothpick, or even a knife) to move a few pieces around a bit to check that they don’t seem under-baked or too doughy.
Enjoy!
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Let’s bake together! Check out my how to make Monkey Bread video at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
From-Scratch Monkey Bread, No Yeast
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- 1 ¼ cup (295 ml) whole milk
For Rolling
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 18 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup (225 g) + 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar firmly packed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease the inside of a bundt pan or tube pan with butter. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoon cornstarch, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- Use a grater¹ to shred butter over flour mixture and then stir butter pieces into the flour mixture.12 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- Add milk and stir until you have a cohesive dough. Usually I will have to use my hands to work the dough together.1 ¼ cup (295 ml) whole milk
- Transfer dough to a clean, lightly floured surface. Form into a ball and then flatten dough to ½” thick.
- Using a sharp knife and pressing straight down into the dough (don’t “saw” the dough), cut dough into pieces smaller than 1”.
- Prepare cinnamon/sugar mixture by whisking together ½ cup granulated sugar and 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon. Roll each piece of dough through cinnamon/sugar then layer into prepared bundt pan.½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Sprinkle remaining cinnamon/sugar over dough. Set aside and prepare glaze.
GLAZE
- In a small saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar over medium heat and cook until butter is melted. Bring to a boil then remove from heat.18 Tablespoons salted butter, 1 cup (225 g) + 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- Drizzle butter/sugar glaze evenly over dough.
- Transfer bundt pan to 350F (175C) oven and cook 30 minutes or until dough pieces are cooked through.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes then carefully invert onto serving platter. Enjoy warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
I originally published this Monkey Bread recipe 10/19/2015. Since then I have updated the recipe and photos to improve them and have also added a video and notes that I hope are helpful. My original recipe also used a splash of bourbon in the glaze (hence why the url is “drunken monkey bread”). Feel free to add a bit of bourbon (to taste) if you’d like!
Sowmya
I want to try monkey bread but don’t have time to make biscuits the traditional way. Do you think your drop biscuits would work for this recipe or would they fall apart as drop biscuits are fluffy instead of flaky?
Sam
Honestly I haven’t tried it so I’m really not sure how it would work. It’s a pretty big alteration. I think they would all bake together.
Sowmya
Hi Sam,
I apologize I didn’t watch the video earlier. I assumed it required folding and laminating like traditional biscuit recipe which takes more time. I see in the video that there is no laminating process involved which makes it a whole lot easier to do and avoids all the issues that come with it like over working the dough. I will give this a try. Thanks!
Morgan
Hi! Just wondering if this can be made in any other Pan than a Bundt pan?
Sam
Hi Morgan! A bundt pan or tube pan is best. I’m not sure how any other pans would work. 🙂
Kathleen
Hi Sam. This recipe sounds so much easier than making with yeast. Can’t wait to try it. My question is can this be made and assembled covered and kept overnite to be baked in the morning? I love all your recipes and know this one is another winner. Thanks and have a great today. Hugs to baby Luke 🥰
Sam
Hi Kathleen! I haven’t tried it but I think that should work just fine. 🙂
Lisa
How did it come out?
Suzanne
Delicious monkey bread! Followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfectly. No more using store bought biscuits! This was so much better.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Suzanne! 🙂
Running Betty
It’s in the oven now! I used gluten free flour blend. I don’t keep dairy milk in the house so I used a blend of almond milk and sour cream. I added Irish whiskey to the glaze. Fingers crossed!!
Sam
I hope you love it! 🙂
Samantha
Can this be made in a loaf pan?
Sam
Hi Samantha! I haven’t tried it, but it will probably fill more than 1 loaf pan and I’d be worried about the center baking properly.
Amanda
How did this turn out for you? We’re gluten and dairy free here as well.
Running Betty
It was very good. I think I needed to add another 1/2 c milk… see for yourself as your are mixing. You can probably cut 3TB of butter off the glaze. The Irish whiskey didn’t add much extra flavor.
Lauren Mcevilly
Could i use while wheat flour for this recipe?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Lauren! I have not tried using whole wheat flour with this recipe so I am not sure how it would turn out. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Thomas
I made this for my Wife and kids! I fallowed the recipe to the letter but the bread was flaky and crumbled some. what can i do to make it more gooey. other then that everyone loved it. Thanks
Sam
Hi Thomas! I’m sorry this happened. Is there any chance the flour was over-measured. I would definitely recommend a scale if you aren’t already using one. Alternatively the dough may have needed to be worked together a little better but I’m glad everyone enjoyed it anyway. 🙂
Staci
Hi, I don’t have corn starch. I noticed your cinnamon roll recipe is different and doesn’t use corn starch. Could I use that recipe for the dough here, make this recipe without cornstarch, or is there a substitute?
Thanks,
Staci
Sam
Hi Staci! The cornstarch helps make the dough softer and give it the right consistency, but you could substitute flour here. 🙂
Kit
Loved this recipe! I used the recipe calculator but didn’t realize the grams calculation was not being adjusted so accidentally made enough for 10 instead of the 6 I asked for… but it still turned out great and not as sweet as I thought it would be!
Sam
O no! I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it. 🙂
Kyleigh
Is the dough able to sit over night?
Sam
Hi Kyleigh! That should be just fine. 🙂
Suzanne H
Good non-yeast dough. I did need to add another 1/2 C of milk to get the dough to come together. The glaze had WAY too much butter. It tasted like we were eating straight butter even though we added more brown sugar and cinnamon. I would cut the butter by 1/2 at least. The glaze really brought down the rest of the recipe.
Carol Carrr
Please stop contacting me
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Carol! Are you referring to the emails sent? I am happy to remove you from my email list, you can also unsubscribe using the link that is found within the email. 🙂
Jack
I just stumbled across this recipe and I will make it the next time my son comes home. He’s in the Air Force and when he comes home I give him the option for meals he may want me to cook. He always asks for Monkey Bread. This will be the recipe I use when he gets back from overseas.
Sam
That is so awesome! Thank him for his service and thank you for all of your sacrifices. I hope he loves the monkey bread. 🙂
Martha
Could this be made into muffins? If so, what proportion of dough to each muffing and how would baking time or temperature be adjusted? Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Martha! I have not yet made this recipe into muffins so I am not certain of the exact bake time. If you try it, I’d love to know what worked for you! 🙂
Samantha
This is an absolutely fabulous recipe! It was my very first time making monkey bread and tasting it, but let’s just say I was not disappointed nor were the others who gave it a taste. My son keeps asking to make it again. Haha!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed it, Samantha! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Samira
Hello Sam, is it possible to give the butter weight in grams please ? in spoons , I am not sur how to do that .
Thank you so much in advance.
Samira
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Samira!
For the bread, you will need 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold (169.5g). For the glaze, you will need 18 Tablespoons of unsalted butter (254.4g). I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
Kate Allen
This monkey bread is delicious, gooey, and I’m very happy with the results 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed it, Kate! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Melanie V
This monkey bread was good. Definitely different than using the store-bought biscuits, but good. The reason I only gave it four stars is because I think it has too much butter (and, yes, I know, you do admit it’s a lot of butter…and I do like butter)…I think it could be cut down. It’s hard to say. It’s helpful to give the crispy cinnamon sugar top, but I think it speads into the biscuit pieces too much and makes them all kind of come together instead of staying separate. Makes me want to play around with it to see if doing a butter & cinnamon sugar mixture in the pan first, then the biscuit pieces, then more butter…if that would be better. If I try it, I’ll try to remember to let you know how it went. I just didn’t like that it was so buttery and the pieces all mixed together instead of staying more separate. The calorie count took me by surprise, too…but it really is filling! Must be all that butter 😊 Oh, and it made pretty good leftovers, but because of so much butter, it has to be warmed up first.
Carrie Vandal
Would like to make this for my daughter’s birthday breakfast tomorrow. I don’t have a Bundt pan. Have you made this in a tube pan? I am concerned about syrup running out of the bottom of the pan.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Carrie! A tube pan should work fine. I would recommend putting a baking pan underneath it just in case it leaks, but you should be fine. I hope that your daughter has a wonderful birthday! 🙂
Emily Nelson
I made it in a tube pan and it did leak. I even put two layers of foil around the bottom of the pan and somehow it still leaked quite a bit onto the floor of my oven before I noticed and got a cookie sheet underneath.