Overnight monkey bread is a sweet pull-apart cinnamon bread baked in a Bundt pan that can be served for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. Assemble it the night before, store in the refrigerator to rise overnight, then bake your monkey bread fresh in the morning!
Heather's recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Tender balls of yeast dough are coated in butter and cinnamon sugar, baked until gooey, and drizzled with vanilla icing. Every bite is like the middle of a cinnamon roll!
Pan size: 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan
Serves: about 12 people
Similar to: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Flour - Monkey bread can be made with all-purpose flour, but bread flour would also work if you have it on hand.
- Yeast - I used instant yeast for this recipe, but dry active yeast can work (your rise times will be about 15-20 minutes longer).
How to make monkey bread
- Warm milk and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and whisk in yeast. Add to dry ingredients.
- Stir until a shaggy, sticky dough forms.
- Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until dough is smooth, not sticky.
- Transfer to a greased bowl, cover, and rise for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a bowl and mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and slice into 64 squares.
- Gently roll each piece into a ball between your hands. Dip in butter, then cinnamon-sugar, and place into the prepared Bundt pan.
- Arrange balls in an alternating pattern to fill gaps and holes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Bake until golden brown on top and center reaches 195F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Rest for 5 minutes before turning out onto a serving platter. Drizzle with icing and serve warm.
Tips and tricks
How to slice dough evenly - Pat your dough into a rough rectangle, then use a knife or bench scraper to slice your dough in half top to bottom, then in half again left to right. Now you have four squares. Slice each square another three times top to bottom, then three times left to right. You've made 16 balls out of each square, for a total of 64 dough balls.
For a less-messy assembly - Use spoons to dip the dough into the butter and sugar, or reserve one hand only for butter and the other hand only for sugar.
Flipping monkey bread out of the pan - Flip the serving platter over to cover the top of the Bundt pan. Use oven mitts to hold the Bundt pan and serving platter in place, then use one swift motion to flip them both upside down. Monkey bread will release easily from a greased, nonstick Bundt pan.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, monkey bread can be assembled, covered, and refrigerated overnight. Bake the next morning and serve warm.
Cover any leftovers in a tightly sealed container and store at room temperature. Monkey bread is best within two days of baking.
Monkey bread can be assembled in a 9x13 baking pan. Your monkey bread will be thinner and bake faster, so keep an eye on it while baking and plan to reduce the baking time slightly.
Monkey bread is served warm, pull-apart style, on a serving platter. Use your fingers to pull individual bites off, or use a fork if desired.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Overnight Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 ¼ cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
- 1 cup (240 g) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons (5 g) instant yeast
- 1 large egg, room temperature
Coating
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (212 g) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) ground cinnamon
Icing
- 1 cup (113 g) confectioners sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons (23 g) milk
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (.75 g) kosher salt
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl, add flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, add milk and butter. Microwave in 20 second increments until butter has melted and mixture is warm to the touch, but not hot (about 110℉).
- Whisk in yeast and continue whisking until yeast has dissolved. Pour yeast mixture into dry ingredients. Add the egg and stir with a sturdy wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using floured hands, knead the dough for 3 to 5 minutes, or until dough looks smooth (not sticky).
- Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, lightly cover, and allow to rise for about an hour, or until almost doubled in size and puffy.
Coating
- While your dough is rising, grease a 10-12 cup bundt pan and set aside.
- Melt butter in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, add brown sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8 inch square.
- Slice dough in an 8x8 grid to make 64 balls.
- Roll each piece of dough into a ball, dip into melted butter, then dip into brown sugar mixture.
- Place in prepared bundt pan, alternating each layer to cover seams and empty spaces.
- Overnight: Wrap pan in plastic and refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours.Same day: Rise for about 1 hour at room temperature, or until almost doubled in size and puffy. Heat oven during the last 15 minutes of rising.
- Heat oven to 350℉. If refrigerated, remove pan and allow to rest at room temperature.
- Uncover and bake about 30-40 minutes, or until top is golden brown and the center reaches 195℉ when tested with an instant-read thermometer.
- Rest for 5 minutes before turning out onto a serving platter.
Icing
- Add confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt to a small bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Drizzle over warm monkey bread and serve immediately.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Storage: Leftover monkey bread will keep for up to 2 days at room temperature in a sealed container or up to 1 month in the freezer.
- Reheating leftovers: Microwave in 10 second bursts until just warm.
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