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Monkey Bread has been around forever, most people remember having it when they were kids. Fond memories of the house filling up with the smell of cinnamon followed by eating a sticky treat with your fingers makes the delicious Monkey Bread a certified comfort food.
There are different variations on the monkey bread recipe. It is said to be a derivation of arany galuska, (golden dumplings) a recipe introduced in Hungary in the late 1880’s. The dish was soon brought to America and often served in Jewish Hungarian bakeries.
Easy Monkey Bread Recipe
The recipe for money bread as we know it, started appearing in cookbooks in the 1950’s but it became even more popular when a recipe for arany galuska was published in a Betty Crocker cookbook in the early 1970’s. The recipe Crocker published was very similar to monkey bread but, rather than the biscuit being dipped in cinnamon and sugar, it was dipped in only butter.
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Monkey Bread Recipe
- Total Time: 55 Minutes
Description
The following is a tried and true Monkey Bread recipe, it isn’t grainy like some recipes that are too heavy on the sugars or too light on butter.
Ingredients
Monkey Bread
- 4 cans refrigerated biscuits
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup raisins (these are optional, it’s great with or without them)
Icing
- 1/2 pound cream cheese
- 1/2 pound butter
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
Monkey Bread:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch tube pan.
- Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into halves or quarters and place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Shake well.
- Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan. If you are using raisins, place them among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Pull apart and enjoy!
Icing:
- Allow cream cheese and butter to get to room temperature.
- Beat butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl with a mixer.
- Slowly add in the pound of powdered sugar.
- After all the powdered sugar is added mix for 12 minutes (do not mix less than that).
- When almost done, add in the extract and lemon juice.
Notes
Do not use a pan with a removable bottom! The sugar mixture gets extremely hot and can burn hands if it leaks out during handling. I used one that leaked the tiniest bit while baking. The hot sugar mixture dripped onto my oven’s heating element, causing it to break and ignite the sugar sauce. I’ve used a bundt pan safely and without affecting the finished monkey bread ever since that happened.
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 35 Minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: how to make monkey bread, easy monkey bread