If the aroma of this freshly baked Pillsbury Monkey Bread Recipe can’t get you out of bed in the morning, nothing can! This sticky sweet pull-apart bread is breakfast heaven. A buttery cinnamon sugar topping turns a can of biscuits into an irresistibly delicious morning treat.
Just like with cinnamon rolls, this quick and easy monkey bread recipe makes your house smell amazing. Even late sleepers will magically appear in the kitchen when you pull this out of the oven! Prefer to make your monkey bread completely from scratch instead? Check out my Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread recipe!
Why We Love Pillsbury Monkey Bread
- Only 5 ingredients. A can of biscuit dough and a few simple toppings are all you need.
- Quick and easy. This monkey bread recipe takes 15 minutes of prep time. One hour later, it’s ready to eat!
- Caramel topping. A combination of melted butter and brown sugar creates an ooey-gooey caramel layer.
- Impressive breakfast. This cinnamon sugar treat looks as impressive as it tastes. Be prepared for the pull-apart bread to disappear before you can snap a photo!
No one can resist “just one more piece” when this is on the table!
How to Make Pillsbury Monkey Bread
Refrigerated biscuit dough is the key to making monkey bread easy. As much as I love monkey bread made from scratch, you can’t beat the convenience of a can of biscuits.
Truth be told, this is one of those recipes where I don’t feel that making it from scratch makes a big difference in the final product.
For this Pillsbury monkey bread recipe, we use a combination of white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter to create the sticky topping for the biscuits. When you pull a chunk of this bread, gooey ribbons of caramel stretch between pieces. It’s completely irresistible!
The hardest part of the recipe is waiting for the bread to bake. The cinnamon sugar aroma will have everyone running to the kitchen for a piece. While it bakes, brew yourself a pot of coffee and get ready for a delicious breakfast treat. This recipe is so delicious it’s the one The Pioneer Woman bases her monkey bread off of!
Why is it called Monkey Bread?
This breakfast pastry gets its name from the way monkeys eat–with their fingers! You use your hands to pull apart pieces of the sticky cinnamon sugar coated bread. The process of pinching one piece of fluffy bread and pulling it away from the others is said to look like the way monkeys pick up their food.
Kids always get a kick out of eating a breakfast inspired by monkeys!
What’s Needed For This Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients at a glance, the full printable recipe is found below.
- Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Refrigerated biscuits
- Butter
- Non-Stick Cooking Spray
Supplies
- Bundt Pan: I love the way the monkey bread in a bundt pan looks on the table! We love bundt cake recipes, so I use my pan often. That said, it’s not required. You can make this delicious Pillsbury Monkey Bread in 9 x 5 loaf pans instead. You will need two loaf pans to fit all the biscuit pieces.
Steps To Take
Steps at a glance, full printable recipe found below.
- Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon size freezer bag.
- Remove biscuits from the can, then cut each biscuit into quarters
- Place biscuit pieces into cinnamon sugar mixture in the bag and gently shake to coat.
- Layer biscuits into prepared baking pan.
- Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Pour over biscuit pieces in pan, then bake.
Questions and Answers
Can I make this with other brands of biscuits?
Absolutely. Any kind of refrigerated biscuit dough you like works well with this monkey bread recipe.
Why did my monkey bread fall apart?
If your monkey bread got stuck in the pan and fell apart, it’s likely that you did not grease the pan well before baking. Be sure to coat the inside of the pan generously with baking spray.
Can you make monkey bread the night before?
Monkey bread can definitely be assembled the night before. Follow all the steps in the recipe below up until baking. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight. When you wake up in the morning, just pop the whole pan in the oven and bake.
How do you store Pillsbury Monkey Bread?
Store any leftovers (as if!) covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Monkey Bread tastes best eaten fresh!
More Recipes You’ll Love
Can’t get enough of this delicious Monkey Bread? You’ll love these other cinnamon baked goods as well!
- Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites
- Giant Cinnamon Rolls
- Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
- Caramel Pecan Rolls
- No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
- Cinnamon Caramel Swirl Bars
Pillsbury Monkey Bread
Equipment
- Bundt Pan (optional)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 12 oz cans refrigerated biscuits unbaked
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat the inside of a 12 cup bundt pan with baking spray.
- In a gallon sized plastic bag, combine the granulated sugar with the cinnamon. Separate the dough into biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Add the quartered biscuits to the bag with the cinnamon sugar. Shake to coat biscuits in the cinnamon sugar.
- Layer the biscuits into the prepared baking pan. Combine the melted butter and brown sugar in a separate bowl. Pour mixture over the biscuits.
- Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until the top of the monkey bread is golden brown. Remove and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out of the bundt pan onto a heat proof plate. Serve warm.
Notes
- Any brand of refrigerated biscuits can be used. (Does not have to be Pillsbury.)
- Be sure to remove the monkey bread from the pan before it fully cools. If you let it cool in the pan for too long, it’s likely to stick to the pan.
- This recipe can also be baked in two 9 x 5 loaf pans.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Jaime says
By far the easiest and best bread ever I always like to put a little little vanilla in the melted butter just give it a vanillie cinnamonie sugarie flavor.. to die for .
Byng says
The stores were shopped out so I had to use reduced fat crescent rolls. They turned out fantastic. This time I found biscuits and I bought some walnuts to toss in.
Don says
My grandkids love this and so do my kids. Well heck I love this goodness also.
Mollie Holtmann says
I only have a toaster oven to bake things right now, so I put a piece of parchment in a glass pie pan, rubbed the stick of butter over the parchment before melting, and piled the pieces in the pie pan, and poured the butter mixture over them. After about 30 minutes I checked on it, and the middle part was still yeasty, so I just took a spoon and put the browned pieces from the top on the bottom and the uncooked dough pieces on the top, put it back in the oven for ten more minutes, and it was done. Exactly what I was craving, exactly what I was looking for because I love cinnamon and brown sugar! Thank you so much for this great recipe!!!
Kathy says
Always a hit!!! “Homemade” easy 😊
Jeanne says
My kids love this, it’s a regular menu item on our breakfast list. We feed 5 kids and all love this. Cheap, easy, and plenty, how can you go wrong. Everyone is up fed, and ready for school.
Irene Buswell says
I thought by the ad on TV that Pillsbury actually has a ready made Monkey Bread in the canister section.
Christi Johnstone says
They might, feel free to buy that if it works for you.
Yasmin Serratos Aguilar says
I can weight to bake this Delicious recipe
Amy says
Have made this TWICE already it’s that good
Amy says
This is one of my favorite recipes ever!