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I have just made this delicious monkey bread, and from my 10 years old son: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
Alicia
Gooey gooey goooooey is the name of the game here.
Gooey Monkey Bread. With caramel sauce. Made from scratch. Or not, I guess, if you’d rather not? There’s always those canned biscuits you could use if you’re short on time (been there). Or overwhelmed with life (also been there). Or hangry (do I even need to say?).
But guys. Here’s my pitch: I really think you should go for the made-from-scratch version this year.
We can handle this! Look at us, being all grown up. Adulting and all that. You will be big-time rewarded with fluffy dough and amazing bread smells for all your hard work. And hard work = 30 seconds of stirring.
This brioche dough that we’re using is ultra-pillowy, soft, and luscious. Also: stupidly easy. Remember whose blog you’re reading, okay? Bread Idiot, that’s who. I have zero time for fussy bread recipes. As soon as I have to bust out any type of special equipment – a scale, a thermometer, a Danish dough whisk? First of all, no. Secondly, store-bought bread all the way.
I ONLY do homemade bread if it’s completely foolproof. And this one is completely foolproof.
How To Make Our Caramel Monkey Bread:
I could (did) stand in front of that pan of silky caramel sauce with a spoon. A straight-up SPOON. This caramel is not messing around.
Before baking (um, caramel overload)…
And after.
Did you guys know: monkey bread is also called “monkey puzzle bread, sticky bread, Hungarian coffee cake, golden crown, pinch-me cake, and pluck-it cake” and it most commonly refers to “a soft, sweet, sticky pastry served in the United States for breakfast” according to Wiki? Aka what are we even doing in America. Eating buttery bread drenched in caramel sauce for BREAKFAST. For breakfast?!
Dear America, I hardcore love us right now.
Happy holiday brunching, friends.
More Holiday Brunch Pastries
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Gooey Caramel Monkey Bread
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
This Gooey Caramel Monkey Bread is LOADED with homemade caramel sauce and made with a pillowy homemade brioche dough. Perfect made-from-scratch, crowd-pleasing recipe that is conveniently low-maintenance. Just how I like it.
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1 packet instant yeast (about 2 teaspoons)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 cup honey or sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup butter (melted)
- 4 1/2 cups flour (more for dusting)
You can also just use canned biscuit dough if you prefer, but I strongly recommend making your dough from scratch! The smells! The pillowy texture! Worth it.
For the Caramel Sauce:
- 1/2 cup butter (I prefer salted)
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- a hit of sea salt if you like that kinda thing
Instructions
- Make the Dough: Mix all the dough ingredients together in a mixing bowl, adding flour last. The mixture will be sticky. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Set aside in a warm-ish place to rise for 2 hours. Once it has risen, transfer to the fridge to chill so it’s easier to handle.
- Roll the Dough: When the dough has chilled, roll out half of it on a floured surface to a medium thickness. Cut it into bite-sized pieces or roll into balls. Wrap the other half of the dough in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for next time.
- Make the Sauce: Melt the butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and heat for exactly five minutes. Remove from heat.
- Assemble: In a bundt® pan or pie pan, layer: 1/4 cup caramel sauce, dough, 1/4 cup caramel sauce, dough, 1/4 cup caramel sauce. Reserve the remaining sauce.
- Bake: Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until the top pieces are browning a little bit. Invert onto a serving plate and top with extra sauce if you want (um, yes, I DO WANT). Enjoy!
Notes
Ideal schedule for warm, gooey, made-from-scratch monkey bread in the morning:
- 8pm – mix up the dough
- 10pm – pop dough in fridge
- 8am – make sauce and bake!
This batch makes twice the amount of dough you need, so I’d suggest that the remaining dough can be used for round two of monkey bread, or cinnamon rolls, or a tea ring… you name it! The dough doesn’t do great in the fridge for long periods of time (it gets a fermented taste to it), so I’d suggest freezing it. And then you will want to bring the chilled dough back to room temperature before baking. I usually just let it sit on the counter while I make the sauce and that seems to work fine.
The sauce will firm up as it cools. To use the last of your sauce on the baked bread, just gently heat it in the saucepan again and it should loosen back up.
It does not work to make the sauce ahead and save it. When I did this, the sauce on the monkey bread turned into more of a hard caramel. So make your caramel sauce fresh if you want it to be nice and gooey.
This recipe works best if your eggs are at room temperature (if they are too cold, it can affect the rise time for the dough). I usually just stick them in a bowl of warm water to warm them up and then crack them into the dough bowl.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: monkey bread, caramel monkey bread, caramel bread
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of easy dessert recipes. Check it out!
Made this for Christmas morning and it was incredible! Definitely an upgrade from our canned dough tradition of monkey bread. And as you said, the dough was foolproof!
I know it actually says making the sauce ahead of time doesn’t work however I find making it the night before and slightly reheating makes a much better monkey bread.
after making the dough and letting it rise ~do you punch it down before placing in the fridge ? as it often will rise more in the fridge cold or not as well ~just more slowly ~~~also do you think the caramel sauce could serve as a base for a sticky bun method ? thanks
Hi Denise! We do not punch the dough down after letting it rise. We think the caramel sauce would be a great base for sticky buns!
Why does my caramel sauce turn out one time, but not the next? This last time it was so horribly thick I about cried!
Hi, Becky! So sorry to hear this is happening for you. 😕 It’s hard to say why this might be happening without a few more details. We really appreciate you sharing this feedback with us though – thank you!
My “caramel” was more the consistency of pralines. It was good but not what I expected. Would love recommendations for hot to do it better next time
Do you refrigerated the leftovers. Or leave it on the counter? And the bunt pan I have is pretty big ( normal size?) Looks bigger than the pie plate Would using all the bread dough be to much?
Hi, Jamie! We’d suggest keeping leftovers in the fridge and just warming up the bread as you eat it. As far as using all the bread dough, it’s hard to say without seeing your bundt pan. Maybe start with 3/4 of the dough so you can gauge for the next time you make it how much to use. Enjoy!
This was the best I have made….easy pezzy…made it for Christmas morning. The only thing I did extra was dust the dough pieces with sugar and cinnamon then put in pan…..and I made without a mixer and still came out very good. A keeper recipe.
So happy to hear you enjoyed the monkey bread, Phaedra! 🙂
Hi,
I’m going to try the monkey bread this Christmas. Question though – the recipe calls for a bundt pan and in the pictures & video, the container of use is definitely Italy a pie plate. I have one just like it and will be using it. That will work, right?? Thanks!
Yep! A pie pan or a bundt pan will work here. Enjoy!
This is a beautiful dough, just wondering if it could be used for cinnamon rolls also…
Definitely!
I love, love, LOVE this recipe!
After having made this for 6-8 months now, and being totally addicted, I recently found Land O’ Lakes has stopped making their heavy cream? What do you suggest in place?
Hi Lindsay, I’m planning to make this delicious looking treat over the holidays but am wondering if the dough needs to rise again after being rolled out and cut and rolled into balls. Can you really assemble it all right away after that? Thank you.
This is really good but my grandfather had a fatal heart attack while eating this.
Love the use of caramel sauce gives it a distinctive taste.
foolproof caramel is what I need. I have such a hard time making caramel. lol Can never get it thick enough 🙁
I made this for Christmas morning and then again for New Years Eve. We are no strangers to Monkey Bread at our house but this was over the top delicious. So easy and so much better homemade. I’ve got a second batch in the freezer and I’m sure it won’t last too long!
So glad to hear that!
Just made this recipe for Christmas and making it again tonight! SO good. Totally worth making the dough from scratch.
That caramel sauce looks outrageous… OMG. Cannot wait to try making this. I’ve never made caramel sauce from scratch before… sounds like the perfect Saturday evening activity 🙂
Made this for my extended family (forgot to take any pictures), so I made both batches. Thought I should report that ALL of both batches disappeared in a matter of hours. SO DELICIOUS. Thank you for creating!!!!
I enjoy reading your blog a lot. Thank you for these recipes. They are so helpful.
This looks amazing and really, the videos really inspire me. Thanks for all you do!
Wow, it sounds so yummy Lindsay. My mouth is watering now. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
This recipe looks fantastic! I live at 9200 feet elevation. Do you think i would need to adjust for high altitude?
hi! i saw your ig story about turning these into rolls. would it be possible to make the rolls ahead and then freeze it? what will the directions be for thawing and baking?
After watching your IG story I was hooked! Quick question, what’s the max time the dough should be in the fridge? Thanks!
We’ve kept it in for a few days!
nice recipe and photo walk-through, and yes I appreciate being “bread dumb” too, so thank you for this recipe!
I am gluten free. Do you think this brioche recipe will work with a cup for cup gf blend like Bob’s Red Mill?
Hey Jessica! We aren’t super familiar with GF flours so can’t really say. We’d love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!