Description
This Monkey Bread recipe features fluffy biscuit dough coated in a cinnamon-cardamom sugar mixture, layered with pecans, and drenched in a rich caramel-like brown sugar and butter sauce. Baked to golden perfection in a Bundt pan, it’s a wonderfully sticky, pull-apart treat best served warm for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
Pan Preparation
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter for greasing
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Dough Coating
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Dough and Sauce
- 2 16 oz. packages refrigerated biscuit dough (Pillsbury Grand’s Buttermilk Biscuits, not flaky layers)
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (or salted and omit salt)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grease the Pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heavily grease a 12-cup capacity Bundt pan with softened butter using a pastry brush or a crumpled piece of wax paper to cover all the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with ½ cup of chopped pecans and set aside.
- Prep the Biscuits: Cut each biscuit into 4 quarters using a pizza wheel for ease. Roll each quarter into a ball to create fluffier and prettier pieces.
- Coating and Layering: Whisk together granulated sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom in a large resealable freezer bag. Add about 12 dough balls at a time to the bag and shake to coat evenly. Layer the coated dough balls in the Bundt pan, adding pecans in between layers. Offset the balls so they do not stack directly on top of each other. Reserve leftover cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Caramel-Like Sauce: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine half a cup of the reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture, brown sugar, butter, and salt. Stir occasionally until butter melts and mixture boils. Remove from heat immediately and stir in vanilla, continuing until sugars dissolve fully.
- Drizzle the Sauce: Pour the caramel sauce evenly over the dough balls in the pan, shaking and tilting the pan occasionally to ensure even distribution and that the sauce reaches the pan bottom.
- Bake: Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes until the dough is cooked through. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the biscuits should register 190°F to 200°F.
- Cool and Invert: Let the monkey bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a large plate to remove it from the pan. Brush any leftover sauce from the pan over the top of the bread. Serve warm for best flavor and texture.
Notes
- Use Pillsbury Grand’s Buttermilk Biscuits labeled as “fluffy,” not the flaky layers variety, as the flaky ones will not hold together well.
- If you don’t have a pastry brush, a crumpled piece of wax or parchment paper works well to grease the Bundt pan thoroughly.
- Using a pizza wheel to cut biscuit dough quarters makes the process faster and cleaner.
- Rolling the biscuit quarters into balls is optional but helps create a fluffier, more visually appealing monkey bread texture.
- Serve the monkey bread warm for the best gooey, pull-apart experience.
