An easy make ahead monkey bread recipe that uses only real ingredients and rises overnight in the fridge to bake fresh in the morning. It's our Christmas morning tradition, but is great any time of the year.
Head over to the Best Bread Recipes page for more best sweet and savory bread recipes!
Every Christmas morning for almost all the years Brian and I have been married we have had a brunch with a beautiful table and yummy, special foods.
The first years we did this we lived in Portland and hosted Brian's family - and I made lots of recipes and spent WAY too much time on food preparation the night before and cooking in the morning.
Yes, on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.
I wrote about simplifying our traditional brunch here and how freeing that was for me - and how my family didn't even notice that we only had one egg dish and one sweet bread. Why did I ever think we needed 2 or 3 of each? Sigh.
Since we have The Best Cinnamon Rolls in The World during our extended family celebration the weekend before Christmas I looked for a different type of sweet bread that we'd all love and look forward to each year (yes, I'm kind of big on traditions).
I've made cranberry cane shaped pastries, scones, sour cream coffee cakes, single pan sticky buns, and various other sweet breads and we enjoyed them all...but they weren't the 'one.'
Until I made sugar-cinnamon monkey bread.
Fun, sweet, and special - it's exactly what we can all agree on as our traditional Christmas morning sweet bread.
Note: If you're curious what else our easy, low-stress Christmas morning brunch looks like, I've listed all the Christmas brunch recipes here and created a cute menu printable to make your table that much more special!
But do you know how hard it was to find a recipe for monkey bread that uses real ingredients - no pudding mixes or canned biscuits - AND could be made ahead and baked Christmas morning?
Too hard apparently, because I couldn't find one.
I wasn't going back to the complicated brunches of my memory, though, so I created my own easy real food make-ahead version, adapting a Cook's Illustrated recipe that used real ingredients and then experimenting with overnight refrigeration and morning baking.
The monkey bread turned out absolutely perfect and I am so happy to share the recipe with you and save you a bunch of searching!
Overnight Make Ahead Monkey Bread Recipe
The bread starts with a simple dough that you mix together, let knead for a few minutes, and then leave to rise for an hour.
After rising, spread the dough out and cut into a bunch of little pieces (64 to be exact).
The beauty of monkey bread is that the balls don't need to be uniform in size since they're all piled atop one another.
My daughter and I like to dip the balls together - one dips in melted butter and the other in the brown-sugar-cinnamon mixture - before we layer them in the well-buttered bundt pan. It's just another part of the tradition.
Working together we can get all the balls coated in about 15 minutes.
Then simply cover the pan and put it in the refrigerator until the next morning. Sweet and simple!
The monkey bread rises some in the fridge, and rises a bit more when you set it out 45 minutes to an hour before baking to bring it back to room temperature.
Glazing the loaf after turning it out onto a platter is optional, but we wouldn't go without it!
We LOVE this monkey bread so much and everyone who visits us on Christmas day loves it, too - so I'm sure it's destined to become one of your family's favorites.
I especially love how it fills the house with wonderful cinnamony goodness while we are relaxing together and enjoying our family time - no stress required!
Best Reviews
"We all loved this recipe! My kids all lost their minds!! I’ve made it now for friends as well! Rave reviews!" -Gillian
"FABULOUS. Utterly scrumptious.........*pausing Christmas morning to get a few more gooey bubbly bites* too good not to comment right away!" -Pam
"This is an excellent and reliable recipe. It’s the perfect make-ahead brunch treat and it comes out perfect every time." -Dina
Overnight Make Ahead Monkey Bread (Using Real Food Ingredients)
Ingredients
For Dough:
- 1 ⅓ cup milk warmed to 110-115 degrees
- 4 tablespoons butter divided (2 melted and 2 softened for pan)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 3 ¼ cup unbleached flour may need up to 1/4 cup more when kneading
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
For Coating & Glaze:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
Make Dough:
- Add milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, sugar and yeast to a large measuring cup and stir to combine. Mix the 3¼ cup flour and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer with a dough hook on low. Slowly add the milk-yeast mixture and stir until dough comes together. Increase speed to next level and knead the dough for abut 6 minutes, adding 2-3 tablespoons of flour (a tablespoon at a time) as needed for dough to clear sides of bowl (the dough should still be sticking to the bottom of the bowl, though).
- Remove dough from mixing bowl to a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Coat bowl with oil (I simply use the bowl I mixed in), replace dough in bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave to sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Use the 2 tablespoons of softened butter to liberally coat a Bundt pan.
- Remove dough to a lightly floured surface (I use a tea towel for easy clean up) and pat into about an 8x9" rough rectangle. Use a long knife to cut into 64 pieces - it doesn't matter if they're even or not.
Coat Dough:
- Place the melted butter in one small bowl and combine brown sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.
- Roll each piece of dough into a rough ball, dip in melted butter and then roll in the brown sugar coating. Place in buttered pan, layering and staggering dough balls as needed to make an even loaf. Sprinkle any extra sugar-cinnamon mixture on the top.
- Cover pan with plastic and leave out on counter for 30 minutes before placing in the refrigerator to finish rising slowly overnight.
Bake Bread:
- Remove pan from refrigerator abut 2 hours before you want to serve it. Leave at room temperature, still covered, 45 minutes to 1 hour and preheat oven to 350 degrees the last 15 minutes.
- Remove cover, place in heated oven and bake 30-40 minutes until the bread is very browned and the sides are bubbling.
- Cool for 5 minutes in pan before turning out onto a serving platter (use hot pads to hold the pan, as it will still be hot).
Make Glaze:
- Whisk together powdered sugar and milk to a pouring consistency. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the warm Monkey Bread and serve while still warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Other Easy Sweet Breads to Try
The Best Cinnamon Rolls, Period.
Pam says
FABULOUS. Utterly scrumptious.........*pausing Christmas morning to get a few more gooey bubbly bites* too good not to comment right away! We didn't use the glaze and it was still plenty sweet for us. CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS and thank you for the absolute best bread recipes & instructions ever!
Jami says
Oh, I'm so glad, Pam! It is such a fun Christmas tradition. 🙂
Courtney says
We have a few gluten-free in our family but would love to make this for Christmas morning- any thoughts on how to substitute to make this GF? Thanks
Jami says
Sorry, I haven't tried that. Maybe use a 1:1 gluten free flour?
Stephanie says
Can I use Bobs red mill active dry yeast for this recipe? Thanks in advance
Jami says
Yes!
Dina says
This is an excellent and reliable recipe. It’s the perfect make-ahead brunch treat and it comes out perfect every time. I have made it three times in the past year and it’s always a hit. I love that it’s all from scratch as well! Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Jami says
So glad you like this, Dina!
Heather says
I made this for Christmas morning last year. My twins loved it so much, they requested it for their 9th birthday tomorrow! So guess what is in my mixer, kneading as I type? 🙂 Thanks for (another!) great recipe, Jami!!!
Jami says
Oh, how sweet Heather! And I think alternatives to cake is always fun. 🙂
Sharon Macy says
I have made this bread for years and never thought about letting it slowly rise over night in frig. Thank you so much. I also live in Oregon, but in the central part. Not much rain with beautiful mountain views!
Jami says
You're welcome, Sharon! It's such a nice way to have it fresh and warm.
And yes - central Oregon is beautiful with all those mountains! We love when we get over there to kayak on the high mountain lakes. 🙂
Chris says
Hi,
I just found your blog today and I love your ideas.
We have a bread machine that we use when we do not have the time to make bread by hand.
We usually only make a white loaf from unbleached flour because we have not had good luck with whole wheat bread in the machine.
A few years ago, I was trying to come up with a relatively quick way to make a take along snack. We use the bread machine and a white sandwich bread recipe (2 pound loaf) and pause the machine just after the knead after the first rise, take the dough out and dip and roll (like in your recipe) and throw the balls into the bread machine loaf pan. Once all of the dough is back in the pan, I put it in the machine and restart from the beginning of the second rise cycle. It comes out beautifully. You have to be really careful when you depan the bread because there is a lot of hot caramel that I spoon from the plate onto the bread until it cools enough to stop running. It helps to wait a few minutes so the caramel is not too runny, but don't let it sit too long or it may be too stuck in the pan. The loaf shape Monkey Bread is not as pretty, and I don't add icing to this already sugary dessert but it is very quick and hands off when you are in a rush. I took this to our homeschool Park Day group several times and it was always a hit.
Jami says
Good idea, Chris - I bet everyone is happy with that. 🙂
Bekah says
Hi! So i was actually thinking of making the cooks illustrated recipe for monkey bread. i stand by their recipes because it always turns out so great. But i prefer an overnight method. So i was comparing your recipe to theirs and you have very few changes. My question was is the increased about of yeast and less salt you call for specific for an overnight method? Or do you think i could go ahead and make their recipe, using your principles of putting it in the fridge after rolling the balls in the. cinnamon sugar? Thanks for the help.
Jami says
You can sure try, Bekah! I did increase the yeast to help the overnight rise and the less salt must've come from another recipe I consulted (I actually looked at quite a few, plus my other bread recipes).
Gloria says
Never heard of coating the pieces with pudding powder, I would stop reading also. I do my recipe a little different, but you are right, the results using fresh dough is the best way to do this recipe.
I use an Amish Bread recipe, no milk, no butter. I let it rise the first time, but I like your idea to roll the dough out and it looks like you used a pizza cutter to cut all those squares. I put in refrigerator to let it rise again for about 30 minutes, then I take out the dough. My mixture is different. I coat my bread with a cinnamon/sugar mixture, then I get my brown sugar and butter and melt them in the microwave. I pour this mixture in between my layers and on the sides. I like to add a teaspoon of almond extract to the butter mixture or vanilla. Then put it all in the fridge for overnight. Take it out in the morning to warm up and then bake. I did the canned biscuits for a while, but my boys love the fresh dough recipe.
I like your idea for the icing but it won't work for the boys, they do however like me to add ice cream caramel topping, melted to the top, after it has cool down a bit.
I made bread today, but I too will be making Monkey Bread for Thanksgiving and Christmas morning.
Thank you so much for posting the recipe and I will use the tip for cutting all those pieces, will save me a lot of time. Do you think a pizza cutter might work or should I just use a knife.
Jami says
That sounds good, too, Gloria! You can use either a knife or pizza cutter - the cutter makes quick work of it, though. 🙂
Anne says
First snow day of the year, and this was my kids' request! Mixing up the dough now...thanks again for this great recipe.
Lauren says
What kind of oil do you use to coat the dough? I don't see an oil in the ingredient list.
Jami says
It's just a light spray of whatever you have to keep the dough from sticking (I have some Trader Joe's cold-pressed sunflower oil in a small spray bottle that I keep for things like this, if that helps!).
Heather says
I wonder if you could make this like a week or so ahead of time and freeze it. Then thaw it and bake....any thoughts?
Jami says
I don't really know, Heather - I know a lot of people who do the freeze-dough-and-bake thing, but I'm never happy with the results. The dough texture feels different to me and it never seems to rise as much. That said, you could certainly try it. Maybe do a test that you'd then get to eat? 😉
Emily says
Have you tried making this in a crock pot? I am curious about doing an overnight bake on low, but now sure how long it would have to cook, or if it would turn out edible.
Jami says
No, and I've never made bread in a slow cooker before so I wouldn't have a clue. 🙂
Sue R. says
Made this for our Christmas breakfast this year. Just a tip to add so someone else doesn't make my mistake--I made two batches and only have one bundt pan so put the other in an angel food cake pan...bad idea! The butter/cinnamon mixture leaked out some in the frig and then again in the oven when baking! Fortunately, I noticed it and put a pan below to catch the drips before they baked on the bottom of the oven. The bread was great...but don't use a angel food can pan 🙂
Jami says
Good tip - thanks for the warning, Sue!
Jannine Fisk says
This recipe was outstanding! I was looking for make-ahead recipes for Mother's Day brunch and boy am I glad I found this. It was spectacular. It came out perfectly and it was the first item gone from a large buffet I prepared. I added a small amount of melted butter and softened cream cheese to the glaze ingredients (plus a little more powdered sugar) and it really put it over the top. Thanks so much for a great recipe that doesn't involve nasty biscuits from a can or dry pudding mix!
Jami says
Thank you, Jannine! I'm glad your family liked it as much as mine does. 🙂
kloesunny @ Kloe's Ktichen says
Yay! I have been looking for monkey bread that did not require canned dough too! I will have to try this soon. Thanks for sharing!
Anne says
I am making this for the second time tonight in anticipation of a snow day tomorrow for the kids! It was a huge hit last time--made up the dough in my bread machine and it was fabulous. Thank you so much for this recipe, I hate artificial ingredients but love the ease of make ahead things. Looking forward to a yummy breakfast tomorrow!
Jami says
So glad you enjoy this, Anne - what a fun snow day treat!
Cindy says
omg, looks so good.
Tina says
This sounds amazing but we don't own a stand mixer. How do i make it without one?
We've been doing the pudding mix recipe as well
Jami says
You can mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients come together and then knead on a floured surface, adding more as needed, for about 8-10 minutes, Tina, then continue with the recipe as written. Takes a bit more work, but probably worth it. 😉
Igorash says
Pudding mix? Does pudding get put in the bread pocket (pinched bread dollop)? I put cream cheese cubes rolled first in cinnamon/brown sugar mixture, then pinched in the bread pocket's middle. I will try the yeast dough, got to be better than canned biscuits. I also use cream cheese in the icing with powdered sugar, butter,vanilla extrac, and salt.
Jami says
I don't even remember when the pudding mix was added - I think it was instead of the sugar coating? Once I saw it in the list of ingredients, I stopped reading, lol.
Igorash says
Thank you
Shannon says
I love this! We do eat the pudding mix monkey bread but have been toying with the idea of something different (especially since I got a stand mixer this year!!) We are out late on Christmas Eve and one of the things I do appreciate about the pudding recipe is that it goes together quickly after the kids are in bed, gifts done, etc. How early on Christmas Eve could this be put together and put into the fridge, do you think?
Jami says
I make it in the afternoon before heading out to our Christmas Eve dinner, Shannon. It's probably in the fridge around 3 or 4pm and turns out great, as you can see. 🙂