Monkey Bread With Biscuits

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Make this Easy Monkey Bread with Biscuits in under an hour! It’s rich, gooey, cozy, buttery, and full of cinnamon sugar flavor. The best part? We use refrigerated biscuits as the base of this fun family-style treat. Simple and easy, perfect to serve at breakfast or brunch.

I’ve made monkey bread entirely from scratch before, and honestly… it was an ordeal. Delicious, yes, but hours of mixing, proofing, and planning ahead. It wasn’t worth it. Monkey bread should be instant gratification, not a half-day project. That’s why I love making monkey bread from canned biscuits—it gives you that same sweet, cozy treat without waking up at the crack of dawn or making the kids wait around. You can have it on the table in about an hour.

And speaking of kids, if they do wake up while you’re mid-process, get them to help! It’s a fun little activity for them and totally foolproof.

Why You’ll Love Making Monkey Bread with Canned Biscuits

• The canned biscuit dough makes everything so much faster and easier, and the bake time is under 60 minutes.
• Who doesn’t love monkey bread? It’s a fun family-style treat perfect for a weekend or holiday breakfast or brunch.
• It’s fun to eat, and kids and adults alike love it. It’s also a fun activity for the kids to help with. Perfect for a rainy day treat!

Ingredients for Monkey Bread with Biscuits

This easy recipe for monkey bread is made with basic kitchen ingredients and a whole lot of buttah!

For the Monkey Bread

• Canned biscuits – I use (2) 16.3 oz cans of Pillsbury Grands! Homestyle Biscuits, but any Grands! variety of biscuit will work in this recipe. If you’re using the small, 12-oz cans of biscuits, you’ll need 3 cans to fill the pan.
• Ground Cinnamon and White sugar – This is the cinnamon sugar mix that we’ll toss the biscuit pieces in.
• Chopped Pecans – these are optional, but they add a great little crunch. The nuts break up the sweetness of the cinnamon sugar and brown-sugar glaze, giving the monkey bread a nice bit of contrast.

For the Glaze

• Butter – Salted or unsalted butter works. Reduce the salt listed on the recipe card slightly if you’re using salted butter.
• Light brown sugar – you can use dark brown sugar if that’s all you have. When you’re measuring, firmly pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup.
• Coarse Kosher Salt – the salt helps to balance out the sweetness of the glaze.

How to Make Monkey Bread

This is an abbreviated version of the full recipe instructions at the bottom of the post. Use the complete directions in the recipe card for the best results.

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a large bundt pan really well with cooking spray. 

Combine the white sugar and cinnamon in a bowl or a zip top plastic bag. Set aside.

Step 2

Cut each biscuit into quarters. You’ll have 64 bite-sized pieces of dough.

Toss 16 biscuit pieces into the cinnamon sugar mix and roll around until fully coated.

Arrange them evenly in the bottom of the greased bundt pan and sprinkle with ¼ of the chopped pecans.

Repeat the process and continue layering until all the ingredients are used.

Note: I like to coat the biscuits in batches so the layers are more even. But if you want, you can coat all the biscuit pieces at once and just eyeball how you spread out the biscuits and nuts.

Once all the biscuits and nuts are in the pan, sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the top and wiggle the pan to get it evenly distributed. Set aside and make the glaze.

Step 3

Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer for about 30 seconds, just until the sugar dissolves.

Pour the butter and brown sugar mixture over the prepared biscuits. Shake the bundt pan just a little to make sure the glaze coats everything evenly.

Step 4

Bake for 35–45 minutes, or until the center has risen and is no longer doughy. If you have an instant-read kitchen thermometer, the monkey bread will be done when the center nuggets of dough reach 190°F.

Let the baked monkey bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Now it’s time to flip! Place a large plate or serving dish over the top of the bundt pan, then carefully flip the pan over so the monkey bread slides out onto the plate. 

Tip: Do this while the bread is still hot – before the glaze sets – so it releases easily.

Allow the monkey bread to cool to a comfortable eating temperature and serve warm.

Tips To Make The Best Monkey Bread Recipe With Biscuits

• After you pour the glaze over the biscuit pieces, give the pan a little shimmy so the glaze can seep into all the nooks and crannies. This helps create an even, gooey layer of glaze — the best part — when you flip the monkey bread out of the pan.
• Use an instant-read kitchen thermometer to test the biscuits near the center of the pan. If it reads 190°F, it’s done. Or if you want to keep it low tech, pull off a piece of biscuit, and if it pulls easily without leaving a gummy or doughy trail, it’s done.
• Flip the monkey bread out of the pan while it’s still warm and before the glaze cements the bread to the pan. Don’t wait any longer than 5 minutes after baking.
• If a couple of biscuits get stuck to the pan after flipping, don’t worry. Use some of the hot glaze to glue the pieces back in place.

Substitutions & Variations

• Nuts – Omit the pecans entirely or swap them with chopped walnuts or sliced almonds.
• Spice it up – Play with the spices, adding nutmeg or ginger to the sugar mix, or use some Apple Pie Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice to make it unique and seasonal!

Biscuits For Monkey Bread

You can use any variety of canned refrigerated biscuits: homestyle, southern homestyle, flaky, or buttermilk. They all work great! You can even make cinnamon roll monkey bread with refrigerated cinnamon rolls or Orange Rolls.

Can You Make Monkey Bread Ahead?

You can assemble this recipe up to an hour before baking, but don’t go much longer than that.

I don’t recommend putting this together the day before. Once the biscuits are opened, the clock starts, and the longer they sit, the less they rise. The cinnamon sugar can also start breaking down the dough.

To make ahead: toss the biscuit pieces in the cinnamon sugar, layer them with the nuts, cover the pan, and set aside at room temperature for up to an hour. When you’re ready to bake, make the glaze, and pour it on right before it goes in the oven.

Monkey bread is best made the day you plan to serve it, but you can bake it a day ahead if needed (think holiday traveling). Just warm it the next day in a low oven (250°F–300°F), loosely covered with foil, to soften the glaze and heat the biscuits back up.

What to Serve with Monkey Bread

Enjoy this fun little breakfast treat on its own, or serve it with Fresh Fruit Salad, Breakfast Potatoes, and crispy Maple Bacon for a full breakfast spread.

How to Store Leftover Monkey Bread

Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. I recommend warming for 15-30 seconds in the microwave to loosen up the glaze before eating. 

FAQs

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