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.
Gooey Caramel Monkey Bread
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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
Scale
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!
December 7, 2017
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Yep. Foolproof bread is the way to go. Caramel sauce. Oh yay!!! And Land O Lakes containers, I will go out and buy a bunch today because my 5-year-old wants the empty cartons to make a Christmas village out of. (They look like little houses and churches…right?)
If you call yourself a bread idiot and can still pull this off, then I’m going to try! Thanks for giving me the confidence to do so 🙂
And brioche is so FANCY! I’m going to feel fancy.
Hello, I’m from the UK and am not sure if I would need bread flour or just plain flour for this. xx
Sophie, plain flour (aka all-purpose) should be just fine. You can use bread flour, but the finished monkey bread won’t be quite as tender.
Lindsay, this sounds fabulous. Love those Land O Lakes recipes!
YUM YUM YUM!!! I want to eat this right now with a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fire. Sounds like the perfect cozy evening!
I’m getting diabetic just looking at this……
So rich and decadent. Definitely will be the centerpiece of my Christmas breakfast! Just terrific dear Lindsay!
Another fellow bread idiot over here. 🙋🏻♀️ Cooking is more my jam than baking, but this sounds super easy! Hellllooooo gooey goodness! 😍
OMG I don’t make monkey bread enough, but DANG this looks good!
I’ve been wanting to make made from scratch monkey bread for my kids for Christmas morn, but didn’t want a super complicated recipe, and then I saw this! Recipe of my monkey bread dreams! Can’t wait to try! Thanks for sharing! <3
I just love reading your posts, you are one funny gurl!
Monkey bread is literally taking bread, cake, donuts, cinnamon rolls, and French toast, and marrying them all together. Let’s just say their child is freaking beautiful. This monkey bread looks so decadent and delicious! Who wouldn’t want to dig into the bread right away?!
I just have to reply to your comment– your description of monkey bread is absolutely perfect :]
Dear Lindsay,
You had me at “Gooey”.
It looks delicious Lindsay.
Hi Lindsay, quick question can you use the left over bread dough to bake a loaf of brioch? Love all your recipes btw!!
Looks like you’re not “monkeying” around this your recipe this week. Hahahahah (sorry, dork alert). I love monkey bread and I love making things from scratch so this recipe is right up my alley!!! Awesome job 🙂
Wow, this monkey bread looks so delicious!! I’m definitely going to give it a try. Can’t wait!
I have just made this delicious monkey bread, and from my 10 years old son: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
I had to double back one more time on this snowy Saturday morning Lindsay and say this Money bread really looks like good Monkey business. I hope you YouTube’d this! 🙂
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!
nice recipe and photo walk-through, and yes I appreciate being “bread dumb” too, so thank you for this recipe!
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!
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?
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?
This looks amazing and really, the videos really inspire me. Thanks for all you do!
I enjoy reading your blog a lot. Thank you for these recipes. They are so helpful.