Monkey Bread Recipe In A Loaf Pan
This monkey bread recipe makes a super soft and gooey, caramel-drenched, pull apart cinnamon sugar brioche loaf! While most monkey bread recipes are typically made in a bundt pan, this recipe instructs you to make the monkey bread in a loaf pan. You get a smaller batch of monkey bread, perfect for serving 4 to 6 people!
The best part? The recipe also instructs you to make the brioche dough one day ahead of the monkey bread itself. Doing so results in a more flavorful dough, and ensures that you’re not stuck in the kitchen all day making this monkey recipe!
Looking for more unique, homemade bread recipes? Check out Hummingbird High‘s Bread recipe collection! Popular recipes include this White Chocolate Pistachio Babka Recipe and these Malasadas (Hawaiian Donuts).
Ingredients and Substitutions
Now that I’ve convinced you to make this monkey bread, let’s talk about some key ingredients and their potential substitutions:
- Instant Yeast. I like using instant yeast in my baking recipes—but if you’ve only got active dry yeast, check out the FAQ below for how to use it in this recipe!
- Kosher Salt. I think that kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes. But you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with table salt. Just use half the amount listed in the recipe when you do!
- Buttermilk. No buttermilk? No problem. Check out my recipe for Homemade Buttermilk using ingredients like milk, lemon juice, vinegar, and more!
- Brown Sugar. Brown sugar is available in two varieties: light or dark. Dark brown sugar is my personal preference; because it contains more molasses, I find it to be more flavorful. However, you can use either in this recipe.
Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast?
First of all, active dry yeast and instant yeast are activated at different temperatures. In general, recipes instruct you to activate active dry yeast with ingredients that are heated to between 110° and 115°F, and instant yeast with ingredients that are heated to between 120° and 130°F.
Second, in addition to these different activation temperatures, active dry yeast and instant yeast need to be activated in different ways. Bakers activate active dry yeast by soaking it in warm water with a little bit of sugar. Instant yeast, on the other hand, can be added directly to dry ingredients (like you would baking powder or baking soda) without needing to be soaked beforehand.
So, if you’re planning on using active dry yeast in this recipe, add it directly to the warmed buttermilk with 1 Tablespoon of the sugar and let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy and emitting a distinct yeasty flavor. Then, add the mixture to the recipe at the same time as the egg and melted butter.
How To Make Monkey Bread In A Loaf Pan
Whenever I make an elaborate yeast-based recipe like cinnamon rolls, babka, and this monkey bread recipe, I make the dough the day ahead of assembling the baked good. Why? It can be really time-consuming to make the recipe all in one day! First, you need to make the dough, let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, then punch it down and assemble it into the baked good. Then, you let that rise again for another 1 to 2 hours before baking it. You can easily see how that recipe quickly turned into a full day in the kitchen.
To make sure I’m not stuck in the kitchen all day, I broke down the work for this monkey bread recipe over the course of two days. Here’s what I did:
Day 1: Make The Brioche Dough
- Prep the ingredients for the dough. (Prep Time: 10 minutes)
For this recipe, it’s important that all its ingredients are at the temperature listed in the recipe. Why? Remember that yeast is a living thing. If you activate the yeast at a temperature that’s too warm, you might accidentally kill the yeast and end up with a dough that doesn’t rise. However, on the flip side, the yeast won’t activate if other ingredients—like the buttermilk, egg, and melted butter—are too cold. So, to really set yourself up for success, take the extra 5 minutes to make sure all the ingredients are measured out and are at the right temperatures! - Make the dough. (Work Time: 15 minutes)
After you’ve prepped the ingredients, making the dough itself is a breeze. First, mix together the dry ingredients in a stand mixer. Pour in the wet ingredients and let the stand mixer knead it into a beautiful, elastic dough for 10 minutes. That’s it! - Proof the dough. (Rise Time: Overnight)
Once the dough is ready, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator. The fridge’s cooler temperature enables the dough to rise at a slower pace than it otherwise would at room temperature. The next morning, you end up with a perfectly risen dough that’s perfect for shaping and baking!
Day 2: Assemble The Monkey Bread
First, prep the ingredients needed to assemble the monkey bread.
- Prep the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar coating and the caramel sauce. (Prep Time: 5 minutes)
Unlike the ingredients for the brioche dough, the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar coating and caramel sauce don’t require too much prep! Simply melt the butter for the cinnamon sugar coating and set it aside. Then, whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set the ingredients for the caramel sauce over by your range.
Then, assemble and proof the monkey bread.
- Roll out the dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and tip it onto a lightly floured counter. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rough oval about ½ inch thick. Don’t worry too much about the size and shape of the dough! You’ll be cutting the slab of dough into smaller squares anyway in the next step. What matters most is the thickness of the dough—like I said, aim for a ½ inch thick slab. - Assemble the dough. (Work Time: 15 minutes)
Use a bench scraper or pastry cutter to divide the dough into 1-inch squares. The fastest way to do so is to slice 1-inch wide strips vertically down the slab—don’t move the strips just yet! Keep them fairly close together so you can then slice 1-inch wide strips horizontally across them. Et voila! You’ve divided the dough into 1-inch squares. Don’t worry about trying to get a specific number of dough balls. What matters more is to try and get the squares as even as you can.
Once you’ve divided the dough, use your hands to roll each square into a small ball. How? It’s time to use some childhood skills here: pick up each square and roll it back and forth in quick motions between your hands like you would clay or Play-Doh. Super fun, right?! - Coat the dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
Place the dough balls in a large bowl. Then, drizzle the dough balls with the melted butter for the coating and gently toss until they are coated. Be careful here! Depending on how long it took you to form the dough balls, the dough might have softened and started to expand already. You don’t want to squish them too much and have them lose their round shape. Toss them gently!
Once they’re completely coated in the butter, whisk together the remaining ingredients for the coating and sprinkle them over the dough balls. Gently toss again until the balls are coated.
Finally, prep the monkey bread for baking.
- Proof the dough. (Rise Time: 1 to 2 hours)
Place the dough balls in the prepared pan. You can transfer them one by one with tongs, or just use a rubber spatula to gently tip and guide them from the bowl into the loaf pan. Make sure to transfer any leftover butter and sugar coating, too. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot for 1 to 2 hours, or until puffy. Don’t forget to preheat your oven! I like to preheat mine about 30 minutes into the second rise to ensure that it’s ready when the dough has finished rising. - Make the caramel sauce. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
Once the dough has finished its second rise, make the caramel sauce. Don’t worry—it comes together super quickly. All you need to do is melt the butter for the sauce in a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, then whisk in the sugar, salt, and vanilla. That’s it! Pour the warm caramel over the dough immediately before baking. - Bake the monkey bread. (Bake Time: 40 minutes)
The monkey bread needs 40 to 45 minutes in the oven, or until the top of the bread looks crispy with caramelized sugar and is golden brown. However, take that with a grain of salt. It can be hard to tell when bread is done just by appearance! The most accurate way to test for doneness is to insert an instant read thermometer into the center of the loaf. When done, the thermometer will read between 190°F and 200°F.
Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I still make this monkey bread recipe?
Absolutely! Instead of using a stand mixer, knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and elastic. The recipe instructs you to knead it for 10 minutes in a stand mixer; however, you may need to do a few minutes of extra kneading when doing it by hand.
Help! My monkey bread didn’t rise and/or don’t look as tall and puffy as yours. What did I do wrong?
Uh oh. Did you pay attention to the temperature of the ingredients listed in the recipe? I mentioned earlier that, for this recipe, it’s super important to prep your ingredients to the temperature listed in the recipe. If the buttermilk is warmed too much, it will kill the yeast. At worst, your dough won’t rise at all. At best, your monkey bread crumb won’t be as tall and fluffy as mine.
Similarly, if the buttermilk, eggs, and butter are too cold, it won’t activate the yeast. In this case, your brioche dough won’t rise and/or your monkey bread won’t be as tall and fluffy as mine, either.
How To Serve This Monkey Bread Recipe
It’s important to serve monkey bread warm, preferably straight from the oven.. Doing so makes it easy to pull apart since it’s still soft and gooey from the oven. Additionally, this monkey bread recipe can be served in several ways:
- Pull-Apart Style or Slices
Traditionally, monkey bread is served whole. Folks then reach into the bread, pulling and tearing apart the individual gooey dough balls as a way of serving themselves. However, since there’s a worldwide pandemic going on, I thought it might be best to rethink that serving style (lollll #sorrynotsorry). Since this monkey bread is made in a loaf pan, you can slice it into individual portions, similar to how you would slice banana bread or a whole loaf of bread into toast. That way, each person can still get the fun pull apart experience without contaminating the whole thing. - Caramel Top or Bottom
Typically, when monkey bread is baked, most of the caramel sauce pools at the bottom of the pan. The maker then inverts the bread out of its pan onto a serving plate, ensuring that the caramel sauce then ends up on top of the bread. If you’re serving this monkey bread whole, I recommend inverting it out of the loaf pan and onto a new serving plate to ensure that the caramel soaked portions ends up on top.
That being said, you can also leave the monkey bread in its pan and serve it as is with the caramel on the bottom. It’s just as good—I promise!
Best Recipe Tips and Techniques
Ingredient Tips
- Just another friendly reminder to make sure to pay attention to the ingredients and the temperatures they’re listed at in the recipe. Yeast is a living thing and you can easily kill it by mixing it in a liquid that’s too hot. You want the temperature to be similar to that of a warm bath and no more. Be sure to use an egg that’s at room temperature rather than straight from the fridge. An egg straight from the fridge will be too cold and lower the temperature of the overall mixture, potentially dropping it to a point where the yeast won’t activate properly.
- The monkey bread recipe instructs you to use butter that’s melted and cooled slightly for both the brioche dough and cinnamon sugar coating. What does that mean? Dip your finger in the butter—it should feel warm, but not overly hot that you feel like you’ve burned yourself. Aim for a temperature similar to a warm, pleasant bath. To get to this temperature, I like to melt my butter first to allow it to cool slightly while I prep the rest of the ingredients.
Technique Tip
- Dough rises fastest and best on warm, humid days. Although you can get the same effect on cold, dry days, it can take two to three times as long to proof dough. This is why professional bakeries have dedicated drawers to proof dough. The proofing drawer mimics the environmental conditions of a warm, humid day. And guess what? You can do that at home with the oven you already have. First, if your oven has an interior light, turn it on—doing so increases the temperature inside the oven by about five degrees. Next, bring 2 to 4 cups of water to a boil and pour it into a heatproof glass or ceramic bowl. Place the bowl of water in the oven, then place the dough you’re trying to proof next to it. The warmth from the light and moisture from the steaming, hot water will create a warm, humid environment in the oven to proof the dough faster.
- To make the monkey bread, the recipe instructs you to roll out the brioche dough and cut it into 1-inch squares. Don’t worry too much about rolling the brioche dough into a precise shape—all you need is a lab that is about ½ inch thick. From there, you’ll cut the dough into 1-inch squares and roll each one into a ball. Again, don’t worry about being too precise about the shape of the squares since you’ll roll each one into a ball, anyway! After that, you’ll toss the dough balls in melted butter and the cinnamon sugar coating. Be careful not to squish them too hard as you do so; otherwise the dough balls will lose their shape!
- It can be hard to tell when shaped sweet breads are done just by apperance alone. So the most accurate way to test for doneness is to insert an instant read thermometer into the center of the loaf. When done, the thermometer will read between 190°F and 200°F.
Best Tip To Fit This Recipe Into Your Schedule
- Don’t want to wait overnight for your monkey bread recipe? Don’t worry—you can make this recipe all in one day! To do so, follow the recipe instructions to make the brioche dough. However, instead of transferring it to the fridge to rise overnight, simply let it rise at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in size. Then, follow the recipe instructions to assemble the dough into the monkey bread and bake.
Get the Recipe: Monkey Bread In A Loaf Pan Recipe
Ingredients
For the Brioche Dough
- 3 ½ cups (15.75 ounces or 447 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (8 ounces or 227 grams) buttermilk, warmed to between 120°F and 130°F
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- ½ cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ½ cup tightly packed (3.75 ounces or 106 grams) light OR dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 grams) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the Caramel Sauce
- 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons light OR dark brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Equipment
- a stand mixer with a dough hook
- a liquid measuring cup
- a 9 x 5-inch OR 8 x 4-inch loaf pan
- a rolling pin
- a bench scraper OR pastry cutter
- an instant read thermometer
Instructions
Day 1: Make the Brioche Dough
- Mix the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, baking soda, and salt. Knead on low to combine, about 30 seconds. Press a tall measuring cup in the center of the ingredients to make a well.
- Mix the wet ingredients, then combine them with the dry ingredients. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and butter. Pour the mixture into the well in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to briefly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, until a shaggy dough forms.
- Knead the dough. Knead on medium-low for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic, using the spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Prep the dough for proofing. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough once or twice into a rough ball. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl to remove any excess dough. Spray the bowl with cooking spray and place the dough back in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Day 2: Assemble the Monkey Bread
- Prep the loaf pan. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Spray the parchment, too.
- Roll out the dough. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, uncover it, and discard the plastic wrap. Tip it onto a lightly floured counter and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rough oval about ½ inch thick.
- Make the dough balls. Use a bench scraper or pastry cutter to divide the dough into 1-inch squares. Working quickly, use your hands to roll each square as you would clay or Play-Doh, rolling it back and forth in quick motions until it forms a small ball. Place the balls in a large bowl as you go.
- Coat the dough balls. Drizzle the dough balls with the melted butter for the coating and gently toss until the dough balls are completely coated. Whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon for the coating in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the dough balls and toss until the dough balls are completely coated.
- Prep the dough for proofing. Place the dough balls in the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot for 1 to 2 hours, or until puffy.
- Preheat the oven and the sheet pan. About 30 minutes into the second rise, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a quarter or half sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Make the caramel sauce. When the dough is ready for baking, make the caramel sauce. Melt the butter for the caramel sauce in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Remove from the heat, immediately add the sugar, salt, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
- Finish assembling the monkey bread for baking. Place the loaf pan with the dough on top of the prepared sheet pan. Pour the warm caramel over the dough, coating the top of the dough completely.
- Bake the monkey bread. Bake the monkey bread for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is golden brown. An instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf should read between 190°F and 200°F.
- Serve and store. Serve immediately, or warmed. The monkey bread can be stored at room temperature, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.
Notes
Can you freeze this monkey bread recipe?
Yes! You can freeze the monkey bread after it’s been baked. Tightly wrap any leftover monkey bread slices in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and rewarm in the oven or microwave.get new recipes via email:
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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
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Please leave a comment and rating for the recipe using the form below!
Your ratings make it easier to find the recipe online, and I’m always looking for ways to improve Hummingbird High.
Such a fun recipe! I hadn’t made any kind of monkey bread before (it always seems like a lot of work), and the tips and hints walked me through the recipe without any trouble at all.
The step that took the longest was slicing the dough and rolling it up into little balls – so I would honestly rank this whole recipe as pretty easy. And, if you bake a lot, you more than likely already have all of the recipe ingredients around the kitchen.
Definitely going to be bringing this one out again for treats this Fall.