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Get the Recipe: Monkey Bread In A Loaf Pan Recipe

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Bake Time: 40 minutes
Total: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 1 9 x 5-inch loaf
Author: Michelle Lopez
This monkey bread recipe is baked in a loaf pan and makes a super soft and gooey, caramel-drenched, pull apart loaf! The brioche dough is proofed overnight in the refrigerator, yielding a more flavorful and easy-to-work with dough.
(5 stars) 2 reviews

Ingredients

For the Brioche Dough

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

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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