Drunken Monkey Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you know when monkey bread is done? ›

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.

Homemade monkey bread combines several tiny balls of dough coated in butter, cinnamon, and sugar. It's basically a giant Bundt pan of gooey cinnamon rolls! Finish this fun breakfast or dessert treat with vanilla icing and serve pull apart style. This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.

You can speed up the rising process by placing the refrigerated monkey bread into a warm oven (not warm enough it will bake the bread! just warm enough to help the rising – I preheat my oven to 170 degrees and then once it reaches temperature, I turn it off but keep the oven light on).

I bake mine in one of the best Bundt pans, but a tube pan works, too. You could even bake it in a muffin tin for individual monkey bread "muffins." Wouldn't that be cute?! Just be sure to adjust the baking time.

Inserting a toothpick into the center of a baked good is a tried and true method to test for doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean, your bread is likely fully baked. It needs a bit more time if it comes out wet with dough or crumbs.

Setting the Oven Temperature Is Too Hot

If your oven runs hot, your bread is likely to brown and bake up on the outside before the center has a chance to fully cook. Invest in a simple oven thermometer to help verify the temperature.

Recipes for the bread first appeared in American women's magazines and community cookbooks in the 1950s. During the 1980s, Nancy Reagan popularized serving monkey bread during Christmas by making it a staple of the Reagan White House Christmas. Mrs. Reagan acquired the recipe from her fellow actress Zasu Pitts.

Monkey bread gets its name by the method in which it is eaten: picking off chunks of buttery, gooey dough with your fingers not unlike a monkey grooming his buddy (which is actually a weird thing to name a food after, if you really think about it.)

If you somehow end up with leftovers, save them for later! This Grands!™ Monkey Bread can be stored, tightly covered, on the counter for 1–2 days. To keep it fresh for 3–4 days, pop it into the fridge. And if you want to put a treat aside for future you, you can freeze monkey bread for up to two months.

Yeast is too cold If the other ingredients are too cold, it could cause some of the yeast to die. Was the dough kneaded properly? Dough may not have been kneaded enough. Kneading 'exercises' the gluten in the bread and gives it the elasticity to hold in the air bubbles produced by the yeast.

Why doesn't my bread rise enough? ›

Add more yeast, blend in the starter, or knead in more flour to help initiate rising. Dough that has expired yeast, too much salt, all-purpose or cake flour, or antifungal spices like cinnamon might have trouble rising.

An overproofed dough won't expand much during baking, and neither will an underproofed one. Overproofed doughs collapse due to a weakened gluten structure and excessive gas production, while underproofed doughs do not yet have quite enough carbon dioxide production to expand the dough significantly.

Can you bake a Bundt cake in a 13×9 pan? Yes—but don't overfill the pan. Be sure to leave about 1/2″ to 1/4″ of space at the top to give the cake room to grow. You'll also need to adjust your baking time.

Can I bake a bundt cake in an angel food cake pan with a removable bottom? —M.J., Spokane, Washington Yes, indeed, as long as the cake batter fills the pan about two-thirds full. To prevent leaking, wrap the bottom of the outside of the pan with aluminum foil first.

However, you can use a tube pan for recipes that call for a Bundt pan in many cases. Keep in mind that tube pans typically hold more batter than a bundt pan of the same size. Also, a two-piece tube pan with a removable inner core has the potential to leak.

It should feel firm and lightly springy to the touch. If the batter sticks to your finger or doesn't produce a bit of resistance, it's not done.

Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes more. You can be extra-sure that the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the top or side registers 210°F.

Doneness Tests for Quick Breads

Quick breads should be golden in color, and slightly darker around the edges. A large crack running down the center of the bread is normal. The inside of the crack should not look wet. The edges of the bread will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.