Monkey bread is a knotty-looking loaf of sweet bread made from balls of dough coated with cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter. It’s traditionally served warm so that the sticky baked pieces can be pulled apart. The name “monkey” refers to how you eat this sweet treat—with your hands.
Monkey Bread
Serves 8
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Vegetable oil spray
- 1 pound pizza dough, room temperature
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons milk
In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place melted butter in a second small bowl. Spray 8-inch round cake pan with vegetable oil spray.
Spray counter lightly with vegetable oil spray. Place dough on greased counter and pat it into a 6-inch square. Use kitchen shears to cut dough in half. Cut each half into 3 strips (you’ll have 6 strips total). Cut each strip into 6 even pieces (you’ll have 36 pieces total).
Roll each piece of dough into a ball. Dip each ball in melted butter to coat, roll in brown sugar mixture, then place them in greased pan. Cover bottom of pan with dough balls in a single layer.
Cover pan tightly with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place until dough balls are puffy and have risen slightly (about 1/2 inch), 1 to 2 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. When dough is ready, discard plastic. Place pan in oven and bake until top of monkey bread is light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer pan to cooling rack, and let monkey bread cool for 5 minutes (no longer).
Place a large plate on top of the pan. Carefully flip out monkey bread onto the plate. Remove pan. Let cool for 10 minutes before glazing.
In a third small bowl, stir powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Use spoon to drizzle glaze over monkey bread. Serve warm.
