there is something about saturday mornings that make them so inherently different than the weekday hustle and bustle. maybe it’s because there’s no set schedule, maybe it’s because we don’t have to go in to work, or maybe it’s because my kids – after being so busy and active during the week – take the opportunity to sleep in instead of waking up at 5am. regardless of what it is that makes them feel different, there is definitely a much more relaxed mood at our house. so i love to leisurely make a special saturday morning breakfast to kick-start our weekend. usually it’s pancakes, cinnamon rolls, or sausage and red pepper scrambled eggs, but this past weekend, it was monkey bread.
i have a super easy overnight monkey bread recipe that is super popular here on the blog. and when i’m on top of things and think ahead the overnight version is a great one to make. but sometimes just the thought of a saturday morning makes me lazy and i don’t take the 5 minutes it takes to put it together the night before. fortunately for people like me, there’s this super easy version that takes maybe 5 -10 minutes to put together, 1/2 hour or so to bake in the oven, and then no time at all for it to be devoured. and you make it all from start to finish in the morning. all you need are these 5 simple ingredients:
refrigerated biscuits, white sugar, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon.
if that doesn’t make your house smell heavenly on a saturday (or any day) morning, i don’t know what will!
and to put it together, all you need to do it cut the biscuits into quarters (slice one way, then the other!), and then roll them around in cinnamon-sugar until they are totally covered (my kids LOVE to help with this part!)…
…and then put them in a greased bundt pan. (aff link – but i totally love this one…i’ve been using it for years, and i’ve even forgotten to spray the pan on occasion and it totally didn’t matter!)
it’s smelling great already! now to make it all ooey and gooey and totally mouth-watering, just melt the butter and brown sugar together and drizzle it over the top, like so:
oh my goodness, i can’t even handle it.
all that syrup is going to get into the nooks and crannies and bake into the dough to make this one delicious breakfast treat!
i had to hurry and take this picture before it got devoured by some bed-headed, sleepy-eyed kids of mine. the little pieces of the biscuits covered in the butter and brown sugar mixture and the cinnamon-sugar are the perfect size for little hands to pull off and enjoy. and if for some crazy reason it doesn’t totally get gobbled up, it’s great to have out on the counter for a little sweet bite here and there throughout the morning.
thanks heavens for cinnamon and brown sugar – they make saturday morning something to really look forward to!
get the easy peasy 5-ingredient recipe below so you can try it out this weekend!
- 3 cans refrigerated biscuits (like
pillsbury grands ) - 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- open biscuits and cut individual biscuits into quarters. combine the sugar and the cinnamon in a bowl and roll each of the biscuit pieces in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated. place in a well-greased bundt pan.
- in a saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. remove from heat and pour over biscuits.
- bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.
if you love this recipe, don’t forget to PIN IT so you’ll never lose it!:
That was sooo good
yay! glad you liked it!!
This was great and very easy to do! Thanks!
great! i’m so happy you liked it!
that was good
Glad you liked it!
I would like to try making this I’m not sure if the biscuit size !! Thank you !
I got the 16.3oz cans of pillsbury grands biscuits. It said there were 8 big biscuits inside each can. Hope that helps!
One the monkey bread is baked how should you store it? I put a cream cheese glaze on it? And how should you reheat?
I’ve never had much left over 😉 but you could certainly store it in an airtight container on the counter. And yes, a cream cheese glaze on it would be delicious!! I’d put the glaze only on what you plan on eating if you’re going to store a bunch of it so that the cream cheese doesn’t separate when you reheat the monkey bread in the microwave.
What’s the best way to reheat this? I have had monkey bread before and it was delicious so I’m sure I’ll love this!
Hmm, good question! I’ve never had to reheat it – it’s always been long gone!! I’d probably just stick it in the microwave for a little bit just to soften it. Putting it back in the oven would likely dry it out.
It was delicious. However I noticed that the middle and bottom layers were still “doughy” and not cooked so I had to put it back into the oven after eating the top layer. Is it because I used the rectangular glass pan instead of bundt pan? You still have to stack the dough in a bundt pan too though…..
That’s a great question! I haven’t tried it in a rectangular pan before. You do have to stack them in both, but maybe the shape of the bundt pan is not as wide makes a difference?! I don’t know, to be honest! But if I do try it in a rectangular pan I will keep this in mind – thank you!!
It cooks all the way throughout in a Bundt pan cause the heat travel up through the center .
The loaf pan won’t cook the bread all the way through because the Bundt pan allows heat to the center of the bread whereas a loaf pan won’t. Hope this is helpful.
Very helpful – thank you Rhonda! 🙂
I’ve cooked it in a glass pan and a loaf pan before. I just halved the recipe for each. The taste was still just as good.
I sized it down to one can and it turned out good just for a sweet snack I made these in school thanks for reminding me of it
that’s a great idea! thanks for sharing!
I made this in school too 😂
I added a packet of hot cocoa mix to the sugar and cinnamon. OMG so good with a chocolate hint to it… Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad you liked them! Great addition with the hot cocoa mix!
Can you put canned biscuit monkey bread recipe together the night before and place in the refrigerator?
You can but you might want to take it out with enough time that it gets to room temperature/rise if it needs to before baking it!
just made it for my family. i’m 14 and they were surprised that i made something so good when it was really so easy.
Hey, great job! It really does look harder than it actually is, doesn’t it?! I’m so glad you could impress your family with your baking skills!
I omitted the cinnamon but added a little mapleine. Into the sauce yum my family is in heaven thanks for sharing
My pleasure!! Glad your family enjoyed it!!
Is the brown sugar packed or unpacked? It’s almost 300 calories difference between the two (836 vs. 551).
It’s packed brown sugar. It helps to give it a gooey, caramel-ey syrup!
One word…..amazing
So glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
Made this today with my 7 year old granddaughter. It came out perfect. My granddaughter and my grandson who is only 2 years old Loved It. I use to make monkey bread for my children . I had forgotten the recipe. I used 4 cans of regular canned biscuits.
Glad you liked it!! What a fun activity with your granddaughter. 🙂
It’s been a while since I’ve made monkey bread, so found your recipe. The only difference, I add chopped pecans or walnuts to mine. I put a generous nice layer in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle the rest in as I’m stacking in the dough. Yes, it is no longer just 5 ingredients, but it’s so yummy. 😋
I’m so glad you like the recipe! And I love the idea to use nuts – I do this sometimes too and it is delicious!!
The last time I had monkey bread was maybe 2 years ago when I worked for Country Care and I tried making some for the residents who lived there and they said that it was really good. you can practically make almost anything for old people and they will tell you that it tastes really good
Glad they liked it!! 🙂
After this comes out of the oven do you cool it a bit or turn onto platter right away?
Also, any tips for heating brown sugar/butter so it melts properly & doesn’t get all sugary?
I put it onto the platter right away! I heat the brown sugar and butter in a pan on the stove top and it always turns out great!
Thank you! This was awesome!
great! i’m so glad you liked it!! 🙂