Every once in awhile I make something that completely baffles my husband. Like this bread. It’s supposed to be like monkey bread, except in a loaf pan, right? My dear, sweet husband thought I had taken store-bought bread, sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar, and then baked it. When I tried to explain to him that it was just monkey bread in a different shape, I was met with a blank stare. Because he had no idea what monkey bread is. No idea what monkey bread is. Tell me, how does someone go 25 years without ever even seeing monkey bread?!
Regardless, he loved this bread. All my boys did actually. It didn’t stand a chance in this house and was gone before the day was over! It’s the softest bread you can imagine on the inside but the bottom crust gets a little caramel-y from the sugar settling at the bottom of the pan and the top crust gets nice and toasty. In other words, the most perfect piece of bread you can imagine.
It’s also shockingly easy to make. The dough is not sticky at all which made rolling it out and cutting it very quick. The only thing I would change would be to double it next time around. You’re going to regret it if you don’t!
(Yes, I will be making monkey bread this weekend.)
Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
For the dough:
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (plus more as needed)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
For the filling:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan and heat just until the butter is melted. Set aside and let cool briefly, until the mixture registers 115-125 F on an instant-read thermometer. Add the milk mixture, water, vanilla and eggs to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until a cohesive dough forms. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as needed 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. Knead about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. (After the dough has doubled, it can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before proceeding.)
- While the dough rises, combine the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and mix well.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate. Roll into a ball, cover with a clean towel and let rest for 5 minutes. Roll the dough out into an approximately 12 x 20-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the dough in an even layer.
- Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Slice the dough vertically into 6 even strips. Stack the strips on top of each other and again cut again into 6 equal slices. Stack all the squares on top of each other and set into the prepared loaf pan. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place, 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Transfer the loaf to the oven and bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. (If the top seems to be browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil at the end of baking.) Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan 20-30 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen and carefully turn the loaf out, transferring to a serving plate. Serve warm.
Melanie Flinn says
This bread looks amazing! I love monkey bread and love that this one is 100% homemade!
Julia says
my husband, 34, doesn’t know what monkey bread is either. Sad, how sad their childhood must have been without monkey bread. Your pictures are GREAT!
Kelly says
This one has been on my “to make” list waaay too long. I think I need to remedy that this weekend and put it on my “Made it, ate ALL of it” list. ;) It looks so good. (And seriously, how did your husband make it through childhood without having monkey bread. Tragic.)
shweta says
hi, this looks so wonderful..we don’t eat eggs in our family. Would you please suggest a substitute for it ? Thanks a lot : )
amanda says
I’m not sure I would try substituting anything for the eggs in this recipe but if you have a recipe for a sweet bread (like cinnamon roll dough) that you normally use, I’m sure that would work. Even a white bread would work I bet, if you added a bit of sugar to the dough.
Thanks for commenting!
tia @ buttercreambarbie says
this is like the lemon pull apart from flo braker. i loved that an i’m sure i will love this too!
Pamela says
Sheesh…this looks so damn good!!
Mai says
Hi! Can you mix the dough by hand? I don’t have a dough hook, only a hand mixer or my hands haha.
amanda says
Definitely! That’s how I did it because I don’t own a stand mixer either. It took a little longer than the recipe said.
Thanks for commenting! :)
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
This wouldn’t stand a chance in my house either! :) Looks delicious! And I think my husband would give me the blank stare if I said “monkey bread” too. Boys.
Charissa says
Haha…well, have to say…I just recently found out what monkey bread is, so your husband is not alone.
Looks amazing and now I’m aching to try it!
alison says
looks perfect amanda! im going to try this recipe this weekend. I do not have any whole milk but i do have some half and half. do you think i could use that instead? thanks :)
amanda says
Yeah, I’m sure it would be fine. I used nonfat milk and it worked out perfectly.
Thanks for commenting! :)
Kate says
OMG!!!! I can’t resist in front of the looks of the bread in these photos… the recipe seems to be not too difficult either! Perfect!! I’m going to get one!
Thank so much!
Mike says
I’ve been seeing pull-apart bread all over the place! I want to make some now! It looks so good!
natalie (the sweets life) says
Every time I see this on someone’s blog I’m dying to make it! Your turned out perfectly!
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
Any chance you have leftovers you want to share??
Yuri says
I’ve always wanted to make pull-apart bread, its just so beautiful! Maybe I’ll try this recipe this weekend :)
Diana S says
I have made this bread twice and it is SOOOOOO good. Doubling the recipe is a good idea because it is gone in one day.
Deb says
Oh lordy, I loooove cinnamon bread! The twists up at the top look gorgeous.
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
I’ve had this as a possibility for quite a long time and just haven’t got around to it. SO glad it’s easy and as tasty as it looks :) And *gasp* even though I know what monkey bread is… I’ve never actually had it or made it.
yummychunklet says
I like the concept of this pull-apart bread. It seems whimsical and fun. Which might be dangerous because then I’d eat all of it!
The Blue-Eyed Bakers says
Oh goodness. Well this just looks completely fabulous and delicious. We have to give this a try for sure!