Cinnamon Bun Monkey Bread (from Scratch)

This cinnamon bun monkey bread is made completely from scratch. With homemade cinnamon rolls and quick cinnamon caramel, not forgetting a drizzle of simple vanilla icing to finish it off, this bundt pan beauty offers a wow-level brunch to please any guest. The dough can be prepared in a bread machine or stand mixer and you can use all-purpose (plain) or spelt flour.

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Oh. My. Life. I am not really one for over dramatics (not on the blog, anyway), but sometimes a recipe comes together so perfectly, so deliciously, that it pretty much blows my mind. This spelt cinnamon bun monkey bread is one such recipe. It was so good that I couldn’t stop myself from peeling off chunks and scoffing them as I was trying to take photos. 

Cinnamon bun meets monkey bread

Not only did they meet, but they fell madly in love and skipped off into the sunset.

Everyone loves a cinnamon bun. Am I right? And perhaps nobody more than the Swedes, and to prove this, every year on 4th October, they celebrate cinnamon buns in all their glory (kanelbullensdag).

And, those who have tried it, swear by the greatness that is monkey bread. But when you have a mash up of the two plus a two-minute homemade cinnamon caramel, then man, that’s something else. 

In most monkey bread recipes, the dough is either made fresh or bought, and then cut up into pieces. The bits are brushed with butter and thrown into a cinnamon/sugar mixture. I thought I would do it a little differently. I decided I would start off with making cinnamon buns from scratch. Then, after the dough had been rolled out, smothered in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, rolled back up again and sliced into buns, I then cut the buns into chunks.

This meant no faffing about getting hands all buttered up (I am not a big fan of my fingers feeling sticky – sensitivity issue overload). Oh. It worked like an absolute dream. Yes, the fabulous soft dough (spelt flour makes the softest bread dough) was a little fiddly when cutting into chunks, but it was a lot easier and quicker than I’d imagined. Doing it this way meant that every mouthful had a hit of cinnamon-infused butter.

Making monkey bread from scratch

I have seen monkey bread made with store-bought cinnamon rolls, but I didn’t want to do that. Firstly, because we can’t buy anything like that in Sweden. The best they can offer is ready made pizza and pie dough. I think I saw a roll of croissants once, but can’t be 100% sure I wasn’t dreaming, so it doesn’t count. The second reason is, I love to make bread. Sweet buns is one of my specialities (even if I modestly say so myself), so it makes sense that I would make my own dough. 

Okay, it wasn’t all plain sailing. I encountered an explosion of monkey bread the first batch I made. Literally. I’d miscalculated how much the dough would continue to rise when baked and overfilled the bundt pan. As the aroma of baking cinnamon bread wafted towards me, I ran excitedly to the oven to peek in. I’ve seen many disappointments when trying new recipes, I can tell you. That uncertainty is actually a huge part of the enjoyment I get when baking for the blog. However, I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as shocked: chunks of bread were strewn all over my oven and gooey caramel lay charcoaling on the oven tray underneath. 

But that’s why you guys read a food blog, isn’t it? You want all the guessing, mishaps and confusion taken away, leaving you with a recipe that works. That’s the hope, anyway. Nobody can guarantee how one set of ingredients and instructions might vary between people, baking is chemistry, after all. 

Practice makes perfect, and all that. I will be very clear about instructions so that the same thing doesn’t happen with you (just make sure you are only filling your pan to around half full, and you’ll be good to go).

Can I prepare monkey bread dough in a bread machine?

I’ve talked a lot about how I much I love my bread machine to prepare dough, and I recently wrote a post called wholegrain spelt: which bread machine cycle is best, explaining my findings when baking loaves in a bread maker. 

I love the simplicity of a bread maker. I don’t have to worry about how long to knead or whether it’s proofed enough. Although I have a preference for how I like to make dough, not everyone has a bread maker. Therefore, I’ve given instructions for both a stand mixer and bread machine. Of course, you can prepare the dough by hand, but that’s not for me.  

When making spelt dough in a bread maker, I usually turn off the machine before the cycle has finished. Spelt dough rises beautifully and quickly, and I’ve noticed that if I allow it to sit in the machine for the full 90 minutes of the cycle it sometimes over-proofs, gets very warm and loses its structure. For recipes like pizza, I actually remove the dough before the rise, once it has been mixed and kneaded.

Two minute cinnamon caramel

There’s something very autumnal about cinnamon, isn’t there? Right now, the trees are shedding their leaves, and the air is becoming more crisp, and my desire for stodgier, warming food has increased. But the wonderful thing about cinnamon is that there is absolutely no wrong time to enjoy it. 

I wanted to really embrace the cinnamon in this recipe, so decided that my super-quick homemade caramel should also include it. Technically, it is more of a caramel sauce than thick and luscious, but it works perfectly for this recipe. I make it a lot because it is so uncomplicated: just butter, sugar and a touch of milk.

However, for the first time ever, something strange happened. I’d had the caramel bubbling away for a couple of minutes and was just about to remove it from the heat, when I noticed the butter had started to separate from the other ingredients. I’d seen this happen when mixing chocolate and butter for ganache, but never like this. A little research told me that it is quite common. The Spruce Eats explains why it happens, and what can be done to fix it. Thankfully, removing the caramel from the heat and vigorously stirring allowed the butter to re-incorporate with the melted sugar. Phew.

Although many homemade caramel recipes call for cream, I use milk. This is because I don’t want to open a carton of cream for only one or two tablespoons. It works so well: you would never notice the difference.

Adapting this cinnamon bun monkey bread

As I’ve said, I love making dough from scratch, but I know not everyone does. Perhaps you need a drop-dead delicious brunch but haven’t got the time to wait for it? Whatever the reason, if there’s a need for speed, you could easily ditch the homemade cinnamon rolls and buy some in (if you’re not in Sweden, of course).  Just pick up the instructions after the dough making steps. 

The homemade caramel carries the cinnamon theme further, but you don’t have to use it. Or, you could add a little tinned dulce de leche, if you prefer. I didn’t make a great amount of caramel, so if you prefer more of an authentic monkey bread, just double the ingredients and make a bigger batch. It’s all about adapting this recipe to suit your own personal preferences. Do what works for you.

Perhaps you want to ditch the cinnamon theme altogether and go for berry buns or some other kind of sweet bread. Pretty much anything would work for this monkey bread recipe. 

Although monkey bread is often made in a bundt pan, you don’t need to use one. Any large cake tin would work well, you just need to have something with sides to support the monkey bread.

Lastly, you can make this a spelt monkey bread or use all-purpose (plain) flour instead. I’m experienced enough in using spelt flour to know that the difference in baked goods is indiscernible and certainly doesn’t affect the end result.

How long will the monkey bread stay fresh?

Spelt bread is tantalizing soft still warm from the oven, and for a few hours after, but that it quickly starts to lose that softness. After it has cooled down, make sure you cover it with clingfilm or keep it in a cake case. 

My recommendation is to eat as much as you can while still warm (I know, tough work, but someone’s got to do it), and then slice up the rest and pop it in the freezer. It defrosts really nicely, and after a quick spurt in the microwave, it tastes almost as good as the day it was baked. 

Other sweet bread recipes

There’s really nothing better than sweet bread. Whether that’s a cinnamon roll or berry overnight buns. Here are some recipes I am sure you will love:

• Coffee cinnamon spelt buns
• Raspberry and vanilla overnight buns
• Sweet buns topped with homemade blackberry jam
• Spelt cinnamon swirl bread
• Sweet lime bread
• Airfryer Nutella doughnuts

Print Pin

Homemade Cinnamon Bun Monkey Bread with Cinnamon Caramel

Servings 10 portions

Equipment

• Bundt pan (see note 3)

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 egg (medium)
• 50g (3½ tbs) butter (chopped into small pieces)
• 250ml (1 cup) milk
• 450-500g (3¾ - 4 cups) spelt flour (see note 1)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 7g (2¼ tsp) yeast (see note 2)

Cinnamon Bun Filling:

• 50g  (3½ tbs) butter (very soft)
• 90g  (½ cup) brown sugar
• 1  tbsp cinnamon

Cinnamon Caramel:

• 50g  (¼ cup)  brown sugar
• 30g (2 tbsp) butter
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Vanilla Drizzle:

• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• icing / confectioners' / powdered sugar (as much as needed)

Instructions

DOUGH (both methods):

• Add the egg, butter and milk to your stand mixer bowl or bread machine pan.
• Add 450g (3¾ cups) flour, along with the other dried ingredients.

Bread Machine:

• Set your machine to make the dough.
• When the dough is ready, pour out onto a floured surface and form into a rough ball. The dough will still be a little sticky, but just incorporate as much additional flour as you need.

Stand Mixer:

• Set your mixer going, and mix until all the ingredients are fairly well combined (the butter will still be a little chunky, and that's fine).
• Gradually add more flour as (and when) needed, until your dough is still a little tacky, but starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
• Switch to your bread hook (if you have one) and knead for about five minutes.
• Cover and proof until doubled in size.
• When the dough is ready, pour out onto a floured surface and form into a rough ball.

CINNAMON CARAMEL:

• Heat the three caramel ingredients together in a small pan.
• Wait until it reaches a rolling boil, then turn down the heat a little and stir continuously for 2-3 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool while you prepare the cinnamon buns.

CINNAMON BUN FILLING:

• Roll the dough out into a long rectangle, around 27cm x 42cm (10½" x 16"), with the longer end facing you. If it struggles against you a little, cover it and leave it to rest for five minutes.
• Spread the butter over the top of the dough with a brush or knife.
• Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and then sprinkle over the top of the butter layer. Move it around with your fingers to get a nice, even coverage and push it down slightly.
• Carefully, still with the longer edge facing you, roll the dough up fairly tightly, finishing off with the seam underneath.
• Cut the roll into 12-15 slices. Then, cut each slice into 2, 3 or 4 pieces (depending on the size of the slice). It doesn't matter how big the slices or pieces are, just make them fairly uniform in size so that they bake evenly.

ASSEMBLY:

• Pour half of your caramel mixture into the bottom of a bundt pan (see note 3).
• Layer your cinnamon bun pieces on top of the caramel, repeating until you have used all the dough pieces.
• Pre-heat the oven to 175℃ (350℉).
• Cover the bundt with a cloth and allow the dough to rest while the oven is heating.
• When ready, pour over the remaining caramel. If it has thickened up a lot, just add one more tablespoon of milk and quickly stir it in.
• Bake in the lower part of the oven for around 35-40 minutes. Check at around 30 minutes to make sure the top isn't browning too quickly (you might need to cover it with a piece of foil).
• When ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool for around 20 minutes.
• Turn out onto a wire rack or plate.

DRIZZLE:

• Pour two tablespoons of milk into a bowl.
• Add as much icing (powdered) sugar as needed to make a runny icing.
• Drizzle all over the monkey bread and eat while still warm. Enjoy!

Notes

 

I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.

1. You can use all-purpose or even bread flour in place of the spelt. Just use the same measurements as specified.
2. In Sweden we have something called dried yeast. It is used both in warm liquid to proof and also added directly to flour. I am aware that the US has two options for dried yeast, and I believe dry active yeast is the most similar for the purpose of making this particular bread.
3. You need to use a fairly large bundt pan for this recipe. A pan that can hold around 3 litres (12 cups) would work well. Alternatively, if you only have a small bundt pan, just halve all of the ingredients to make a smaller batch.