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Did you know you can make an Easy Monkey Bread recipe with cinnamon rolls? This is one of the easiest ever breakfast or brunch Pillsbury cinnamon roll recipes – We’ve been making this recipe for Christmas morning breakfast for over 19 years and we look forward to every bite!

monkey bread with glaze on white plate


Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

When Jordan was four I decided to make Monkey Bread for Christmas morning breakfast. I’d made pancakes the year before and spent an hour flipping while everyone else relaxed and drank coffee, so I wanted something I could make ahead of time and just pop in the oven. That was when I discovered Monkey Bread and I’ve made so many versions ever since (like lemon blueberry and strawberry monkey bread) but this is my absolute favorite!

This is one of the BEST Monkey Bread Recipes you’ll ever eat – PLUS it works in a bundt pan OR a 9×13-inch pan! Once you learn how to make monkey bread with cinnamon rolls you’ll never go back to monkey bread with biscuits!

ingredients in monkey bread

5 Simple Ingredients

  • Canned cinnamon rolls (I use Pillsbury Grands! Cinnamon Rolls, the larger rolls that come 5 to a can)
  • Butter – Unsalted or salted is fine
  • Brown Sugar – be sure to pack it!
  • Granulated Sugar and Ground Cinnamon – to roll the cinnamon roll pieces in!

Variations

How to make Easy Monkey Bread

  1. Simply cut each cinnamon roll into 4-6 pieces.
  2. Add dough balls to a large plastic bag with cinnamon sugar. Toss the bag around to coat the pieces.
  3. Place the cinnamon roll pieces in prepared pan. Mix melted butter and light brown sugar and pour the buttery brown sugar sauce over the canned dough.
  4. Bake and then drizzle the top with the icing that came with the rolls!

Pan Sizes for Monkey Bread

  • Bundt Pan (traditional, but takes longer to bake)
  • A 9×13-inch pan
  • Two loaf pans or 2 pie plates
  • Cupcake pans

The bread bakes faster with each smaller pan, so if you’re trying to bake up breakfast quickly, use one of those three instead of the bundt pan.

fingers pulling piece of monkey bread out

Expert Tips

  • Remove the bread from the pan to serving platter within 10 minutes of it coming out of the oven so it doesn’t stick to the pan!
  • Don’t want to use cinnamon rolls? Make it with canned biscuit dough with this exact same recipe.

Storage

Store leftover bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can even freeze leftover pull-apart bread!

FAQs

Can you make monkey bread with Pillsbury Grands ahead of time?

You can prep this up to 24 hours ahead. Cut the cinnamon rolls and toss them with cinnamon sugar then store in the refrigerator. When ready to assemble, melt the butter and mix with brown sugar and place everything in the pan.

monkey bread with glaze on white plate

Easy Monkey Bread Recipe

4.94 from 16 votes
This Easy Monkey Bread Recipe is made with cinnamon rolls instead of biscuits. It's a semi-homemade recipe that can be made with or without a bundt pan – it's the best breakfast or brunch recipe!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 10 servings
Serving Size 1 serving

Ingredients
 

  • cans (5 rolls each) Pillsbury Grands! Cinnamon Rolls
  • ¼ cup  (50g) granulated sugar
  • teaspoon  cinnamon
  • ½ cup  (100g) packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup  (113g) unsalted butter , melted
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Instructions

  • Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Open each can of cinnamon rolls. Reserve the icing for later. Cut each roll into 4 pieces.
  • Place the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon size resealable bag. Add the cut up cinnamon rolls (the pieces will fall apart a little) to the bag. Seal and shake to coat the pieces with cinnamon sugar.
  • Stir together the brown sugar and melted butter.
  • Place rolls in pan and drizzle with melted butter mixture.
  • Bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes or until the top is a dark golden brown and the rolls are cooked through.
  • Cool 5 minutes then invert the monkey bread onto your serving plate. Do this carefully: the pan is hot! Drizzle cinnamon roll icing over the top of the monkey bread and serve warm.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Other baking pans:
  • 9×13-inch: 30-40 minutes
  • Loaf pan (9×5-inch): 30-40 minutes
  • Muffin tin (regular size): 10-20 minutes

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 155kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 296IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American

Favorite Holiday Breakfast Recipes



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

4.94 from 16 votes (10 ratings without comment)

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16 Comments

  1. So easy to make time wise. My son asked for me to make again. I used #4 regular size and came out just fine.

  2. I made this for Christmas for my family and it was the best part of the meal! I made it in a popover pan so they were very large with six pieces in each muffin. Delicious beyond compare. One thing to be mindful of….set a cookie sheet on the bottom of your oven with tinfoil for easy cleanup as these overflowed into my oven as they cooked. Didn’t even mind cleaning as they were so memorable! Thank you Dorothy! Happy New Year!