Sourdough Monkey Bread

Sourdough Monkey Bread is a breakfast and dessert favorite. They are made with sourdough instead of yeast and have a delightful tanginess. Be careful, these little balls of sweetness are addicting! Need to use up your sourdough starter or looking for more ways to use sourdough discard grab all these delicious recipes!

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Sourdough Monkey Bread is a family favorite. This recipe is made by making a dough then creating many small balls, rolling them in cinnamon sugar, piling them all on top of each other, and then baking.

The warm smell of cinnamon sugar that fills your house and gooey caramel sauce will make this a classic that you’ll return to over and over again. 

This pull apart monkey bread is a perfect way to use some of your sourdough discard. Be sure to feed your sourdough starter before using it so that it’s active and helps the dough rise faster.

TIP:

If the starter isn’t very active it can take up to 24 hours for the dough to properly rise to double its original height.

Ingredients

Dough:

• ½ cup sourdough active starter
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cup warm milk
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups all purpose  flour
• ⅓ cup butter, room temperature

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Cinnamon Sugar Sauce To Pour

• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup butter

Instructions

Combine the sourdough, milk and sugar together in a large mixing bowl

Add the eggs, butter,salt and 2 cups of the flour, mix together using an electric mixer on medium speed until the dough comes together.

Add the remaining 2 cups of flour

Mix until dow begins to pull away from the sides. 

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

Place in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic. Allow to rise until doubled, usually about 2 to 4 hours.

Grease your pan with butter or cooking spray (I am using a bundt pan, but you can use a spring form, large cake pan, or two loaf pans.)

Making your dough ball shapes. Take your dough and punch it down. Take of 1 inch pieces and roll in to a ball

Place your formed dough balls and dip them in your sugar coating then place cinnamon sugar doug in your grease pan

Once you have placed all of your dough into the pan. Cover with your sauce mixture

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes

Why Do They Call It Monkey Bread?

This bread may have come from Africa but is first documented in Hungary and was first popularized in the United States in 1972 when it was included in a Betty Crocker cookbook.

It goes by many other names including, monkey brain bread / Monkey brains, pluck-it cake, pinch-me cake, and bubbleloaf.

The bread looks just like the Monkey Bread fruit from a very popular African Tree. The fruit resembles the little pieces of bread inside the fruit shell.

Do you need to refrigerate monkey bread?

There is no need to refrigerate this caramel monkey bread. You can leave it on the counter, tightly covered for up to 3 days. If you do decide to refrigerate it, keep in mind that the bread will get dry more quickly.

Can you freeze monkey bread?

Yes! You can freeze this sourdough bread two different ways. The first is by freezing the dough before making it into balls.

To use, just allow the dough to come to room temperature and then continue with step 5. 

The second is to make the entire bread recipe from start to finish and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. To eat, let it thaw to room temperature. 

How do you keep monkey bread from getting hard?

The best way to keep this pull apart bread from getting hard is to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, put it in an air-tight container, or in a zip-top plastic bag.

The key is to not let air touch the bread.

Think about when you make a fresh batch of cookies, brownies, or cinnamon rolls. The more air we exposed them to, the drier (and harder) they’ll become.

FAQ’s

Alternative ways to make sour dough Monkey Bread

There are many different variations and recipes you can follow for this cinnamon monkey bread recipe. Some of them include using: 

1. You can use coconut oil instead of butter. It won’t be quite as rich or tender but it will be a little healthier! 
2. This recipe calls for room temperature butter, but you can use melted butter as well. Just be sure it’s not too warm before adding it in. 
3. If your sourdough starter isn’t thick enough, you may need to have 5 cups flour instead of 4. Start with 4 first and add a little more until the dough is thick enough to form a ball without sticking to your hands too much.