Monkey Bread Muffins Are Soft Cinnamon Sugar Coated Magic

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Tomorrow’s the Fourth of July, which means fireworks, outdoor grilling, colorful desserts, and for some of us, road trips through the night to the family cabin.

Vertical oblique overhead image of monkey bread muffins coated in cinnamon and sugar on a crumpled piece of white parchment paper, on a blue-gray surface, with a glass of milk at the top left corner of the frame, and printed with orange and white text at the midpoint and the bottom of the frame.

That’s right. I’m saying that beginning sometime around midnight this evening, I will have reached the deep woods, away from everything, including all internet and cell phone usage.

Vertical overhead closely cropped image of eight cinnamon and sugar monkey bread muffins on a crumpled piece of white parchment paper, on a blue-green surface.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend, and I wanted to give you these as a little treat to start things off right.

Overhead vertical image of monkey bread muffins piled on a piece of parchment paper on a blue-gray surface, with two glasses of milk, one with a white and red paper straw.

Since we’re all in a rush to leave (or have already left?) for the holiday, I’ll skip the usual long commentary and just say this instead:

Make these monkey bread muffins.

Vertical overhead image of ten monkey bread muffins arranged roughly in rows on a piece of white parchment paper, with two glasses of milk and one white and red striped straw, on a blue-gray surface with white streaks.

You’ll get a chance to relive my personal memory of an elementary school cooking project, wherein the teacher made something similar and I just had to get my mom to find the recipe, they were so good.

Vertical oblique overhead image of monkey bread muffins on a piece of parchment paper, with a white glass of milk with a paper red and white striped straw, on a blue-gray surface.

Do it for my old college roommate who, no matter how long it’s been since her last visit, always has to run to the store when she drops by, to grab frozen bread dough and cinnamon.

Vertical image of a monkey bread muffin in the foreground that has been torn in half to show the inside, with more in the background in soft focus next to a glass of milk with a white and red striped straw, on a piece of parchment paper on top of a blue-gray surface.

When you take this ordinary monkey bread and make it in muffin cups rather than a bundt pan, it’s even more delicious, more addictive. You and your friends won’t be able to stop pulling away pieces from the little cups, holding ribbons of gooey bread between your fingers, sugar all over your hands.

Go ahead and try them. You’ll quickly be able to see for yourself what a perfect recipe this is to start the long weekend off right. And it’s so easy to make, with just a few simple ingredients.

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Horizontal image of golden brown monkey bread muffins on a piece of parchment paper with a glass of milk, with a striped red and white straw stuck into the beverage, on a blue-gray surface.

Monkey Bread Muffins

★★★★★

5 from 1 review
  • Author: Shanna Mallon
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 24 muffins 1x
Print Recipe

Description

These monkey bread muffins are the best breakfast treat to wake up to. The soft, cinnamon and sugar coated biscuit dough is pure heaven.

Ingredients

Scale
  • Cooking oil spray
  • 3 cans buttermilk biscuits (about 16 oz each, not the flaky kind)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2–3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 sticks (16 Tbsp) unsalted butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil. Lightly grease two 12-cup muffin tins with cooking oil spray.
  2. Pop open cans and cut each biscuit into four equal pieces. Pour granulated sugar and cinnamon into a large zip-top bag and put all the biscuit pieces inside; seal it and shake to coat the dough completely.
  3. Place biscuit pieces inside muffin cups, filling each about ⅔ of the way full.
  4. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar and butter. Allow the butter to melt completely. Using a spoon, pour about two tablespoons of liquid over each muffin cup.
  5. Place in the oven and place the lined baking sheet on the rack below to catch any overflow from the butter. Bake about 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown.
  6. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing. Serve warm.

Notes

Adapted from Honey and Jam.

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Muffins
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Breakfast

Keywords: monkey bread, buttermilk biscuits, cinnamon sugar, brunch

Cooking By the Numbers…

Step 1 – Measure Out All Ingredients

Measure out all of the ingredients for the recipe.

Overhead horizontal image of rounds of biscuit dough arranged on a black plate, with two sticks of butter and small glass bowls of granulated sugar, cinnamon, and light brown sugar, on a blue-gray surface with white streaks.

Line two large rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil. You’ll use these to catch anything that drips over from the muffin cups, and then the foil can be removed and thrown away for easy cleanup.

Lightly grease two 12-cup muffin tins with cooking oil spray.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Step 2 – Prepare Dough

Remove the biscuits from their cans. Cut each biscuit into four pieces.

Horizontal image of a black ceramic plate of chunks of premade biscuit dough, on a blue-gray mottled surface.

Add the biscuit pieces to a large resealable bag with the granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Horizontal overhead image of a clear plastic bag of bite-sized pieces of dough coated in a mixture of cinnamon and granulated sugar, on a blue-gray surface.

Seal the bag and shake to coat the dough well.

Horizontal nearly overhead image of chunks of biscuit dough coated with cinnamon and sugar, filling the wells of a metal muffin pan.

Add the biscuit pieces to the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 of the way full.

Step 3 – Make Topping

Add the butter and brown sugar to a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it has melted, give it a stir to combine the mixture thoroughly.

Overhead image of melted yellow butter in a cream-colored enameled saucepan with a red exterior, on a mottled blue background.

Your brown sugar shouldn’t have any lumps remaining.

Overhead horizontal image of bite-sized piece of biscuit dough topped with cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter, in a metal muffin tin.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture over each muffin cup.

Step 4 – Bake

Place the muffin tins in the oven. Place the lined baking sheets on the rack just below the muffin tin.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

Horizontal oblique overhead image of a metal baking pan of monkey bread muffins topped with a combination of cinnamon and sugar, on a blue-gray background.

Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Try a Bundt Pan for Something a Little Different

I love the simplicity of these handheld breakfast treats. But if you’re in the mood for something a little different that will make a beautiful presentation on the table, you can use a bundt pan instead and it will turn out beautifully.

Be sure to grease the bundt pan with cooking spray, then add the cinnamon and sugar coated biscuit pieces to the pan in an even layer.

Pour the brown sugar and butter mixture evenly over the top, and bake for 40 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing from the pan, slicing, and serving.

Horizontal image of golden brown monkey bread muffins on a piece of parchment paper with a glass of milk, with a striped red and white straw stuck into the beverage, on a blue-gray surface.

For more muffins to nosh on for breakfast, give these versions a try:

Looking for something a little on the healthier side? Our oatmeal chocolate chip muffins will be perfect for you.

What occasion will you make this recipe for – a lazy weekend morning, or maybe a holiday? Tell us in the comments below, and be sure to rate the recipe as soon as you try it.

Photos by Meghan Yager, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on July 3, 2009. Last updated: September 2, 2020 at 9:27 am. With additional writing and editing by Meghan Yager and Allison Sidhu.

Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.

About Shanna Mallon

Shanna Mallon is a freelance writer who holds an MA in writing from DePaul University. Her work has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The Kitchn, Better Homes & Gardens, Taste of Home, Houzz.com, Foodista, Entrepreneur, and Ragan PR. In 2014, she co-authored The Einkorn Cookbook with her husband, Tim. Today, you can find her digging into food topics and celebrating the everyday grace of eating on her blog, Go Eat Your Bread with Joy. Shanna lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with Tim and their two small kids.

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17 thoughts on “Monkey Bread Muffins Are Soft Cinnamon Sugar Coated Magic”

  1. love these!! used to crave and make them all the time!! look at all that butter used. WHEW 🙂 i bet Lil ManD would love them!! i need to go get me a can a biscuits!!!!

    Reply

  2. Oh! Mah! Gah! Only my favorite of all things, bread dough and cinnamon, and do these ever look GOOOOOOD. I will definitely be making these. Who would thunk? Monkey rolls!

    Reply

  3. I love monkey bread. I made some around Christmas this past year and my BFF and I ate almost the whole bread. Her boyfriend looked at us with such disgust, LOL

    Reply

  5. Monkey bread totally reminds me of my childhood and I’ve been meaning to find a good recipe for it. I love how these are individual servings. Perfect!

    Reply

  6. Oh these are the d’bomb!!! I’ve made them numerous times! They are fantastic with pecans on them along with the caramel and then topped with vanilla ice cream. Talk about insane!

    Happy 4th!
    ~ingrid

    Reply

  7. I hope you’re enjoying your break from civilization! Very kind of you to leave us a treat. Nice light in that top pic.

    Reply

  9. Just wanting to know what buttermilk canned biscuits are. I live in Australia, and I’ve never ever heard of biscuits in a can!! Biscuits to us are . . . well, cookies. And they come in packets! Heh. These just look absolutely delicious and want to know if there is a way to make these without canned biscuits.

    Drita

    Reply

  11. Rae – I wanted to tell you that even though this calls for two sticks of butter, which is what I used to make the gooey topping, I did not use all of the mixture. In fact, I probably only used half of it, mainly because I was worried about spillage in the oven (and it still spilled regardless of my conservative estimates). Hope that makes you feel a little better?

    Kathi D – Thanks for your kind comment and for coming back to tell us what you thought! So glad you enjoyed them!

    Maris – Did her BF TRY them?? I can’t imagine stopping after I’ve had a little – so addictive!

    Sues – I know! The individual servings really help you think you’re eating less – or more, depending on how you look at it. I’m a huge fan.

    postcollegecook – Thank you!

    Ingrid! I have no words but YUM.

    Thank you, Jess! It was a lovely weekend away but I’m growing more used to being back. Nice comments like yours help. 🙂

    Thanks, Kim!

    Drita – Oh, no! I didn’t even think of that! These are like a buttermilk dinner roll, and you can purchase the dough premade in a can here in the states, from Pillsbury and other brands. I suppose any refrigerated/frozen bread dough would work, though.

    Reply

  16. Oh gosh! These are so good! A full loaf of monkey bread is a bit much for us but you can make it these smaller proportions and keep the batch better sealed. These are perfect!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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