While I love my made-from-scratch Christmas monkey bread, ’tis the season of busy families, and we all have more things to do and more places to go than any other time of year. Thus, this cheater monkey bread made with canned biscuit dough is the perfect holiday treat during a time crunch.
Why I Think You’ll Love This Recipe!
- This is so fast! You don’t have to wait for the dough to rise; just crack those cans open and start preparing this dessert!
- This monkey bread screams Christmas! Those red and green cherries are not only delicious, but they are so festive for this time of year!
- This is a great recipe to make with your kids. It’s foolproof, and they can help with many of the steps.
Monkey Bread Using Canned Biscuits
It’s surprising how well this monkey bread turns out, considering you use biscuit dough from a can. No, it’s not the same as my homemade monkey bread – that is the pinnacle of monkey bread taste and texture-wise – but this comes in a solid second place.
Ingredients Needed
The ingredients needed for this recipe are simple and readily available at all stores.
- refrigerated biscuit dough non-flakey varieties
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- toasted pecans
- red and green Christmas candied cherries
- salted butter
How to Make This Monkey Bread
For the in-depth instructions, see the recipe card below; this is just a recap of the recipe.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Grease a bundt pan with butter. Place a few cherries and pecans in the bottom and set aside.
- Separate the biscuits and cut each one into four equal pieces.
- Combine the cup of brown sugar and the cinnamon in a large plastic bag. Drop and shake each piece of dough in the sugar-cinnamon mixture,. Then, place the dough pieces into the bundt pan.
- Stagger the layers of dough. Sprinkle a few cherries and pecans between each layer.
- Gently pour the prepared sauce over the dough balls in the pan.
- Bake.
How to Make the Brown Sugar Butter Sauce
This recipe uses the leftovers in the bag from shaking and coating the pieces; less waste in a recipe is the way to go! There is no reason to use fresh cinnamon or sugar; use what is left in the bag.
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter and the remainder of the brown sugar cinnamon mixture from the bag.
- Heat the mixture, stirring to dissolve the sugars and melt the butter. Once the sugar has dissolved completely into the melted butter, remove it from the heat. It is essential that you make sure that the sugar is dissolved, or you will have crunchy bits in your monkey bread after it bakes.
- Let cool until warm, not hot, then you can use it in the recipe.
More Christmas Desserts!
I hope that you guys enjoy the recipe and that you are all having a good holiday season! Let me know in the comments below if you have tried the recipe and what you think!
Love,
Karlynn
Easy Christmas Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- three 340 ml cans refrigerated biscuit dough non-flakey varieties
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 2½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ cup toasted pecans
- ½ cup chopped red and green Christmas candied cherries
Sauce
- ½ cup salted butter
- remainder of the brown sugar mixture from above
Instructions
Prepare the Dough
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 12 cup capacity bundt pan heavily with butter. Place a few cherries and pecans in the bottom and set aside. These cherries and pecans will be the TOP of your monkey bread so arrange artfully if desired.
- Separate the biscuits and cut each one into four equal pieces.
- Combine the cup of brown sugar and the cinnamon in a large plastic bag. Drop and shake each piece of dough in the sugar-cinnamon mixture, ensuring each piece is coated then place the dough pieces into the bundt pan.
- Stagger the layers of dough, building like you would build a brick wall, staggering the piece like bricks so that the seams are not in the same place. Sprinkle a few cherries and pecans between each of the layers, however you want.
Make the Sauce
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and the remainder of the brown sugar cinnamon mixture from the bag.
- Heat the mixture, stirring to dissolve the sugars and melt the butter. Once the sugars have dissolved into the melted butter completely, remove from the heat. Do NOT let it come to a boil.
- Gently pour the warm mixture over top of the dough balls in the pan, trying not to disturb them or the cherries or pecans.
Bake
- Once done, bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until done.
- This took about 22-25 minutes in my oven.
- The bread will look slightly dark- watch out, you can overcook this!- and crisp on the outside.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Cover the pan with a large plate, or the bottom of a serving stand and flip it over it to release the monkey bread onto the plate.
Notes
- Play around with the cherries and the nuts that you use for different flavors.
Nutrition
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