This cinnamon roll monkey bread is a great way to serve up a breakfast that looks and tastes impressive. Serve it up for dessert or in the morning, and you're sure to have everyone asking for more.
If you're anything like me, you enjoy looking for discount stickers or sales on canned cinnamon rolls, crescents, biscuits, etc. They're fridge-stable and can last weeks if stored properly (sometimes even months!) Perfect for adding a little something special to your routines at a low cost.
But what do you do when you find yourself with cinnamon rolls and no desire to eat them as cinnamon rolls? Turn them into something else! If it's Halloween season, turn them into Cinnamon Roll Intestines, but for the rest of the year, serve them up like a cake.
If you've never had canned cinnamon rolls served up this way before, don't wait too long because you could be missing out on something truly amazing.
Why This Recipe Works
- It's different but tasty. Made with maple syrup, cinnamon rolls, butter, and more cinnamon, this breakfast bake is packed with flavor and super moist.
- Great for sharing! Every slice of this cinnamon roll monkey bread bake cuts easily but every piece pulls apart wonderfully for a cinnamon pull apart breakfast worth sharing with friends and family, especially when warm.
- Simple ingredients. We only need some canned cinnamon rolls and a few basic pantry staples to pull this recipe together. It'll taste great and you'll love the easy shopping list.
🥘 Ingredients
Canned cinnamon rolls- Use your favorite canned cinnamon rolls for the perfect experience. Note that you will also need the icing packets from within the can.
Sugars- You will need granulated sugar as well as brown sugar to make the glaze that holds this pull apart together.
Cinnamon- For added warmth of spice, add in some ground cinnamon. You can never have too much cinnamon.
Butter- Use some butter for added moisture and richness.
Vanilla extract- This is a flavor enhancer.
Maple syrup- Adding maple syrup will add to the flavor and sweetness too.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make cinnamon roll monkey bread with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and grease your bundt pan well with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Remove your cinnamon rolls from the cans and chop each one into quarter-sized pieces.
In a mixing bowl, toss together the granulated sugar and cinnamon.
Mix in the cinnamon rolls and toss to coat well.
In a small saucepan on the stove, melt together the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and maple syrup until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the coated cinnamon rolls to your bundt pan.
Pour the liquid over the top of the cinnamon rolls in the bundt pan.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cinnamon rolls are no longer gooey in the center.
Let the pan rest for 5 minutes before flipping over onto a plate.
Snip the corner off of the icing packets and drizzle the icing over the top of the cinnamon roll bundt. You may not need all of the icings.
Slice the cinnamon roll pull apart bread, and serve as desired.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Making monkey bread using cinnamon rolls is an easy process (which adds to why I love it). You can use any canned cinnamon roll, but I recommend the ones that actually roll-up.
Some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are just cinnamon flavored biscuits, whereas the Grands cinnamon rolls will roll as a cinnamon roll should. Using a cinnamon roll that actually roll means that there is more cinnamon flavor as well as pieces to share.
You can make this with the smaller cheaper canned off-brand rolls or you can get the large more costly cinnamon rolls. I use the cheaper variety for my monkey bread recipe with cinnamon rolls but you really can't go wrong if you select your favorite!
A great thing to note about making monkey bread in a bundt pan is that you will need to wait about 10 minutes before trying to remove it from the pan. This will help it to pull away from the sides of the pan as well as allow the liquid mixture to solidify into a syrup instead of a hot boiling mess.
WARNING: Do not wait too long to flip your monkey bread from the pan and onto a plate. You only want it to sit for 10 minutes, at most. If you wait too long, your monkey bread may become stuck inside of the pan, and removing it will be nothing short of a nightmare. If this does happen, pop it into the oven at 350F for a few minutes (like 5) to warm the pan and loosen the cake and syrup just a tad.
💭 FAQs
This monkey bread recipe is best when eaten the same day but can last up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
You can use bread loaf pans, a muffin tray, an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish, or even a 9x13 baking dish in a pinch. The baking times will vary for all the pans so I recommend starting at 15 minutes in the oven and then checking and adding 5 minutes at a time as needed. You'll know it's finished baking when the tops are crisp and bubbly and the centers are no longer gooey.
No. I do not recommend placing it in the fridge unless specified as the fridge will cause the syrups and sugars to harden and could make the bread dry out too.
Here are some more cinnamon roll recipes to try soon
- Cinnamon Roll Waffles
- Cinnamon Roll Apple Cobbler
- Easy 45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls
- Air Fryer Canned Cinnamon Rolls
- Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls
- Clone of a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Recipe
📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cans (12.5oz) cinnamon rolls ($3.72)
- ½ cup white sugar ($0.11)
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon ($0.20)
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted ($0.75)
- ¼ cup brown sugar ($0.19)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ($0.02)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or 1 teaspoon maple extract) ($0.14)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and grease a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Remove the cinnamon roll dough from the cans and then slice each roll into quarters.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the cinnamon and white sugar. Toss with the quartered cinnamon rolls to coat.
- Add the coated cinnamon rolls to your bundt pan.
- In a small saucepan melt the butter together with the brown sugar, vanilla, and maple syrup until the sugars are dissolved.
- Pour the mixture over the top of the monkey bread.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until no longer gooey in the center. Let rest in the bundt pan for 5 minutes before flipping over onto a plate.
- Snip the corner of the icing bag and drizzle it over the top of the monkey bread. You may not need all three icings.
- Slice and serve as desired.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- Making monkey bread using cinnamon rolls is an easy process (which adds to why I love it).
- You can use any canned cinnamon roll, but I recommend the ones that actually roll-up. Some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are just cinnamon flavored biscuits whereas the Grands cinnamon rolls will roll as a cinnamon roll should. Using a cinnamon roll that actually rolls means that there is more cinnamon flavor as well as pieces to share.
- You can make this with the smaller cheaper canned off-brand rolls or you can get the large more costly cinnamon rolls.
- I use the cheaper variety for my monkey bread recipe with cinnamon rolls but you really can't go wrong if you select your favorite!
- A great thing to note about making monkey bread in a bundt pan is that you will need to wait about 10 minutes before trying to remove it from the pan. This will help it to pull away from the sides of the pan as well as allow the liquid mixture to solidify into a syrup instead of a hot boiling mess.
- WARNING: Do not wait too long to flip your monkey bread from the pan and onto a plate. You only want it to sit for 10 minutes, at most. If you wait too long, your monkey bread may become stuck inside of the pan, and removing it will be nothing short of a nightmare.
- If this does happen, pop it into the oven at 350F for a few minutes (like 5) to warm the pan and loosen the cake and syrup just a tad.
Storage
- This monkey bread recipe is best when eaten the same day but can last up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
- I do not recommend placing it in the fridge unless specified as the fridge will cause the syrups and sugars to harden and could make the bread dry out too.
Different Baking Pans
- You can use bread loaf pans, a muffin tray, an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish, or even a 9x13 baking dish in a pinch. The baking times will vary for all the pans so I recommend starting at 15 minutes in the oven and then checking and adding 5 minutes at a time as needed. You'll know it's finished baking when the tops are crisp and bubbly and the centers are no longer gooey.
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