Cinnamon Monkey Bread with Vanilla Sweet Glaze

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Easy and delicious! Two words to describe this insanely good loaf pan cinnamon monkey bread with vanilla glaze! Grab the recipe for your next holiday get together!!

If this is your first time hearing of monkey bread, let me introduce you to one of the easiest and yummiest pastries you will make at home. 

You may have to fight for the last piece of this delicious breakfast. Monkey bread is one of those classic recipes that can please everyone, which is what makes it so great for a holiday brunch, or a breakfast when family and friends are in town. It is essentially gooey, bite-sized cinnamon roll bites. A soft sweet bread and rolled in butter, cinnamon sugar and spices to make a delicious pastry. Come on, what gets better than that?!

We always remember monkey bread being served at sleep overs or holiday parties because it was an easy delicious recipe that could serve a lot of people. Growing up, we always made our bread with refrigerated, canned biscuits. And although canned biscuits make a great monkey bread, there is nothing like making a homemade sweet bread. 

Our recipe is so simple and delicious it will keep you coming back for more. We have also made the spice blend our own to elevate the classic cinnamon recipe. 

It may be a fight to the finish to see who gets the last roll of monkey bread with this recipe.

This post is all about how to make cinnamon monkey bread with vanilla glaze.

Loaf Pan Cinnamon Monkey Bread with Vanilla Glaze

What’s in this recipe? 

Milk: Just a dash of milk warmed over the stove and used to help activate the yeast in the homemade dough. Another dash of milk is used to make the powdered sugar drizzle.

Active dry yeast: Since we are making our own sweet dough, we used one packet of active dry yeast. The yeast is activated in warmed milk and is used to leaven the dough. 

Bread Flour: We opted for bread flour which has less protein and creates a fluffier dough.

Butter: The more butter, better the taste, right? In this case we have to agree. Some butter is used in the dough to moisten the ingredients. And when you assemble your monkey bread dough, you dip each dough ball into a butter bath before rolling in sugar. 

Egg: Egg helps to provide structure to the sweet dough. 

Sugars: Brown sugar and regular cane sugar is used to coat each dough ball. The combination of the two creates a caramelized glaze around each bite-sized dough ball and is what makes this recipe so delicious!

Spice blend: We created our own spice blend of cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg for this monkey bread recipe. It adds a delicious richness of warm spices to each bite.

Powdered sugar: Making a powdered sugar glaze is optional but you will want it for the taste and pretty finish to your baked bread.

How to Make Monkey Bread

Start by making the homemade sweet dough…

It is an easy process, but has several steps. In a stand mixer, add your warm milk and sprinkle yeast in bowl. Let the yeast activate for 3-5 minutes. It should start to bubble a bit. Once the yeast has activated, start adding your other ingredients to the bowl.

Next, attach the dough hook attachment and add in sugar, egg, melted butter and mix until combined. On low speed, stir in bread flour and salt until combined. Increase speed of mixer to medium and kneed dough until more of a dough ball forms. Remove from the mixing bowl and kneed by hand on a floured surface for 5-10 minutes. 

Next lightly grease a bowl with some olive oil and place the dough ball in the bowl to rise. Cover with cloth towel and set in warm place to let rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.

Prepare and Assemble…

When you dough has doubled in size, preheat your oven to 350^oF and start preparing your butter and sugar coating in two separate bowls. Melt 1 stick of butter in one medium bowl. In another bowl, measure out your sugar and spices, stirring to combine.  You will also need to prepare your pan. Start by buttering a bread loaf pan, making sure all sides are covered. Sprinkle with sugar mixture sugar to coat all the edges of the pan. This will make the outside caramelized and delicious as it bakes!

Coat in Butter, Cinnamon and Sugar…

Next take your dough ball and punch down. Start making your dough balls. Tear off small pieces of dough and roll in your hands to make small dough balls, about 1” thick. Dip each ball first in the butter, then in the sugar and add to pan. Repeating and continue to add until your pans are full and all dough balls are added to pan. You should have some remaining melted butter and sugar in your bowls. Combine the sugar in with the butter and stir around. Pour the buttery mixture on the top of your dough. 

Place in oven and cook for 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top and cooked all the way through. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. 

Make the Sweet Glaze…

While your bread is cooling, make your powdered sugar glaze. In a medium bowl, add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Whisk until a glaze forms and all powdered sugar clumps are dissolved.

Carefully flip monkey bread pan over onto a plate and gently wiggle pan to remove the bread from the loaf pan pan. If you choose, drizzle with glaze to finish. Finally, its time to eat! Break apart piece by piece and enjoy with coffee, tea or brunch spread. 

This post is all about how to make cinnamon monkey bread with vanilla glaze.

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