How to Make Monkey Bread With Cream Cheese
I love a great sweet pull-apart bread! This monkey bread recipe is a go-to when you are craving something sweet, but still easy to bake.
Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese is festive dish is a delicious baked good and a time-saver!
What makes this dish so special is that you can always spice things up and add your own touch to the recipe without worrying that it will fail. Its simplicity makes it one of the most popular recipes for any occasion!
It's time to gather your kitchen tools and ingredients and bake an amazing monkey bread that will surely bring all your family and friends to the table!
This post contains affiliate links. See our disclosure policy here.
What is Monkey Bread?
What exactly is monkey bread and where does it come from?
Opposite to the popular opinion that monkey bread has deep American roots, being an American classic dessert, monkey bread's origins can be traced back to Hungary. Hungarian immigrants brought this dish with them when they immigrated to the USA in the 1880s.
The original name of the dessert is arany galuska or "the golden dumpling".
It was popularized when Nancy Reagan served it on Christmas at the White House and became a classic American dish.
Things You'll Need for Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese
This cream cheese monkey bread is a simple recipe and will be ready before you know it. Cream cheese will soften the batter and transform the monkey bread into a delicate, flavored dessert by melting inside the monkey bread bites.
Here is a list of the ingredients you'll need for this pull-apart bread:
Ingredients
For the monkey bread dough:
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour (480 grams)
- ½ cup of white granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 cup of warm milk (250 grams)
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- ⅓ cups of melted butter (about 70 grams)
- 1 package of instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons of salt (11 grams)
For the monkey bread cream cheese
- Nuts
- Cinnamon
- Sugar
- ½ cup of brown sugar (100 grams)
- ½ cups of melted butter (100 grams)
- 3 ½ cups of cream cheese (400 grams)
How to make Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese – Step by Step Guide
This monkey bread from the scratch recipe will come together really quickly if you have all of your ingredients ready.
We will split this recipe into 3 parts if you use homemade dough, or 2 parts if you choose to use a pre-made one.
Firstly, you need to gather your ingredients for the dough. It's an easy-to-make dough, so don't worry about it.
You can use a mixer with a hook that will do all the work for you, or you can knead the dough by hand with a stretch and fold technique.
- Warm the milk in the microwave and use room temperature eggs. Cold ingredients will affect the dough's consistency and texture. We want a soft, delicate batter, so we need to work with care.
- Melt the butter. You can do it on the stove, but I find it easier to do it in the microwave.
- Pour 1 ½ cups of flour in a large mixing bowl, along with the other dry ingredients (sugar, yeast, salt). Mix the dry ingredients together.
- Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add the melted butter and milk. (if your eggs are directly from the fridge, this is the best way to make sure that all of your liquid ingredients will have the right temperature).
- Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture.
It's time to knead the dough!
If you use a mixer with a hook, set it on low and slowly increase the speed during the process. It should take about 20-25 minutes until the ingredients are completely mixed together.
If you knead the dough by hand, mix the ingredients in the bowl until the flour absorbs all of the liquids.
- Add the remaining ½ cup of flour and mix. You will see that this will change significantly the texture of the dough (if you knead the dough by hand, also spread some flour on your working space and hands, and use a stretch-and-fold technique, until the dough has the right texture)
- After you are done mixing, the dough should have a non-sticky texture. You can test this with a clean finger. If you feel like the dough doesn't have the right texture, add flour in small quantities and keep mixing (the exact quantity of flour needed depends on the quality of the flour and the rest of the ingredients, so there is nothing wrong if you think that your dough is not ready; keep adding flour until it doesn't stick to your fingers).
- After you are pleased with your dough, cover the bowl and let it sit for about 45 minutes at room temperature or in a warm place (don't put it in the fridge).
While the dough is rising and resting, it's time to prepare the ingredients for the next steps! The dough will at least double its size.
- Preheat the oven at 350℉ (180℃). Prepare a bundt pan by coating it with cooking spray or grease ( I usually use butter).
- Prepare a sugar and cinnamon mixture. Keep in mind that cinnamon is very flavored and a little goes a long way.
- After the resting time has passed, break the dough into bite-size pieces, and spread them into small squares.
- Sprinkle one teaspoon of cinnamon and sugar mixture on each square and add on top a teaspoon of cream cheese.
- Fold the dough squares into balls.
- Add nuts into the coated pan and start placing the dough balls one by one.
- Gently press the dough pieces to stick to each other.
Let the dough sit in the pan for about 15 minutes. While the monkey bread cheese is resting, it's time to prepare the brown sugar and butter sauce.
- Add the brown sugar and melted butter into a pan and put it on the stove. Stir the mixture until it's simmering and the sugar is melted.
- Pour the mixture into the bundt pan, covering the monkey bread.
- Put the pan into the oven and let it sit for about 45 minutes until it has a golden color.
- Take it out of the pan and let it sit for about 10 minutes to cool. Take it out of the pan and place it on a plate.
Enjoy while warm!
Substitution of ingredients
Because monkey bread is a simple recipe, you can always spice things up. I encourage you to do so!
You can add any type of nuts or dried fruits. You can even try banana monkey bread, by adding bananas to the pan.
If you want to speed up the process, you can skip the homemade dough recipe and replace it with an easy monkey bread recipe with 1 can of biscuits. This Monkey Bread with Pre-made Pillsbury Dough is a good alternative if you want to save some time. Just skip the process of making the dough and go right to assembling the dough pieces.
Another good alternative is to make monkey bread recipe frozen bread dough or monkey bread with Rhodes rolls. Simply replace the homemade dough with whatever pre-made dough you like.
For a gluten-free monkey bread, replace the gluten ingredients with gluten-free ingredients. All-purpose flour can be replaced with any other gluten-free flour. If you follow the steps above, you will have the same delightful dessert, but gluten-free.
To turn this monkey bread dessert into a savory snack, try Pizza Monkey Bread. It's a great easy snack to share with friends or family on a Sunday evening. The pizza monkey bread will guarantee you a fun snack to enjoy on any occasion!
Tips on Serving Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese
Monkey bread is a versatile dish. You can serve it as a festive dish and it makes a great dessert while having guests, or you can just bake this pull-apart bread and binge-watch an entire TV show while enjoying a delicious snack.
Monkey bread is usually pulled apart with hands, that being the reason why it is referred to by this name (because you eat it like a monkey).
How to store Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese
Monkey bread can be stored for about 2-3 days until it hardens and loses flavor. A good idea is to keep it covered to avoid it from hardening.
If you want to reheat the left-overs, simply put them in the microwave or the oven until it's once again warm and soft.
Storing it in the fridge is not recommended.
Recipe Card: Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese
Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
I love a great sweet pull-apart bread! This monkey bread recipe is a go-to when you are craving something sweet, but still easy to bake.
This festive dish is a delicious baked good and a time-saver!
What makes this dish so special is that you can always spice things up and add your own touch to the recipe without worrying that it will fail. Its simplicity makes it one of the most popular recipes for any occasion!
Ingredients
- For the monkey bread dough:
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour (480 grams)
- ½ cup of white granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 cup of warm milk (250 grams)
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- ⅓ cups of melted butter (about 70 grams)
- 1 package of instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons of salt (11 grams)
- For the monkey bread cream cheese
- Nuts
- Cinnamon
- Sugar
- ½ cup of brown sugar (100 grams)
- ½ cups of melted butter (100 grams)
- 3 ½ cups of cream cheese (400 grams)
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, using only 1 and ½ cups of flour.
- Add the whisked eggs, warm milk, and melted butter into the bowl.
- Mix the ingredients until the flour absorbs the liquids.
- Add the remaining ½ cup of flour.
- Mix the dough until it has a non-sticky texture (add more flour if needed).
- Let the dough rest for about 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven at 350℉ (180℃). Prepare a bundt pan by coating it with cooking spray or grease.
- Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.
- Cut the dough into small squares and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture on them.
- Add a teaspoon of cream cheese to each square and fold them into balls.
- Add nuts in the bundt pan along with the dough balls.
- Mix melted butter and brown sugar in a pan and put it on the stove. Stir the mixture until it simmers and the brown sugar is melted.
- Pour the mixture into the bundt pan.
- Put the pan into the oven and let it sit for about 45 minutes until it has a golden color.
- Take it out and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Notes
Equipment:
- Bundt pan
- Mixer with a hook
- Bowls
- Spatula
- Spoon
Tips:
- If you don't have a bundt pan you can use any regular pan with high edges.
- If you use normal dry yeast (not instant), instead of mixing it with the dry ingredients, mix it with the liquids.
- Coat your hands with grease (butter), while molding the dough pieces, so the dough won't stick to your hands.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6 Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1380 Total Fat: 86g Saturated Fat: 49g Trans Fat: 1g Unsaturated Fat: 28g Cholesterol: 316mg Sodium: 1678mg Carbohydrates: 131g Fiber: 4g Sugar: 49g Protein: 25g
All information presented and written are intended for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other health-care professional. The writers and publishers of diypassion.com are not nutritionists or registered dietitians. Statements within this site have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
How to Make Monkey Bread With Cream Cheese
Source: https://www.diypassion.com/monkey-bread-with-cream-cheese-recipe/