Instant Pot Gooey Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

Indulge in the heavenly delight of Instant Pot Caramel Apple Monkey Bread, an absolutely irresistible treat that’s surprisingly easy to make. Forget turning on your oven, especially on a hot day! This innovative pressure cooker method transforms simple refrigerated cinnamon rolls (or defrosted frozen bread dough) into a warm, gooey, cinnamon-spiced masterpiece. It’s the ultimate dessert or breakfast sensation that promises pure bliss with every pull-apart piece.

This caramel apple monkey bread prepared in your Instant Pot is so incredibly delicious, it will quickly become a household favorite. Imagine serving this warm, sticky pull-apart bread for breakfast, brunch, or as a decadent dessert. It comes together effortlessly in your bundt pan and yields consistently perfect results. Without a doubt, it’s one of our top-rated Instant Pot recipes for good reason, offering a delightful twist on a classic comfort food.

Many home cooks have likely enjoyed a version of our easy monkey bread recipe before, but have you ever tried preparing it in a pressure cooker? The process is remarkably simple, requires minimal effort, and the outcome is truly phenomenal. We often top this glorious creation with the delightful frosting packet that comes included with the cinnamon rolls, eliminating the need to buy extra frosting and ensuring a perfectly complementary sweetness. Trust us, once you try this method, you’ll understand why it’s an absolute game-changer for homemade monkey bread.

Why Choose the Instant Pot for Your Monkey Bread? The Magic of Pressure Cooker Baking

There are numerous advantages to using an Instant Pot or similar electric pressure cooker for preparing this delightful monkey bread, especially when compared to traditional oven baking. Firstly, the Instant Pot excels at creating an incredibly moist and tender texture. The high-pressure steam environment inside the pot ensures that every piece of dough is cooked through perfectly, retaining its moisture and resulting in a soft, pillowy interior that melts in your mouth.

Secondly, it’s a fantastic solution for those sweltering summer days when the thought of turning on your oven is simply unbearable. The Instant Pot keeps the heat contained, preventing your kitchen from warming up. This makes it an ideal choice for year-round baking, offering a cool and convenient alternative. Lastly, pressure cooking often speeds up the overall cooking process, allowing you to enjoy this delicious treat much faster than conventional methods.

Versatile Pressure Cookers: Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, and Beyond

While the Instant Pot brand is widely recognized, you certainly don’t need that specific appliance to successfully make this amazing monkey bread. This recipe is wonderfully adaptable and works beautifully in other electric pressure cookers too! We’ve personally tested and achieved excellent results in popular models like the Crockpot Express and the versatile Ninja Foodi. Each of these appliances provides the high-pressure environment needed to “bake” this pull-apart bread to perfection.

For those fortunate enough to own a Ninja Foodi, you have an additional exciting option: you can also make air fryer monkey bread. This dual-functionality allows for different textures and finishes, giving you even more ways to enjoy this classic dessert. The key is understanding your specific pressure cooker’s settings and capacities, but the underlying principles of this recipe remain consistent across various brands.

If you’re embarking on your pressure cooking journey for the first time, welcome! You’re about to discover a world of easy, efficient cooking. We offer a wealth of simple one-pot meal recipes to help you get started. To ensure your success and make your experience even more enjoyable, here are a few fundamental tips for all pressure cooking enthusiasts:

• Make sure to Bookmark our extensive InstaPot recipes page. We are constantly updating it with new, exciting recipes each week, providing endless inspiration for your culinary adventures.
• To quickly reference cooking times, we highly recommend printing this invaluable Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet. It will greatly assist you in understanding the ideal durations for various ingredients, including meats, vegetables, and beans, ensuring perfectly cooked results every time.
• For optimal performance and easier cleanup, we HIGHLY recommend investing in this non-stick pot liner. It significantly minimizes food sticking, making both cooking and post-meal cleanup a much more pleasant experience.
  • While it’s always good practice to know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing, this superior liner will help you avoid many common sticking issues.

For reference, the model we consistently use and recommend for all our recipe creations is a versatile 6-quart Instant Pot, which is perfectly sized for a wide array of dishes, including this delightful monkey bread.

The Perfect Pan for Your Instant Pot Pull-Apart Bread

To truly achieve the best results for this Instant Pot pull-apart bread, a specific pan is truly essential. Our top recommendation is a mini bundt pan, typically with a 6-cup capacity. This particular shape is not just for aesthetics; it plays a crucial role in ensuring that the monkey bread cooks incredibly evenly from all sides. The central hole allows heat and steam to penetrate the center of the dough, preventing a dense or undercooked core.

Beyond its functional benefits, the bundt pan also creates a beautiful, presentation-worthy shape that is sure to impress your family or guests. Furthermore, this pan is a versatile kitchen workhorse, useful for a variety of cakes, quiches, and other baked goods, meaning it will be a valuable addition to your kitchen arsenal for many recipes to come, not just a one-time purchase!

For an optional yet highly recommended enhancement, consider adding chopped nuts. Simply scatter a layer of your favorite chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts work beautifully) at the bottom of your bundt pan before adding the dough pieces. This ensures they end up delightfully on top, offering a pleasant crunch and nutty flavor when you invert the monkey bread. We’ve successfully used this technique when making our seasonal pumpkin monkey bread during the Fall, often incorporating a handful of nuts and a few tablespoons of pumpkin puree directly into the hot butter mixture for an added layer of seasonal deliciousness.

Gather Your Simple Ingredients for This Delightful Treat

One of the many beauties of this Instant Pot monkey bread recipe is its reliance on readily available, simple ingredients. You’ll be amazed at how easily these humble components transform into something so spectacularly sweet and satisfying:

1. Cinnamon Rolls or Biscuits: The foundation of our monkey bread! Opt for refrigerated, regular-sized cinnamon rolls (ensure they are not the ‘Grands’ variety, as they are often too large and dense for this recipe). Alternatively, regular refrigerated biscuits can also be used for a slightly less sweet but equally delicious base.
2. Butter: Essential for creating that rich, indulgent, and incredibly gooey caramel sauce that coats every piece of monkey bread.
3. White Sugar: Used primarily for coating the individual dough pieces, which helps create a delightful sugary crust and prevents them from sticking together excessively.
4. Cinnamon: Adds a classic, warm, and inviting spice to the sugar coating. This is optional if your chosen cinnamon rolls already provide a strong cinnamon flavor, but it certainly enhances the overall aroma and taste.
5. Brown Sugar: The undisputed star of the caramel sauce, providing a deep, molasses-rich sweetness and a beautiful golden-brown hue that makes the monkey bread so irresistible.
6. Optional Additions for Caramel Apple Flavor: For an elevated and truly autumnal caramel apple experience, consider including about 1/4 cup of soft caramel bits and half a finely diced apple (such as a Granny Smith or Honeycrisp for a balance of tartness and sweetness) into your melted butter and brown sugar mixture. These additions infuse every bite with an incredible depth of flavor.
7. Chopped Nuts: A wonderful optional addition for those who appreciate extra texture and a nutty flavor. Pecans or walnuts are excellent choices and complement the cinnamon and caramel beautifully.

Essential Equipment for Your Instant Pot Monkey Bread

Having the right tools on hand makes all the difference for a smooth and successful pressure cooking experience. For this particular recipe, you’ll need a few key pieces of equipment:

• Instant Pot (6-quart): This is the ideal size for most bundt pans used in pressure cooking and ensures ample space for proper steam circulation around your monkey bread. Any similar electric pressure cooker with a 6-quart capacity or larger will also work perfectly.
• 6-cup Bundt Pan: As previously emphasized, this pan is crucial for achieving both the evenly cooked texture and the attractive, iconic shape of monkey bread. Before starting, always ensure your chosen bundt pan fits comfortably inside your Instant Pot’s inner pot, leaving enough clearance for the lid to seal.
• Trivet: The small metal trivet that typically comes included with your pressure cooker is absolutely essential. It serves to elevate the bundt pan above the water in the bottom of the pot, allowing the monkey bread to “bake” by high-pressure steaming rather than boiling. This technique results in that desired perfectly cooked, moist texture.
• Large Resealable Bag or Mixing Bowl: This is for easily coating the cinnamon roll pieces with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. A large bag allows for effortless shaking and even distribution.
• Cooling Rack: Once removed from the Instant Pot, a cooling rack provides proper air circulation around the bundt pan, aiding in the setting and cooling process before inversion.

Can You Use Frozen Cinnamon Rolls to Make Monkey Bread?

Yes, absolutely! You can successfully use defrosted Rhodes cinnamon rolls or similar brands of frozen bread dough to make this delectable monkey bread. The critical step is ensuring they are thoroughly thawed before you begin the recipe. Allow the frozen rolls to thaw on your kitchen counter for a few hours until they are soft and pliable enough to be easily sliced into fourths. Once thawed, they will perform just like the refrigerated variety, absorbing the sweet sauce and baking into gooey perfection. This flexibility makes the recipe even more convenient, allowing you to use whatever dough you have on hand.

Alternative Pans: What Can I Use If I Don’t Have a Bundt Pan?

While a bundt pan is highly recommended for its ability to promote incredibly even cooking and provide a beautiful, well-defined shape, you can certainly use another oven-safe, pressure-cooker-compatible pan that fits snugly inside your Instant Pot. This could be a round cake pan or even a springform pan if it’s securely covered.

However, it’s important to anticipate that the texture will likely be different. If using a pan without a central hole, the middle section of the monkey bread will be considerably thicker. This means it will naturally take longer to “bake” through under pressure. Consequently, the cook time would need to be increased to ensure the center is no longer sticky and fully cooked. Be aware that this extended cooking time might result in a slightly drier exterior compared to the moist, tender results typically achieved with a bundt pan due to the prolonged exposure to heat. It is definitely possible to make, but a bundt pan remains the optimal choice for that classic, gooey consistency throughout.

Unlocking the Flavor: Making Your Instant Pot Caramel Apple Monkey Bread Extra Special

To truly elevate your monkey bread from delicious to extraordinary, especially if you’re aiming for that rich, autumnal caramel apple flavor, incorporating diced apples and caramel bits into the sauce mixture is a fantastic idea. These additions infuse every bite with a wonderful burst of fruitiness and chewy sweetness. Even without these extra components, the combination of brown sugar and butter will create an incredibly flavorful and sticky sauce, but they certainly add an extra layer of decadence and complexity. Here’s a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of how to create this delightful treat:

Simple Steps to Sticky Perfection: Instant Pot Monkey Bread with Cinnamon Rolls

1. Prepare the Dough: Begin by cutting each refrigerated cinnamon roll (or thoroughly thawed biscuit/frozen dough) into approximately four equal-sized pieces. This ensures an even coating and makes for easy, individual pull-apart portions later. Place all the cut dough pieces into a large bowl.
2. Sugar Coating: In a large resealable baggie (or directly in your mixing bowl with a lid), combine your white sugar and cinnamon (if you’re using extra cinnamon beyond what’s in the rolls). Add the cut dough pieces to the bag/bowl, seal it securely, and gently toss or shake until all the pieces are thoroughly coated with the sweet and spiced mixture.
3. Melted Caramel Sauce: In a separate microwave-safe bowl or a small saucepan, melt the butter until completely liquid. Stir in the brown sugar until it is well combined and forms a smooth, rich sauce. If you’re opting for the caramel apple variation, stir in your 1/4 cup of caramel bits and 1/2 finely diced apple into this warm butter and brown sugar mixture now.
4. Layering in the Bundt Pan: Lightly spray the inside of your 6-cup bundt pan with a non-stick cooking spray to ensure easy release. Arrange about half of the sugar-coated dough pieces evenly in the bottom of the pan. Carefully pour half of the melted butter and brown sugar mixture over these pieces. Then, meticulously layer the remaining dough pieces on top, followed by the rest of the butter mixture, ensuring an even distribution. If you are using chopped nuts, sprinkle them throughout the layers, or primarily on top so they end up on the bottom (and thus the top when inverted).
5. Prepare the Pressure Cooker: Pour exactly 1.5 cups of water into the inner pot of your Instant Pot. Place the metal trivet (preferably one with handles for easy removal) at the very bottom of the pot.
6. Cover and Cook: Loosely cover your filled bundt pan with a piece of aluminum foil. This prevents condensation from dripping onto the monkey bread. Gently lower the covered bundt pan onto the trivet inside the Instant Pot, ensuring it sits level.
7. Pressure Cook: Close the lid of your pressure cooker and ensure the steam release valve is set to the “Sealing” position. Select the “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” setting, set the pressure level to “High,” and cook for 20 minutes.
8. Natural Release: Once the cooking cycle is complete, allow for a natural pressure release for 10 minutes. This slow release helps the monkey bread solidify slightly and become even more tender and moist. After 10 minutes, carefully quick release any remaining steam by turning the valve to the “Venting” position.
9. Cool and Invert: Carefully lift the bundt pan out of the Instant Pot using the trivet handles. For the best shape retention, allow the monkey bread to cool almost completely on a wire rack for about 20-30 minutes before flipping it over onto a serving plate. If you’re eager to enjoy it warm immediately and don’t mind a slightly less defined shape, you can flip it over right away (but really, who cares when it tastes this good?).
10. Frost and Serve: The refrigerated cinnamon rolls typically come with convenient icing packets. Warm these packets in the microwave for approximately 5-10 seconds to make the frosting smooth and pourable. Drizzle the warm frosting generously over the entire monkey bread. Get ready to experience the ultimate sticky, gooey perfection!

Can You Prepare Monkey Bread in Advance?

While the convenience of Instant Pot cooking might tempt you to prepare this monkey bread ahead of time, it’s important to manage expectations regarding its texture. You can certainly bake this monkey bread in the morning to serve later that evening, or even the day before, but it’s crucial to note that the texture will not be quite as exquisite as when it’s freshly made and warm. The characteristic sticky, ooey-gooey nature that makes this treat so beloved tends to dry up within about an hour of cooling, losing some of its fresh appeal.

Even if you wrap it tightly with plastic wrap once cooled and then reheat it, it simply won’t have the exact same magical quality as when it’s just been made. For the closest “second-best” option for advanced preparation, we recommend baking the monkey bread, allowing it to cool completely, then wrapping it very tightly with plastic wrap and storing it at room temperature on the counter. When you’re ready to serve it later, break off the desired portion onto a plate. You can then spread a tablespoon of frosting (warmed slightly in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to make it pourable) over the top to help moisten it, and heat for about 45 seconds in the microwave. This method helps restore some of its beloved warmth and softness, making it more enjoyable than eating it completely cold.

Delightful Pressure Cooker Desserts You’ll Adore

Whether you choose to serve this irresistible monkey bread for a special dessert, a leisurely breakfast, or as a show-stopping brunch item when guests arrive, it is undeniably delicious and universally loved! We promise you’ll never opt for a store-bought monkey bread again after experiencing the superior homemade version crafted in your Instant Pot. If you’re looking to expand your repertoire of easy and impressive Instant Pot dessert recipes, here are a few other fantastic options to try that are sure to tantalize your taste buds:

1. Our Instant Pot pumpkin apple cake is an absolute must-try – its moist texture and perfect blend of seasonal flavors are truly to die for!
2. Discover the best lemon poppy seed cake recipe, perfect for a light, zesty, and refreshing treat that’s ideal for any occasion.
3. We also adore this comforting and flavorful Instant Pot coffee cake, which is incredibly simple to make and pairs wonderfully with your morning brew or an afternoon tea.

With a significantly quicker cook time compared to our apple monkey bread baked in the oven, the Instant Pot method is a superb choice when you’re short on time, need a quick dessert, or simply want to free up your oven space. In approximately 20 minutes of pressure cooking, plus the necessary release time, this delectable dessert is done and ready for you to savor, proving that convenience and gourmet flavor can go hand-in-hand.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars based on 2 votes

Instant Pot Monkey Bread

By Justine

This sticky Instant Pot monkey bread is so addicting and easy to make with ready-made cinnamon rolls!

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 35 mins

Total: 32 mins

Servings: 8

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Equipment

• 1 pressure cooker (6-quart)
• 1 6-cup bundt pan (7″ diameter)
• Trivet (comes with pressure cooker)
• Large resealable bag or mixing bowl

Ingredients

• 1 can Cinnamon Rolls, refrigerated, regular size (not Grands), or use biscuits
• 1/2 c white sugar
• 1/4 c butter, melted
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 c chopped nuts, optional (pecans or walnuts)
• 1/2 diced apple, optional
• 1/4 cup caramel bits, optional
• 1.5 cups water, for the Instant Pot

Instructions

1. Cut your cinnamon rolls or biscuits into 4 pieces per roll. Place them into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add your white sugar and cinnamon into a large resealable baggie. Add the cut dough pieces and gently toss or shake until they are thoroughly coated.
3. In a separate microwave-safe bowl or small saucepan, melt the butter, then stir in the brown sugar until smooth. If desired, stir in the 1/2 diced apple and 1/4 cup caramel bits into this mixture.
4. Lightly spray the inside of your 6-cup bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place about half of the sugar-coated cinnamon roll/biscuit pieces into the pan. Pour half of the melted brown sugar and butter mixture over them. Layer the remaining dough pieces on top, then pour the rest of the butter mixture over everything. Sprinkle in chopped nuts at this stage if you are using them.
5. Pour 1.5 cups of water into the inner pot of your pressure cooker. Place the trivet inside the pot. Loosely cover the filled bundt pan with a piece of aluminum foil and carefully lower it onto the trivet.
6. Close the lid of your pressure cooker and ensure the steam release valve is set to the “Sealing” position. Select the “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” setting, set to “High Pressure,” and cook for 20 minutes.
7. Once cooking is complete, allow for a natural pressure release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully quick release any remaining steam by turning the valve to “Venting.”
8. Carefully lift the bundt pan out of the Instant Pot. For best shape retention, allow it to cool almost completely on a wire rack before flipping it over onto a serving plate. If you prefer to serve it warm immediately, you can flip it right away, though it might not retain its perfect bundt shape as much.
9. Warm the icing packet (included with the cinnamon rolls) in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds to make it pourable. Drizzle generously over the warm monkey bread and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Video Tutorial

For a visual guide on how to make Instant Pot Monkey Bread, please see the video below:

(Please note: This is a static image placeholder for the video. A functional video player would require JavaScript.)

Nutrition

Serving: 2oz,
Calories: 217kcal,
Carbohydrates: 28g,
Protein: 2g,
Fat: 12g,
Saturated Fat: 4g,
Cholesterol: 15mg,
Sodium: 56mg,
Potassium: 62mg,
Fiber: 1g,
Sugar: 26g,
Vitamin A: 177IU,
Vitamin C: 1mg,
Calcium: 26mg,
Iron: 1mg

Please note: Nutrition information is an approximation and can vary based on ingredients and preparation methods.

Additional Info

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

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