Monkey Bread Muffins with Biscuits

We’ve used a big bundt pan to make easy monkey bread BUT monkey bread muffins are so much more fun! Bite size and easy to grab on your way out the door on a busy day. Kids love baking with you when it comes to this recipe too. Give them a whirl this week! (affiliate links present)

How to Bake Monkey Bread in Muffin Tins

So we have made a bunch of different muffin tin recipes throughout the years. It’s not just great to make the best muffin recipes, you can make dinner in it too! So since we have made all sorts of this variety in a much larger version it was only right to make a batch in liners too.

The base remains the same, you can add additional flavors or extracts from there. In the fall we love pumpkin monkey bread, you could use that recipe but make it in this pan instead.

You do not have to use this brand to make our canned biscuit breakfast recipe but it is the most common. I will say that store brands tend to have a bit of an aftertaste (in my opinion), and sometimes are a bit smaller. Two cans of the regular size works great for this, Grands can be a bit thicker so I wouldn’t use that variety.

Ingredients

1. Refrigerated biscuits or you could make as a Rhodes cinnamon rolls recipe
2. Brown sugar makes the outside sweet
3. Cinnamon adds to the flavor
4. Melted butter or use vegan dairy free product
5. Granulated sugar, white for sweetness
6. Bowl to combine coating

Monkey bread cupcakes frosting

If you are going to make a simple glaze, I suggest you do, you just need some powdered sugar and water really. Alternatively you can buy a tub of cream cheese frosting and melt it for about 15 seconds, stir, and drizzle that on top.

Variations

The basics remain the same and shouldn’t be changed really. Easiest way to mix things up is with the “sauce” you pour on top before baking. You could melt chocolate inside that, add a tbsp of pressure cooker pumpkin puree, or include crushed nuts inside as well.

Monkey Bread Muffins with Frozen Bread Dough

I would use Rhodes rolls defrosted if you don’t want to use refrigerated. If you get on that train, we have a ton of other frozen bread dough recipes you can make with them too.

Yes you will need a sharp knife too in order to cut each biscuit like a pizza and into smaller segments like you see here. If using frozen cinnamon rolls defrost for 45 minutes first. 8 equal pieces for each piece works well. Then individually they’ll need to be coated well in the cinnamon sugar mixture. It is the same basic step no matter what type you decide to make.

A small bowl or large freezer bag works. If you use the bag just add a few at a time and shake to coat so the biscuit dough pieces don’t stick together. Doing it one at a time takes a bit longer but you can avoid that issue.

Can you make monkey bread sugar free?

You could use the Splenda alternatives to coat the outside. Typically it is made to be a 1:1 ratio so you just mix the brown and white sugar varieties together with the cinnamon to coat the outsides. This will melt to make them ooey gooey and like a cinnamon pull apart bread consistency.

How to Make Easy Monkey Bread Muffins with Biscuits in Oven

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl mix together brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon.
  Unroll biscuits and cut each one into 6 – 8 equal pieces of biscuits (like you would a pizza with a knife). One piece at a time toss in cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated. Get out a muffin pan.
• Place paper or silicone liners in muffin cups and put coated pieces inside. About 1 – 1 1/2 whole biscuits will fit into each muffin hole. Do these steps until all muffin tin spots are filled.
• On the stovetop melt the butter, then pour in the remaining sugar cinnamon mixture that hasn’t been used. Stir and bubble until sugar dissolves. Spoon this mixture on top of the coated pieces inside the muffin tin holes equally until gone.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes until dough is no longer sticky and tops are browned.

Whisk together ingredients for glaze and drizzle on top each one before serving. Can melt a tub of frosting alternatively. Silicone muffin liners are super handy. We use them for all sorts of things like making air fryer muffins or serving up a little handful of jelly beans for little hands.

I hope we’ve answered that question! Nope! I mean it is good that way as well but totally not necessary at all. This way is faster and easier to serve up too. NO knife necessary.

Yes, that is what we essentially made here. We called them monkey bread cupcakes using the same technique as you would if baking in a bundt pan but in individual muffin sizes.

Serve warm with a drizzle of added goodness on top. Kinda’ like a cinnamon roll you will crave more sticky sweetness on the top that will coat your fingertips. If you wanted to make these look more like cupcakes you could spoon cream cheese frosting without butter into a pint size freezer bag.

Zip closed and snip the end off. then swirl it on the top and enjoy. If you are doing this you’ll want them to be cooled so the topping doesn’t immediately melt and slide right off.

How to save leftovers

For leftovers you can put in a single layer inside a sealed container or freezer bag. Leave on the countertop and warm the next day in the morning again with a bit of frosting on top to add moisture.