This Ultimate Overnight Gluten Free Monkey Bread is full of brown sugary buttery goodness in every bite. When you serve it, be prepared for ooohs and ahhhs!
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I remember having monkey bread for the first time at my old job when we had a Christmas breakfast potluck. A friend of mine brought it in and everyone absolutely demolished it! It was the very first thing to go on the table and I remember her standing at the copier making copies of the recipe to hand out to everyone because it was so popular.
Her version used frozen rolls from the store, but since we don't have that option we'll be using my "magic" gluten free sweet dough. It's the absolute BEST gluten free sweet dough you will find on the internet and makes the most incredible breads, rolls, and pastries you'll ever have, gluten free or not. So it only makes sense to use that dough for this crazy monkey bread idea!
the ingredients you'll need to make monkey bread
- Gluten free sweet dough -- my "crazy" "magic" gluten free sweet dough is literally a wonder in the gluten free kitchen and is the base of this monkey bread recipe.
- Brown sugar
- Pecans -- optional, but pecans provide a crunch that you might otherwise miss and they add to the praline like flavor.
- Cream cheese -- cream cheese is also totally optional, but stuffing each ball of dough with a little hunk of cream cheese makes this monkey bread extra special.
- Cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix -- make sure not to get the instant.
preparing the monkey bread for its overnight sleep
- Divide dough into equally-sized pieces.
- Dip cold cubes of cream cheese into butter and roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Place cream cheese cube on pieces of dough and wrap dough around cream cheese to seal.
- Roll dough into tight balls.
- Sprinkle bottom of Bundt pan with chopped pecans and place the rolls on top of the pecans.
- Sprinkle dry pudding mix over the rolls.
- Make sauce on stovetop with the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon and drizzle over the rolls.
- Cover and let rise in fridge overnight.
gluten free monkey bread frequently asked questions
Yes, as long as the dough was already made and refrigerated, gluten free monkey bread can be made and baked on the same day.
Monkey bread is called monkey bread because pieces of gooey cinnamon bread is "picked" off of the loaf and eaten with your fingers, much like a monkey's mannerisms.
Monkey bread is best when served just baked and warm. However, to reheat any leftovers you can microwave small portions for 20-30 seconds, or wrap the entire amount of leftovers in foil and reheat in a 300 F oven for about 20-30 minutes.
more gluten free breakfast yeast breads and rolls
- German Stollen
- Cinnamon Knots
- Beignets
- Apple Fritters
- Ultimate Cinnamon Rolls
- Homemade Bagels
- Orange Rolls
- Mexican Conchas
- Hot Cross Buns
- Cinnamon Roll Wreath
- Incredible Yeast Donuts
- Panettone Babka
- 'Ohana Pineapple Bread
- Brioche au Chocolat
- Panettone
- Air Fried Yeast Donuts
- Babka
- Kolaches
Get ahead this Christmas by stashing this Overnight Gluten Free Monkey Bread in your fridge Christmas Eve. You'll have the best monkey bread of your life fresh Christmas morning!
Overnight Gluten Free Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- ½ recipe Gluten Free Sweet Dough (made through the initial mixing and proofing of the dough, step 2)
- ½ cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (113g) butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup (84g) chopped pecans
- 6 oz (170g) cream cheese, straight from the fridge
- 2 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ of a 3 oz pkg (43g) cook and serve butterscotch dry pudding mix (do not use instant)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and heat over medium heat until sugar has dissolved and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool until just lukewarm.
- Grease a Bundt pan and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Set aside.
- Mix together 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ½ cup granulated sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
- Remove dough from fridge and knead on floured surface until smooth. Divide into 1 ounce (28g) pieces. You should have about 22 pieces of dough, give or take 1-2 pieces. Flatten each piece of dough into a rough ball and place on a floured surface.
- Cut cold block of cream cheese into 22 small cubes (about ½-inch thick). Dip in the melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place on flattened piece of dough. Using floured fingers, fold dough up and over cream cheese to encase it in the middle. Pince to seal and roll each piece of dough into balls.
- Place dough balls over pecans and on top of each other in Bundt pan. Sprinkle with dry butterscotch pudding mix (remember to only use half the package). Spoon cooled sauce over the top.
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rise slowly overnight. For same day baking, allow to rise in a warm, draft-free area until nearly doubled in size.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with foil (for easy cleanup of any spills). Place Bundt pan on baking sheet and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the rolls on top are golden brown. I find if you press on one of the top rolls and it squishes underneath, that indicates the rolls aren't baked in the middle. If the rolls on top are getting too dark, tent with foil halfway through baking.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Place your serving plate or platter upside down on top of the Bundt pan and, with oven mitts, carefully flip the Bundt over while holding the plate. Carefully lift up the Bundt pan (it will still be hot) and the monkey bread should slide right out.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. To reheat individual servings, place on microwave-safe plate and microwave for 15-20 seconds or until warmed throughout. To reheat a larger amount, preheat oven to 325° F and wrap in foil. Heat for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through. Leftovers can also be frozen and reheated after thawing.
Meredith says
Made this for the first time, while it was good I think it would have been even better if I had not made a mistake of using the entire dough recipe. I could not figure out why I had double the amount of rolls and thought you might have meant 2 oz portions instead of 1 oz. Once I had pit it all together did I finally see the "1/2". Would you please consider putting all the steps and ingredients together to help us? I was so focused on switching back and forth between the 2 recipes that I didn't realize I needed to halve the first recipe. I feel like having to go to 2 different spots to make 1 recipe makes things more difficult and increases the risk for mistakes. Thanks for all the recipes and guidance!