Homemade Peanut Butter Monkey Bread – sweet roll dough baked with a brown sugar and cinnamon coating and a peanut butter drizzle.
If cinnamon rolls and peanut butter toast on white bread joined forces – this gooey homemade peanut butter monkey bread would be the delicious result. Avery had one bite and said, “mom, it tastes like french toast with peanut butter!” Westin said, “it’s exactly like eating the crust of peanut butter toast.”
Both reactions were exactly what I was looking for!
The idea for this peanut butter monkey bread came one night as my mom and I snacked on the crust of Avery’s peanut butter toast. As mom took a bite of the melted peanut butter, slathered on the white country bread, she looked at me and said, “you need to turn this into something more than peanut butter toast.”
We thought about cake, of course, but I have a lot of peanut butter cakes.
My Favorite Peanut Butter Cakes:
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake
- Fluffernutter Cake
- Peanut Butter Banana Caramel Cake
- Peanut Butter S’mores Cake
- The Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Plus, I didn’t think a cake would do this justice. We need that melted, gooey peanut butter element.
Mom and I knew almost immediately – monkey bread!
What is Monkey Bread
Monkey bread is a gooey pull-apart bread made from balls of dough rolled in cinnamon sugar and arranged in a bundt pan. Oftentimes, you top it with a buttery caramel sauce or brown sugar sauce before baking.
To turn this traditional breakfast treat into my dreamy peanut butter monkey bread, I’m using a mixture of peanut butter and butter as a coating on each ball of dough, PLUS rolling each dough ball in brown sugar and cinnamon.
Overview: How to Make Peanut Butter Monkey Bread
Prepare the dough – to prepare the sweet roll dough, you’ll combine the all-purpose flour, warm milk, instant yeast, sugar, butter, eggs, and salt in a mixing bowl. I throw everything into my electric mixer and then let the mixer and the dough hook do all the work. If you’re mixing by hand, make sure to knead the dough for a couple of minutes.
Let the dough rise – turn the dough into a well-greased bowl and cover it with a towel. Let the dough rise until double in size, about an hour or two.
Punch down the dough – once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and pull small sections away to create your balls of dough. Each ball should be about 2 to 3 inches big. You’ll end up with about 45, but don’t stress if your number is off a little.
Dip each ball of dough into butter mixture – dip each ball into the peanut butter and butter mixture and then the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. If you want, you can absolutely use granulated sugar in place of brown sugar. I like the caramelized flavor the brown sugar adds.
Stack the dough – after you dip each ball of dough into the coatings, you’ll fill a bundt pan with the dough. You’ll get about two layers of the dough. When the balls of dough are layered, you can pour the remaining peanut butter sauce on top.
Bake the monkey bread – bake the monkey bread at 350 for about 35 minutes.
Substitute: How to Make Monkey Bread with Premade Pillsbury Dough
If you’re in a pinch and don’t have time to make the homemade sweet roll dough? No worries, this recipe can easily be made with premade Pillsbury dough.
Separate the dough into 16 biscuits and then cut biscuits into quarters. Dip each quarter into the peanut butter sauce, followed by the sugar mixture. Follow the same bake times/instructions.
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Enjoy!
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Homemade Peanut Butter Monkey Bread
Ingredients
FOR THE DOUGH
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup milk, heated to 110 degrees F
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 3 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
FOR THE COATING
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
Instructions
For the Dough
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, warm milk, sugar, butter, eggs, yeast and salt. Stir to combine on medium-low speed. You may need to use a spatula to scrape some ingredients off the sides of the bowl to incorporate.
- Once the ingredients are mixed, turn the mixer to medium-high and mix for two to 3 minutes to knead the dough.
- Place the dough in a well-greased bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- While the dough rises, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a tube pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, pinch off sections of the dough to roll into 2 to 3 inch balls. Set on parchment until you've created about 45 balls.
For the Dip
- While the dough is rising, you can make the coatings.
- Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the butter and peanut butter until smooth.
Assembly
- Dip each ball of dough into the peanut butter and butter mixture and then the brown sugar mixture. Fill the tube pan with the dough. You'll have about two layers of the dough.
- Once you've added all the dough, pour any remaining peanut butter mixture over the top. If you're out of the peanut butter mixture, you can combine another ¼ cup each of melted butter and peanut butter to make more.
- Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Let cool for about 15 minutes in the pan and then invert the monkey bread onto a plate or cake stand to serve.
Looks delicious! Wondering about making it ahead and then baking the morning of – would you just prepare all the way up to baking and then refrigerate until ready to bake or what would you suggest? Thanks!
Yes! Take it out of the fridge and let it sit 30-60 mins before baking!