How do you make monkey bread with cinnamon rolls?

Cut cinnamon rolls into pieces, toss in cinnamon sugar, pile into a greased bundt pan, pour a brown-butter caramel over the top, and bake at 350°F until golden and cooked through. Invert while warm and drizzle with icing.

Can I use homemade dough?

Yes — cut homemade cinnamon roll dough into pieces and let them proof briefly in the pan before baking. It'll be a bit taller and fluffier than the canned version.

How do I know the center is done?

The middle pieces cook slowest. Insert a skewer into the center — it should come out without raw, sticky dough. Tent with foil if the top browns before then.

Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

Name: Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 32 min
Total time: 62 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 can refrigerated cinnamon rolls; 0.5 cup granulated sugar; 1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon; 1 tbsp butter for the pan; 0.5 cup unsalted butter; 0.75 cup packed brown sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 0.25 tsp fine salt; icing from the cinnamon rolls, or a powdered-sugar glaze

Cinnamon rolls cut into pieces, tossed in cinnamon sugar, and baked in a bundt pan into sticky, pull-apart monkey bread with a caramel glaze.

a cinnamon roll monkey bread turned out of a bundt pan onto a plate (AI-generated editorial image) — Image: CinnamonRollsRecipe.com · AI-generated editorial (Flux)

Total time: 1 hr 2 min
Bake: 32 min
Yield: 10 servings
Level: beginner

The quick answer

Cinnamon roll monkey bread is made from cinnamon rolls cut into pieces, tossed in cinnamon sugar, layered in a bundt pan, and baked under a brown-sugar-butter caramel until sticky and pull-apart. Grease the pan well and don't overfill; bake until the center pieces are cooked through, then invert while warm so the caramel coats it.

Monkey bread is the ultimate pull-apart, finger-sticky, everyone-crowds-the-pan breakfast, and starting from cinnamon rolls gives it a head start on flavor. You cut cinnamon rolls into bite-size pieces, roll them in extra cinnamon sugar, pile them into a bundt pan, and pour over a quick brown-butter caramel that bakes into gooey, craggy layers. Invert it onto a plate and it comes out as a golden, glistening tower everyone pulls apart with their hands. Use refrigerated rolls for a fast version or homemade dough for a from-scratch one.

hands pulling apart a sticky caramel-coated piece of cinnamon monkey bread from the pull-apart loaf (AI-generated editorial image) — The soft, pull-apart crumb you're after.

Ingredients

Make

servings

Base

2 cansrefrigerated cinnamon rolls — two 8-count tubes, or homemade dough
½ cupgranulated sugar
1½ tbspground cinnamon
1 tbspbutter for the pan

Caramel glaze

½ cupunsalted butter
¾ cuppacked brown sugar
1 tspvanilla extract
¼ tspfine salt

Finish

icing from the cinnamon rolls, or a powdered-sugar glaze

cinnamon-sugar-coated dough pieces layered in a bundt pan with caramel sauce poured over (AI-generated editorial image) — A look at the method — follow the steps below.

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350°F and generously butter a bundt pan. Stir the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Cut each cinnamon roll into quarters. Toss the pieces in the cinnamon sugar to coat, then pile them evenly into the bundt pan.
Pieces are coated and loosely filling the pan.
Make the caramel: melt the butter with the brown sugar, vanilla, and salt, stirring until smooth and bubbling.
Caramel is smooth and pourable.
Pour the caramel evenly over the pieces in the pan.
Caramel drips down between the pieces.
Bake until the top is deep golden and the center pieces are cooked through, not doughy.
Center pieces are set; a skewer comes out clean of raw dough.
Cool 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate so the caramel runs down. Drizzle with the reserved icing and serve warm.
Bread releases as a sticky, craggy tower.

Make ahead, store & reheat

Make ahead: Best baked fresh and warm. You can cut and coat the pieces and mix the caramel ahead, then assemble and bake when ready; assembled monkey bread shouldn't sit long before baking.
Storage: Cover and store at room temperature up to 2 days; it's stickiest and best the day it's made.
Reheating: Microwave pieces 15–20 seconds to bring back the gooey caramel.
Freezing: Freeze baked, cooled monkey bread up to 1 month; thaw and warm, though texture is best fresh.

Substitutions

Homemade cinnamon roll dough, cut into pieces (proof briefly before baking) instead of refrigerated cinnamon rolls
Add chopped toasted pecans between the layers instead of a plain assembly

Troubleshooting

Center was doughy: The middle cooks slowest — don't overfill the pan, and bake until a skewer in the center pieces comes out free of raw dough, tenting the top with foil if it darkens first.
It stuck to the pan: Grease the bundt pan thoroughly (get into all the grooves) and invert while still warm; caramel that fully cools will glue it in place.
Too sweet or too wet: Skip the extra icing at the end and let it cool a little longer so the caramel sets before serving.

Tools I reach for

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Frequently asked questions

How do you make monkey bread with cinnamon rolls?: Cut cinnamon rolls into pieces, toss in cinnamon sugar, pile into a greased bundt pan, pour a brown-butter caramel over the top, and bake at 350°F until golden and cooked through. Invert while warm and drizzle with icing.
Can I use homemade dough?: Yes — cut homemade cinnamon roll dough into pieces and let them proof briefly in the pan before baking. It'll be a bit taller and fluffier than the canned version.
How do I know the center is done?: The middle pieces cook slowest. Insert a skewer into the center — it should come out without raw, sticky dough. Tent with foil if the top browns before then.

Nutrition (estimate): 1 serving (of 10) · ~410 kcal. Nutrition is an automated estimate and will vary with brands and exact quantities.

Food safety: don't taste dough containing raw flour or raw egg. Refrigerate anything with cream cheese frosting, and reheat leftovers until piping hot.