The Best Sourdough Monkey Bread
If you’re looking for a special breakfast or brunch recipe, try making this delicious sourdough monkey bread. These little balls of cinnamon sugary goodness are covered in a caramel brown sugar cinnamon sauce that is hard to resist. It’s named after the way you eat it, by picking off chunks of gooey dough like a monkey would groom a friend. Perfect for holidays or any occasion, this monkey bread is a crowd pleaser. Enjoy it warm and drizzled with a vanilla glaze for the ultimate treat.
Sample Sourdough Schedule for Sourdough Monkey Bread
A sample baking schedule helps me when baking with sourdough. Sourdough takes much longer to rise than traditional bread. This schedule helps me plan my bake.
A few notes: This schedule assumes the dough temperature is 78 degrees F throughout the process. If you’d like to make this sourdough monkey bread all on the same day, skip the cold bulk fermentation and go straight to shaping the dough (you will still need to make the levain the night before and let it rise overnight).
| Day 1 (evening) | |
| 9:00 PM– 9:00AM | Mix levain. Let sit overnight and proceed with the recipe the next morning. |
| Day 2 (morning/evening) | |
| 9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Mix and knead dough ingredients together. |
| 9:15 AM – 1:15 PM | Bulk Fermentation Cover and let rise in a warm (78 degree F) place for 4 hours. |
| 1:15 PM- next morning | Cold Bulk Fermentation Cover dough and let sit in the refrigerator until ready to shape the monkey bread, the next morning or within 48 hours. |
| Day 3 (morning) | |
| 7:00 AM | Shape monkey bread and let rise in a warm spot (at least 78 degrees or a little higher) until puffy. |
| 10:00 AM | Bake. Top with icing if desired and enjoy! |
Important Ingredients in Sourdough Monkey Bread
- Sourdough Starter: Use an active/ripe sourdough starter (doubled in size/bubbly/mild sour aroma) to mix the levain
- Whole Milk: I prefer the richness of whole milk in this recipe. You can substitute 2% if you don’t have whole.
- Unsalted Butter: I always bake with unsalted butter. It allows me to control the flavor in my baked goods —salt in butter is not regulated, so you cannot predict how much salt has been added.
- Bread Flour: I almost always use bread flour for any bread that I am kneading. The higher protein content and properly activating the gluten results in a lighter/springy baked good.
- Salt: Salt is important to balance the flavors. Don’t leave it out.
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar gives the monkey bread its “caramely” flavor when it is mixed with butter and cinnamon and baked.
- Cinnamon: I love the flavor that ground cinnamon brings to this monkey bread.
Mixing Levain
I almost always use a levain method when making sourdough. You can read all about that here. Begin the night before you mix the dough by mixing a levain:
- 11 grams ripe sourdough starter
- 110 grams flour
- 110 grams water
Mix together those ingredients, cover and keep at 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The levain should be ready in about 12 hours.
If you want to make a levain for the same day, mix together 70 grams ripe sourdough starter, 70 grams flour and 70 grams water. Leave it at 78 degrees F for about 3-4 hours until bubbly and ripe.
Mixing Sourdough Monkey Bread Dough
Set the bowl of a stand mixer on a kitchen scale and add the ingredients to the bowl. Mix together for about 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth, pulls away from the sides of the bowl and can pass the windowpane test. The dough should be tacky, but not overly sticky. If it feels too sticky, add a little more flour just 10 grams at a time.
Bulk Fermentation
Remove the dough from the mixer and place it in a container. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel or plastic shower cap. Set the dough in a warm place (78 degrees-80 degrees F) for about 4 hours. The dough will puff up and look like it’s risen a bit by the end of 4 hours. If you want a more sour flavor in your monkey bread, you can let the dough ferment another hour or two.
Cold Bulk Fermentation
Place the covered dough in the refrigerator overnight for a cold bulk fermentation. This dough can stay in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. I like using a cold bulk fermentation because it allows me to plan out my bakes better and adds more flavor to the dough. If you prefer to bake the monkey bread the same day, skip the cold bulk fermentation and move straight to shaping the dough.
Prepare the Pan and Brown Sugar Mixture
Before you divide and shape the sourdough monkey bread, prepare a bundt pan. This recipe uses a bundt pan for a unique and fun shape. You can use any pan you want if you don’t have a bundt pan. Melt the butter for the topping. Use a pastry brush to thoroughly spread melted butter into all the crevices to thoroughly coat the bundt pan. After the pan is prepared, mix the brown sugar/cinnamon/salt together.
Shaping Sourdough Monkey Bread
Turn the dough out of the container. It will be cold but as you work with it, it will warm up a bit. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife to cut the monkey bread into 8 sections. Cut each section of monkey bread into 6-8 pieces (depending on how large you like the pieces). You will end up with about 50-60 pieces of monkey bread. Roll each piece into a ball shape with your fingers and then dunk into the butter and then the topping mixture. Coat each ball completely in the mixture and place in the bundt pan. Continue layering the balls on top of each other until all the balls of dough are covered and the bundt pan is filled up with monkey bread bites. Pour any leftover butter and topping over the top of the monkey bread.
Proofing Sourdough Monkey Bread
Cover and let the monkey bread rest in a warm place for about 3 hours. I set my bread proofer to 82 degrees F which is a little warmer than usual. This helps warm up cold dough from being in the refrigerator a little more quickly. If you don’t have a bread proofer, use your oven with the light on to monitor the temperature of your dough. After about 3 hours, gently touch a dough ball. It should feel airy and light (no longer cold at all). If you press in on the dough ball it should spring back just a little bit. The dough should have puffed up but won’t necessarily rise to fill the bundt pan. If your dough is showing all of these signs, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. If it’s not showing these signs, let it continue rising for another half hour to hour. If you want more sour flavor, leave the dough to ferment even longer–another hour or two.
Baking Sourdough Monkey Bread
Put the sourdough monkey bread in a preheated 350 degree F oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. The monkey bread will puff up while it bakes and the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture will make a delicious coating and gooey sauce all over the monkey bread. After about 30 minutes, pull the sourdough monkey bread out of the oven and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes before turning it out onto a large plate. If you have trouble with the monkey bread not holding its shape, let it sit a little longer in the pan. Whisk together powdered sugar and whole milk and drizzle over the top of the warm sourdough monkey bread. Enjoy warm!
If you liked this sourdough monkey bread, you’ll also like:
- The Best Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
- Caramel Apple Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
- Red Velvet Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
- Sourdough Sticky Pecan Rolls
- Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough Quick Bread
- Sourdough Cinnamon Sugar Babka
Frequently Asked Questions
You don’t have to use a bundt pan. I’ve successfully made it in an 8 by 8 pan or even loaf pans (you may need to separate the dough into two pans if you go this route). A 10 inch bundt pan makes a beautiful shape but any pan will work if you just want delicious sourdough monkey bread.
You can make the dough ahead of time and leave it in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. Then shape and bake the morning you’d like to serve it.
Sourdough monkey bread is best enjoyed warm and within the first 24 hours. If your monkey bread comes to room temperature, heat it up for a few seconds in the microwave for best results. If you want to keep it longer, stick leftover monkey bread in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Warm up when you want to serve it.
Yes. You can make this all in one day if you mix a 1:1:1 levain in the morning. Mix the dough and let it rise for about 4 hours. Shape into small balls, coat and let rise again for another 3-4 hours in a warm 78 degree F place.
Sourdough Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Levain (1:10:10, overnight or about 12 hours)
- 11 grams ripe sourdough starter
- 110 grams all purpose flour
- 110 grams water
Sourdough Monkey Bread
- 200 grams levain about 3/4 cup
- 240 grams whole milk about 1 cup
- 30 grams unsalted butter melted and cooled, about 2 Tablespoons
- 55 grams granulated sugar 1/4 cup
- 500 grams bread flour see recipe note, about 3 1/3 cups
- 15 grams salt about 2 teaspoons
Topping
- 230 grams brown sugar about 1 cup packed
- 7 grams ground cinnamon about 1 Tablespoon
- 113 grams unsalted butter melted, 1/2 cup
- pinch of salt
Icing (optional)
- 65 grams powdered sugar 1/2 cup
- 15 grams whole milk 1 .5 Tablespoons
Instructions
Levain (1:10:10/overnight)
- Mix together the ripe sourdough starter with flour and water. Cover and let sit in a warm, 78 degree F place for about 12 hours until bubbly/ripe/doubled in size and has a slight sour aroma. If you prefer to make the levain the morning of mixing the dough, mix together 75 grams ripe sourdough starter/75 grams water/75 grams flour and let sit in warm 78 degree F place for about 3-4 hours before proceeding with the recipe.
Sourdough Monkey Bread
- Kneading the Dough: To the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together ripe levain, whole milk, unsalted butter (melted), sugar, bread flour and salt. Knead for about 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and tacky.
- Bulk Fermentation: Remove dough from the mixer, place in a container and cover. Set the dough in a warm place (78 degrees-80 degrees F) for about 4 hours. The dough will puff up and look like it's risen a bit by the end of 4 hours. If you want a more sour flavor in your monkey bread, let the dough ferment another hour or two.
- Cold Bulk Fermentation: Place the dough in the refrigerator overnight for a cold bulk fermentation. This dough can stay in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. If you prefer to bake the monkey bread the same day, skip the cold bulk fermentation and move straight to shaping the dough.
- Topping: Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
- Shaping Monkey Bread: Turn the dough out of the container. It will be cold but as you work with it, it will warm up a bit. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, cut the monkey bread into 8 sections. Cut each section of monkey bread into 6-8 pieces (depending on how large you like the pieces). Roll each piece into a ball shape with your fingers and then dunk into the butter and then the topping mixture. Coat each ball completely in the mixture and place in the bundt pan. Continue until all the balls of dough are covered and the bundt pan is filled up with monkey bread bites. Pour any leftover melted butter/topping over the top of the monkey bread.
- Proofing the Dough: Cover and let the monkey bread rest in a warm place for about 3 hours. I set my bread proofer to 82 degrees F which is a little warmer than usual. This helps warm up cold dough from being in the refrigerator a little more quickly. If you don't have a bread proofer, use your oven with the light on to monitor the temperature of your dough. After about 3 hours, gently touch a dough ball. It should feel airy and light (no longer cold at all). If you press in on the dough ball it should spring back just a little bit. The dough should have puffed up but won't necessarily rise to fill the bundt pan. If your dough is showing all of these signs, go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. If it's not showing these signs, let it continue rising for another half hour to hour. If you want more sour flavor, leave the dough to ferment even longer–another hour or two.
- Bake: Put the sourdough monkey bread in a preheated 350 degree F oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. The monkey bread will puff up while it bakes and the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture will make a delicious coating all over the monkey bread. Pull the sourdough monkey bread out of the oven and let rest for about 5-10 minutes before turning it out onto a large plate.
- Icing: Mix together powdered sugar and whole milk. Drizzle over the top of warm sourdough monkey bread if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!
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Do you think I could shape the dough the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight before baking in the morning? I want to avoid waking up at 4am to shape the dough!
You can do this but would still need to let it rise and puff up before baking it.
Thanks-I’ll give it a try!
Hi I love all your recipes! What kind of mixer is that’s pictured in the steps of this recipe?
That is a Bosch mixer. I love it for breads.