We are absolutely in love with this monkey bread recipe! It has everything you need in a sweet treat: gooey caramel, soft apples, cinnamon roll bites, and crunchy walnuts! So good! Plus, you just grab and go with the pieces you want, making it a fun snack the whole family will love. While this recipe is a little time consuming with the double rising of the dough, it’s active time is minimal, making it the perfect baking project for the weekend! It even holds well, just reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds and you are good to go! The perfect morning coffee companion!
Servings: 16 Servings
Calories: 456kcal
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 3½ tsp active dry yeast
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3⅔ cup all purpose flour
- 1⅓ tsp salt
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1 lemon grated zest
Dough Coating
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2½ tsp cinnamon
Apple Filling
- 2 granny smith apples large
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ lemon juiced
- 2 tbsp water
Caramel Sauce
- 1⅓ cup walnuts crushed or chopped finely
- 1⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup butter melted
Instructions
Dough:
- Heat milk to 105°-115°F. Add to mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit for 5 minutes, until yeast bubbles. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl. With dough hook attachment, knead dough for 5-7 minutes. I start the first 2 minutes on the lowest setting, then increase the setting by 1 for the last 5 minutes. You may need to add flour (about 1/4 c) to keep it from sticking to the mixing bowl.
- Once dough is soft and elastic, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover in plastic wrap. Put in a draft free spot for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until dough doubles in size.
Dough Coating:
- Mix ingredients together and set aside.
Apple Filling:
- Peel and dice apples into 1/4" cubes. Put in sauce pan on medium high heat. Add all other ingredients, stirring frequently, until the mixture comes to a simmer. Let cook an additional 2 minutes then remove from the heat. Set aside.
Caramel Sauce:
- Add all ingredients to bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Assembly:
- Once dough has risen, remove from bowl and dice in 3/4" size cubes. Mix with dough coating mix. I do this is steps to prevent dough from sticking back together, until all dough has been cut and coated.
- Lightly spray Bundt pan with baking spray. Add 1/3 caramel sauce to bottom of the pan (make sure to stir well first each time) and then add a layer of dough balls in Bundt pan. The layers do not need to completely cover since the dough will rise again about 20-30%. Add 1/3 apple filling, then another layer of dough. Repeat until all ingredients are gone, ending with the layer of caramel.
- Cut off the top 1/3 of 3 wooden skewers. Place in Bundt pan equally apart from each other, then cover with kitchen towel. The skewers will prevent the caramel sauce sticking to the kitchen towel when it rises. Let sit for 40 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove skewers from dough and place on a baking sheet. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 40 minutes, then cover with foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. You will know it's done when you can insert a skewer and it comes out clean of dough (check carefully, if you hit a bunch of apples you may think it's dough residue).
- Let sit for 5 minutes, then flip upside down on cake platter. Store any leftovers in the refridgerator. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe reheats very well, just microwave for 30 seconds and it’s like it came right out of the oven!
Try different add-ons in this recipe, replace the apple with raisins (or just add raisins), dried cherries, blueberries! Your imagination is the limit! Experiment with different nut and fruit combinations based on what you and your family loves!
Nutrition
Serving: 116th | Calories: 456kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 318mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 540IU | Vitamin C: 6.5mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
