Last Updated August 21, 2024

You might be familiar with Monkey Bread: soft, cinnamon and sugar bread that tears apart and is oh, so good? You might also know it as Monkey Puzzle Bread. Or its more literal name Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Bread. Or individual pieces of heaven. Or as we call it, Plucketts.

While apparently no one can decide on a name, what everyone is unanimous on is how delicious Monkey Bread is. There is no yeast in Monkey Bread, just baking powder, making for a quick and satisfying baking adventure.

What’s special about this recipe is that instead of being baked in a bundt or other larger pan, these are assembled in a muffin pan, making for individual Monkey Bread Muffins!

The dough comes together in a matter of minutes, then shaped into lots of small balls that are rolled in sugar, and placed in a muffin pan. Melted butter and brown sugar gets drizzled all over before baking, seeping into all those cracks and crevices, which helps to make these easy to pull apart when eating. Finally, a simple glaze finishes off these little treats.

What’s in a name?

Honestly, I have no idea why it's sometimes called monkey bread in the first place. There is no banana involved, and as far as I know a monkey didn't invent the recipe. Maybe people act like monkeys when they eat it? Not to mention we haven’t even gotten through all of its possible names yet.

This and similar recipes are also called Bubble bread, African coffee cake, Hungarian coffee cake, sticky bread, Pinch-Me Bread, Pluck-Its, or even Monkey Brains. Because that last one sounds SO appetizing. A quick Google search has brought me to the conclusion that many people are also confused as to why it's called Monkey Bread, but might be so named because the bread resembles monkeys in a barrel (but does it?), monkeys like to pick at things, or it resembles the bark of the monkey puzzle tree. I guess we shall remain shrouded in mystery, and continue to make up even more names for it as we go along. For now, I’ll just stick with Monkey Bread.

On to the recipe!

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Here's a recipe, there's a recipe, everywhere a recipe:

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Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

Monkey Bread Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

For the Muffins

2 cups + 2 Tbsp / 255g flour
1 Tbsp / 12g sugar
1 Tbsp / 14g baking powder
1/2 tsp / 3g salt
1/2 cup / 120g buttermilk or sour milk*
1/3 cup / 79g milk
5 Tbsp / 70g oil
1/2 cup / 100g sugar
5 Tbsp / 70g butter, melted
2/3 cup / 133g brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

For the Glaze (optional)

1/2 cup / 60g powdered sugar
1 Tbsp / 15g milk

Directions:

Make the Muffins

Oven preheated to 350°F / 177°C.

Lightly grease a muffin pan or line with liners (preferably grease-proof.)
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1 Tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add both milks and oil to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until just combined. Over mixing = dense muffins.
Place 1/2 cup / 100g sugar in a bowl or container with a lid. Scoop out roughly one tsp of dough, round into a ball shape with your palms, and plop into the sugar,. Repeat until you have an even layer of balls in the sugar. Place on lid and gently shake to coat with sugar. Place sugar-coated balls in muffin pan, about six in each cup. Repeat scooping, rolling, and sugar-coating with remaining dough.
In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour evenly over each muffin. Place muffin pan on a baking sheet and bake for 17-19 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown and they no longer look doughy.
Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 15 minutes before removing from pan so they don't fall apart. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin to loosen.

Make the Glaze

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together powdered sugar and milk. Using a spoon, lightly drizzle each muffin with glaze.

Jenny's Notes:

*If you don't have buttermilk, sour milk can be substituted. For every 1 cup milk add 1 Tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Stir and let sit for a minute before using. This works with regular milk, nut milks, and most other milk alternatives.
When first mixed, the batter may seem wet but it quickly becomes scoop-able. Something about baking powder doughs tend to be this way, they seem too wet when it first comes together, then within a matter of seconds it seems fine.
The glaze is optional, mostly depending on if you want that finished look and how sweet you like your monkey muffins. You may notice the actual dough is just lightly sweet, only 1 Tbsp of sugar. The brown sugar butter mixture that gets poured over is what makes these sweet and rich. I personally don’t think they need to be sweeter beyond that, but I do like the glazed/finished look.