Strawberry Monkey Bread is a fresh spring take on the classic! Fluffy balls of homemade dough, cinnamon sugar and sweet strawberries make this perfect for a Spring brunch!
You may be wondering what exactly is a monkey bread?
Monkey bread is is balls of yeasted dough dipped in butter and rolled around in cinnamon sugar creates such a wonderful gooey mess. A gooey mess that is even more wonderful from the sweet strawberries tucked in between each fluffy pillow of dough. The scent of this monkey bread baking is dreamy. Cinnamon-sugary dough and all that sweet strawberry bakes together and it is truly dreamy!
When you flip it out onto you serving dish, there is this incredible cinnamon-sugar-strawberry sauce just waiting for you to dive into!
I had many ideas for this berry theme! Where to start? A fun quick bread was of course on my mind. Then I was going a breakfast bread route like the blueberry bread I made last year. I then was remembering it’s been a while since I made a monkey bread and they are always very welcomed here.
I was thinking about my friend Shelley’s strawberry version she made with #TwelveLoaves last year and thought it would be perfect for our Berry theme this April. I used this gooey sticky cinnamon bun dough recipe which is a really reliable dough that I use for some many recipe. I think these would be delightful also with blueberries. Just make them…trust me, make them! You may not even have the patience to flip it out onto a serving plate and may dig right into the bundt pan. Just be sure to not burn your fingers.
How do you make a monkey bread?
The first think you have to do is gather all your ingredients. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this delicious pull-apart bread!
- whole milk
- active dry yeast
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- unsalted butter, melted
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- butter
- sugar
- cinnamon
- strawberries, cleaned and sliced
Once you have every thing together, the next step is to start the yeast based dough.
Strawberry Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- DOUGH
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 ounce envelope active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water 100 to 110 degrees
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 4 1/2-5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- FOR DOUGH BALLS
- 1 stick butter melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2-4 teaspoons cinnamon depending on how much cinnamon flavor you like
- 1 cup strawberries cleaned and sliced
- STRAWBERRY SAUCE
- 1 cup strawberries cleaned and sliced
- 3/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- DOUGH
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and let stand until cooled to room temperature. Meanwhile, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bowl.
- Add 1 T of the sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Beat in the remaining 2 T sugar, eggs and butter. Beat in cooled milk. Gradually add the flour and salt, scraping down side of bowl, until a soft dough forms.
- Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead the remaining flour into the dough, adding more flour if too sticky. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. The dough will be soft.
- Grease a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- While dough is rising, melt the butter; set aside. In a large plastic baggie, add sugar and cinnamon. Give it a shake to combine it well. Spray a bundt pan with baking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F.
- STRAWBERRY SAUCE
- Add the strawberries with the sugar to a medium sauce pan. Cook the berries on medium heat. Stir occasionally and simmer until you have a nice texture (about 10 minutes). When ready, set aside.
- ASSEMBLE
- Punch down dough when it is ready. Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and portion it out into 1/2” size balls. Dip each ball into the butter and add to the baggie with the cinnamon sugar (I added about 6 balls at a time).
- Give it a good shake and start to layer it in the bundt pan. Add some strawberries in between the cinnamon sugar dough balls.
- Keep layering the balls and strawberries and make sure it is an even top layer (you can move the balls around to make sure it looks even.)Tuck any leftover strawberries between the balls. Place the bundt pan on a parchment lined baking sheet (you may have some strawberry juices overflow).
- BAKE
- Bake for a about 40-50 minutes or until it is a nice golden color. Check after 30 minutes. If it seems to be getting too brown too fast, cover with a loose layer of tin foil. When done baking, flip over onto your serving plate and dig in! Serve with strawberry sauce.
Notes
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Look at what our very talented #TwelveLoaves bakers created for the challenge!
- Lemon Blueberry Bread by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom
- Yoghurt Scones With Cranberries by Rossella at Ma che ti sei mangiato
- Raspberry Quick Bread by Holly at A Baker’s House
- Mixed Berry Bread by Renee at Magnolia Days
- Raspberry Danish by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Strawberry Cinnamon Swirl Bread by Paula at Vintage Kitchen
- Berry Oatmeal Muffins by Roxana at Roxana’s Home Baking
- Strawberry Monkey Bread by Lora at Savoring Italy
- Berry Breakfast Bread by Dionne at Try Anything Once
- Strawberry Scones by Karen at Karen’s Kitchen Stories
It's too early for this kind of temptation! Yowza, this looks amazing.
Wow Lora, such a gorgeous bread! Monkey bread is such an accomplishment. Baking yeasted bread with fresh fruit is great, but not seen often. Love this recipe!
Yum, this looks great, Lora! Can't wait to bake this month!! 🙂
This looks divine.. Will try this!!
Yum, this strawberry pull apart bread looks perfect for Spring!
Your monkey bread looks so beautiful! Lora, your creations always look like timeless works of art that I can actually create in my own kitchen! I kinda have a crush on this monkey bread and the piece of bread with strawberries on it really sealed the deal for me.
I am totally baking this!!! LOVE! looks delicious!
Absolutely love your spring spin on monkey bread with the strawberries, yum!
My daughter is a monkey bread addict! She will love this lovely twist with strawberries! Lovely, Lora!!!
We LOVE monkey bread around here…this one will be on our menu soon! The caramelly dough balls spiked with berries look phenomenal! Thanks for hosting us, Lora!!!
This monkey bread looks absolutely amazing Lora! I totally want some right now! You're a genius, adding sliced berries. Mmm
What a lovely monkey bread Lora! I have to admit I've never made monkey bread (I know, I know). It does look so very good. Nice flavor bump with the strawberries too.
I cant even imagine how GOOD this must be!!! Wow, I want to rip off big hunks, asap. Pinning!
Pretty amazing as usual Lora! The photos are stunning and the dough sounds fantastic. I can imagine that the bread didn't last very long. =)
Monkey see, monkey do! Hehehe…I am loving this recipe! Looks like it's fun to do on a weekend!
I made monkey bread when I was 21 years old. The recipe was from a Good Housekeeping cookbook. Everyone went nuts over it! I haven't made it since and it begs the question..WHY? I'm going to try and get one in! I love the strawberries in it! Definitely a unique and lovely twist!
Oh, this almost reminds me a bunch of strawberry-glazed doughnut holes (my fav!) all stuck together to form one giant doughnut!
I love recipe photos that beckon for a revisit. 🙂
P.S. Thanks again for the amazing cookbook!
Yum! I love monkey bread and have actually wanted to make a fruity version! Your bread looks gorgeous
I didn't know anything about monkey bread before reading your post. It looks great and now I want to try it.
I need this in my life immediately!