Overnight Monkey Bread – A Favorite Christmas Breakfast Recipe

This Overnight Monkey Bread is one of my favorite breakfast recipes when I need to feed a crowd, especially on a holiday morning. Sweet, pull-apart rolls that are coated in a delicious glaze and baked in a bundt pan.

As much as my family loves my Breakfast Casserole, Cinnamon Roll Casserole and Instant Pot French Toast Casserole, these rolls are always the first to be gone from the buffet table.

But what I like most about this recipe is that it is prepared the night before you want to serve it. The rolls then sit on the counter overnight to thaw and blend with the other ingredients.

Then when you wake up in the morning the only thing left to do is to put it in the oven and bake it! And in about 30 minutes, you ready to sink your teeth into sweet rolls that are coated in a sticky and delicious glaze and topped with pecan pieces.

How To Make Overnight Monkey Bread

INGREDIENTS

This simple, yet hugely popular recipe requires only 5 ingredients. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

• Frozen, Thaw, Rise & Bake Dinner Rolls*
• Chopped Pecans
• Box of Cook and Serve Butterscotch Pudding**
• Unsalted Butter
• Light Brown Sugar

*Frozen Dinner Rolls

The base of this recipe begins with a bag of frozen dinner rolls. Although they can sometimes be tricky to find at the grocery store, I most often find them in the freezer section by the frozen pizza dough.

However, sometimes you can find them near the garlic bread or frozen pie crusts instead. Just be sure that you are buying thaw, rise & bake dinner rolls and not heat-and-serve rolls.

**The Pudding

Although the base of this overnight monkey bread starts with the frozen dinner rolls, what makes these rolls so delicious is the sweet and sticky glaze.

It is a made by sprinkling cook and serve butterscotch pudding on top of the frozen rolls. Then a simple mixture of melted butter and brown sugar is drizzled on top of the dry pudding and rolls.

However, it is critical that you do not mistakenly use Instant Butterscotch Pudding. The pudding must be the ‘cook and serve’ type. It is easy to pick up the wrong box at the grocery so be sure to take a double, and maybe even a triple look when you are checking out.

And no, you don’t need the other ingredients listed on the box to actually make the pudding You will need only the dry pudding powder. Simply open the packet and sprinkle the powder on top of the frozen rolls.

Then during the baking process, the other ingredients blend together and spread out and over top of the rolls.

What Type of Pan To Use

So what type of pan is best to use to make this overnight monkey bread? I prefer to make this recipe in a bundt pan, not only because of the beautiful serving presentation, but it also allows the bread to be pulled apart easily from all directions.

However, if you don’t have a bundt pan, you can also make this recipe in a deep dish 9 x 13 baking pan or two bread loaf pans.

Just remember when you are picking out the pan that you want to use a deep dish pan. That is because the bread will rise as it thaws overnight. Therefore, be sure to have a pan deep enough to allow for this expansion.

RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS

The first step in preparing the overnight monkey bread is to spray non-stick cooking spray in the bottom and up the sides of the dish or dishes that you picked out.

Then evenly sprinkle the chopped pecans in the bottom of the dish. Now open the package of the frozen dinner rolls and spread them out evenly throughout the pan.

You will need the entire package as the frozen rolls should be stacked on top of each other, in at least 3 layers.

Then sprinkle the tops of the frozen rolls with the dry, cook and serve, butterscotch pudding. Then set the pan aside while you prepare the other glaze ingredients.

In a small saucepan melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar until it melts. Pour this hot mixture over the top of the rolls and pudding.

The liquid will drizzle down between the frozen rolls to the bottom layer. After you have used all of the butter and sugar mixture cover the top of the dish with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

The spray is necessary because the rolls will thaw and rise overnight and touch the top of the plastic. The spray will make it easier to remove the plastic in the morning.

Baking Instructions

When you wake up, you will be shocked at how much that the rolls grew in size. The dough may even be slightly taller than the sides of your baking dish. No worries!

As long as they are not falling out of the pan, the overnight monkey bread is ready for the oven!

Place an oven rack in the lowest position and another one just below the middle slot of your oven. Then preheat the oven and line a baking dish with parchment paper. This is to help catch any drippings that may fall out of the pan and prevent the sugary substance from smoking on the bottom of the oven.

When the oven is hot and ready, place the prepared baking sheet on the bottom rack and then place the monkey bread on the rack placed right below the middle slot.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the monkey bread from oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. As the bread cools, it will deflate somewhat.

To serve, place a large plate over the top of the baking dish and carefully flip it over. You will see that the bread comes out easily if the pan was well greased.

Be sure to remove any pecan pieces that may be on the bottom of the pan and place them on the top surface. Once it is cool enough to touch, pull the sticky rolls apart to eat.

Enjoy! Mary

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