Making Monkey Bread? Add A Splash Of This Ingredient For The Gooiest Bite

The pull-apart character of a freshly-baked monkey bread makes it perfect for sharing. Sweet, sticky, and naturally portioned into bite-sized nuggets of pillowy-soft dough, this heavenly dessert is delectably dreamy as is. However, if you want your monkey bread to be even gooier, add a splash of dairy to the sauce.

A traditional monkey bread is prepared with balls of yeasted dough — or canned biscuits to make it quicker — that are coated in a cinnamon sugar mixture, tumbled into a Bundt tin, and generously drizzled with a syrup made of brown sugar and melted butter before baking. As the dough balls rise, the syrup thickens up, lending the popular breakfast and brunch dish a sticky, glossy finish with a slightly crisp caramelized edge. The only problem? It needs to be eaten while hot before the sugary coating has time to cool and set too hard. Adding a dash of cream or butter to the sauce, which essentially makes it closer to a homemade caramel, eliminates this issue, producing a monkey bread that remains softer and gooier once cooled. This occurs because the higher fat and moisture content in the dairy ingredients prevent the sugar from crystallizing and setting.

The addition of cream can prove particularly useful if you're making monkey bread for a dinner party because you won't have to serve it immediately. It can sit on the counter to cool slightly and remain gooey and moist until you're ready to serve.

Be sure to use heavy or whipping cream versus a light cream for making your sauce, as the latter can split in high temperatures (that said, you could drizzle light cream over the monkey bread once cooked to lend it a richer quality). The softer texture of a caramel sauce made with cream also makes it easier to invert the finished monkey bread onto a serving platter once cooked. 

Instead of becoming too crisp and sticking to the sides, the bread will easily slide out of the pan in one seamless piece. Of course, part of the appeal of this sweet and sticky dessert is its attractive wreath-like shape, so removing it in one piece is the name of the game. Another trick is to make your monkey bread in the slow cooker. The moist and steamy environment, coupled with a slower cook, produces a softer dough and a gooier coating that's both sticky and aromatic.

Don't have a sweet tooth? You can make a savory cheese monkey bread with herbs, salty bacon, shredded Mozzarella, and parmesan. This recipe has the same pull-apart appeal but can be served at the start of the meal or as a party appetizer.