Coffee Creamer Gives Your Monkey Bread A Rich Upgrade

Pull-apart monkey bread is the classic, comforting breakfast pastry or coffee snack that's fun to eat and ready in less than 30 minutes. That cinnamon-sugared mound is the darling of the brunch table spread, especially when it's elevated with another brunch staple: coffee creamer. Adding a splash of creamer into the mix creates a lush texture in your monkey bread, packing all the moisture of heavy cream plus deep, rich flavor.

This upgrade works whether you're making monkey bread from scratch or by using canned refrigerated biscuit dough for easier prep. If you're working with refrigerated dough (like in our cinnamon roll monkey bread recipe), cut each raw biscuit into quarters, then dredge every piece in a custardy mixture of coffee creamer, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla, beaten together in a mixing bowl. From there, just arrange the coated dough pieces in the bundt pan as you normally would. That's it — a single step that makes a world of difference for your gooey cinnamon treat. Alternatively, if you're making your monkey bread dough from scratch, swap the regular whole milk in the dough with coffee creamer for a richer bite.

For an extra flavorful finishing touch, whisk together a little confectioner's sugar and coffee creamer as a gooey glaze to drizzle over your still-warm monkey bread. If you prefer to finish your monkey bread with a draping of delectable caramel sauce, swap the heavy cream in the sauce for flavored coffee creamer, using the same amount. 

Experiment with different flavors of coffee creamer to customize the overall taste of your dessert. To let the classic cinnamon sugar taste shine in your monkey bread, opt for Italian sweet cream flavored coffee creamer. Alternatively, hazelnut, French vanilla, English toffee, caramel, amaretto, coconut creme, almond, or pumpkin spice flavored coffee creamers would all make complementary pairings with cinnamon-y monkey bread. If you're feeling ambitious, you could even make homemade coffee creamer yourself. But, the store-bought stuff works totally fine here (and International Delight is our favorite brand, for the record).

For easy entertaining, you can prep monkey bread in the bundt pan ahead of time and chill it in the fridge for up to one full hour before you plan to pop it in the oven. Just wait to pour the melted butter mixture over the dough until right before baking, and drizzle the coffee creamer glaze over the still-warm bread right before serving. Covered, leftovers will last for three to four days in the fridge or one to two days on the countertop, and can be reheated in 20-30 seconds in the microwave. If your monkey bread dries out by day three, hit it with another layer of that aforementioned coffee creamer powdered sugar glaze for that moist, sticky monkey bread finish.