Easy Chocolate-Stuffed Christmas Monkey Bread: A Festive Holiday Breakfast Treat
Imagine waking up on Christmas morning to the warm, inviting aroma of freshly baked goodness. This easy monkey bread recipe, made with convenient refrigerated biscuit dough, is a holiday dream come true. Each delectable piece is generously stuffed with melting chocolate and crowned with vibrant Christmas sprinkles, making it the perfect sweet treat to share with your loved ones on that special morning. It’s a truly magical way to kick off your holiday celebrations.
There’s something inherently delightful about ooey-gooey, pull-apart monkey bread. It’s a classic treat that evokes childhood memories and brings smiles to every face. This particular variation elevates the experience, making it an all-time favorite for breakfast, brunch, or even a killer dessert. With all that rich sugar and, in this case, luscious chocolate, it truly is a versatile and indulgent option for any time of day. Much like these irresistible OREO cinnamon buns, it promises to be a crowd-pleaser.
The Magic of Christmas Monkey Bread
This holiday season, surprise your family with a truly special sweet offering: a chocolate-stuffed monkey bread that’s as festive as it is delicious. While all monkey bread holds a special place in our hearts, this Christmas monkey bread stands out. What makes it so exceptionally amazing? The secret lies in each individual piece of biscuit dough, which is lovingly stuffed with a melt-in-your-mouth Hershey’s Kiss. This simple addition transforms a classic into an extraordinary holiday masterpiece.
Every single bite of this festive monkey bread is an explosion of flavor. As you pull apart a warm, soft piece, the melted chocolate oozes out, creating a rich, decadent experience that is beyond incredible. The combination of the warm cinnamon-sugar coating, the tender biscuit, and the molten chocolate core, all brightened by the cheerful crunch of holiday sprinkles, makes this a truly unforgettable treat. It’s the kind of dish that becomes an instant Christmas tradition, eagerly anticipated year after year.
How to Make Easy Christmas Monkey Bread with Refrigerated Biscuits
One of the best things about this chocolate-stuffed Christmas monkey bread is how incredibly simple it is to prepare, thanks to the magic of store-bought refrigerated biscuit dough. This recipe is designed for ease, allowing you to spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying the holiday cheer with your family. Before you begin, gather all your ingredients and necessary supplies to ensure a smooth and enjoyable baking process.
Ingredients for Your Festive Monkey Bread:
- 2 packages refrigerated biscuit dough: For this recipe, we recommend using flaky layer biscuits like Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Layers Original refrigerated biscuits. These create a wonderful texture that’s perfect for pulling apart. Most packages contain 8 biscuits, so two packages will give you 16 biscuits to work with, which then get cut into quarters.
- 2 sticks unsalted butter: Unsalted butter allows you to control the overall saltiness of the dish, providing a cleaner, richer flavor for the caramel sauce.
- 1 cup white sugar: This granulated sugar forms the base of our delicious cinnamon-sugar coating.
- 1/2 cup brown sugar: Used in the butter sauce, brown sugar adds a deep, molasses-rich flavor and a beautifully sticky, caramel-like consistency to the finished monkey bread.
- 4 tbsp. ground cinnamon: The essential spice for any monkey bread, cinnamon provides that classic warm, inviting aroma and flavor that perfectly complements the biscuit and chocolate.
- Hershey Kisses (any flavor): These are the delightful chocolate surprise inside each dough ball. You can use classic milk chocolate Kisses, or get creative with flavors like caramel, mint, or even special holiday editions for an extra festive touch. Make sure to unwrap them all before you start assembling!
- Christmas sprinkles: These are not just for decoration! We’ll be adding some inside the dough balls and a generous amount on top after baking to give this monkey bread its undeniable holiday sparkle and crunch.
Essential Supplies:
- Bundt pan: This distinctive fluted pan is key to achieving the iconic monkey bread shape, allowing for even baking and easy pull-apart pieces.
- Non-stick spray: Absolutely crucial for ensuring your monkey bread releases cleanly from the bundt pan after baking, preserving its beautiful shape and avoiding any sticky situations.
- Large plastic baggie (gallon-sized): This is your best friend for coating the biscuit dough balls evenly and efficiently with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Cutting board and knife (or pizza cutter): For easily quartering your biscuit dough.
Using store-bought biscuit dough is the secret to making this Christmas monkey bread recipe incredibly quick and easy to prepare. There’s no need for proofing yeast or kneading dough from scratch, which is a huge time-saver during the busy holiday season. Whether you opt for Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Layers refrigerated Original biscuits or another brand of flaky biscuit dough, the results will be wonderfully delicious and surprisingly effortless.
Once you’ve gathered everything, the first step is to carefully remove the biscuit dough from its packaging. Lay each biscuit out flat on a clean cutting board. Then, using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter (which is a fantastic pro tip for speed and efficiency!), cut each biscuit into four equal quarters. This creates the perfect bite-sized pieces for your pull-apart monkey bread.
Now comes the fun, creative part! You’ll work with one quarter of biscuit dough at a time to create your chocolate-stuffed delights. The process is simple:
- Flatten the dough: Gently press each quarter of dough between your palms or on the cutting board until it forms a small, somewhat flat disk. This creates the perfect wrapper for your chocolate.
- Add sprinkles: For an extra festive surprise, sprinkle a small amount of Christmas sprinkles directly onto the flattened dough. This adds color and a subtle crunch within each piece.
- Add a Hershey Kiss: Place one unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the center of your flattened, sprinkled dough.
- Roll into a ball: Carefully gather the edges of the dough around the Hershey Kiss, pinching them firmly together to completely seal the chocolate inside. Roll the dough gently between your hands to form a neat, round ball. Ensure the chocolate is fully enclosed to prevent it from leaking out during baking.
Repeat this process for all the biscuit quarters until you have a tray full of these sweet, chocolate-filled dough balls.
Next, prepare your cinnamon-sugar coating. In a large plastic baggie (a gallon-sized Ziploc works perfectly), combine the white granulated sugar and ground cinnamon. Give the bag a good shake to thoroughly mix these fragrant ingredients. Then, add a few of your chocolate-stuffed dough balls into the bag at a time. Close the bag and gently shake and toss until each dough ball is perfectly and evenly coated in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Remove the coated balls and place them directly into your prepared bundt pan. Continue this process in batches until all your dough balls are beautifully coated and arranged in the pan, forming an even layer.
Now it’s time to make the delicious caramel-butter sauce that will seep into every crevice of your monkey bread. In a saucepan, melt the unsalted butter over medium heat. Once the butter is fully melted, stir in the brown sugar. Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, until the brown sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth and syrupy. This rich sauce is what gives monkey bread its signature gooey texture and decadent flavor. Carefully pour this warm, golden sauce evenly over the dough balls in the bundt pan, ensuring every piece is generously coated.
Place the bundt pan into your preheated oven and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 40 minutes. Keep an eye on it towards the end of the baking time; you’re looking for the outside of the dough to turn a deep, golden brown, indicating it’s perfectly cooked through and caramelized. The aroma filling your kitchen will be absolutely incredible!
Once baked to perfection, remove the monkey bread from the oven. Resist the urge to immediately flip it out! Allow it to cool in the bundt pan for a full 10 minutes. This crucial cooling time allows the caramel sauce to set slightly and the monkey bread to firm up, preventing it from falling apart when inverted. After 10 minutes, place a serving plate upside down over the bundt pan, then carefully (and confidently!) flip the monkey bread over onto the plate. The gorgeous, golden-brown loaf will slide right out.
For an extra flourish of festive cheer, immediately add more sprinkles to the warm monkey bread. In my opinion, you can truly never have too many sprinkles when it comes to Christmas treats! Let the colorful sprinkles rain down, making your monkey bread even more appealing. Now, this should be obvious, but it’s always worth mentioning: do not attempt to cut your monkey bread with a knife. The joy of monkey bread is in its pull-apart nature! Use your fingers to grab and pull apart individual, sticky, gooey pieces to eat. Yes, it will be delightfully sticky and a little messy, but trust me, it is so, so worth every delicious bite.
To make your Christmas morning breakfast even more special, serve this chocolate-stuffed monkey bread alongside a refreshing glass of Christmas breakfast punch. The bright, fruity punch provides a wonderful contrast to the rich, sweet monkey bread, creating a balanced and incredibly festive holiday meal that your family will adore.
This chocolate-stuffed Christmas monkey bread is more than just a recipe; it’s an opportunity to create cherished holiday memories with your family. The simplicity of its preparation combined with its irresistible flavor makes it a perfect addition to your festive traditions. I truly hope you and your family enjoy this delightful Christmas morning treat and that you have a very happy and sweet holiday season filled with joy and delicious food!
Don’t miss these other Tasty Christmas Treats:
- Gingerbread Monkey Bread – Another fantastic and festive option for Christmas breakfast, bringing classic holiday spices to the pull-apart fun!
- Hershey Kiss cookies – Don’t let those extra Hershey Kisses go to waste! Use them to bake a batch of these adorable and delicious holiday cookies, perfect for gifting or sharing.
- Sugar cookie fudge – This easy fudge recipe is a brilliant way to use up any leftover holiday sprinkles, creating a colorful and super sweet treat everyone will love.
Christmas Monkey Bread
Author: Jaclyn
Equipment
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Wilton Perfect Results Non-Stick Fluted Tube Pan
Ingredients
- 2 packages of refrigerated biscuit dough
- Christmas sprinkles
- Hershey Kisses unwrapped (any flavor is fine)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Thoroughly prepare your bundt pan with a generous layer of non-stick cooking spray, ensuring every crevice is covered for easy release later. Set aside.
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Carefully open your packages of refrigerated biscuit dough. Lay each biscuit flat on a clean cutting board. Using a sharp knife or, for an extra time-saving trick, a pizza roller, cut each biscuit into four equal quarters. Take one biscuit quarter, gently flatten it into a small disk. Add a pinch of Christmas sprinkles onto the flattened dough, then place one unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the center. Carefully gather the edges of the dough around the chocolate, pinching firmly to seal the Kiss completely inside. Roll it gently into a neat ball. Repeat this process for all remaining biscuit quarters.
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In a large (gallon-sized) zipper baggie, combine the white granulated sugar and ground cinnamon. Seal the bag and give it a good shake to thoroughly mix the ingredients. Add a few chocolate-stuffed dough balls into the bag at a time (working in batches prevents overcrowding and ensures even coating). Close the bag and gently toss until each dough ball is fully and evenly coated in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Remove the coated balls from the ziplock bag and arrange them in an even layer within your prepared bundt pan. Continue this step until all dough balls are coated and placed in the bundt pan.
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In a medium saucepan, melt the two sticks of unsalted butter over medium heat. Once the butter is completely melted, add the brown sugar to the pan. Stir continuously until the brown sugar has fully dissolved and the mixture is smooth and syrupy. This creates a rich, gooey caramel sauce. Carefully pour this warm sauce evenly over all the biscuit dough balls in the bundt pan, ensuring every piece is coated.
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Place the bundt pan into your preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top of the monkey bread turns a deep golden brown and the dough is cooked through. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for exactly 10 minutes. This cooling time is important for the caramel to set and for the monkey bread to release easily. After 10 minutes, carefully place a large serving plate over the top of the bundt pan and, holding both firmly, flip the monkey bread over onto the plate. Gently lift the bundt pan. Add a few more generous shakes of Christmas sprinkles over the warm monkey bread for extra festive sparkle, then serve immediately and enjoy by pulling apart individual pieces with your fingers!
Notes
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