Instant Pot Monkey Bread—an easy 5-ingredient recipe for pull apart gooey cinnamon sweet bread.
Instant Pot Monkey Bread
Have you ever tried monkey bread before? It’s a fun and easy recipe that uses canned biscuits, cinnamon, sugar and butter. Basically you cut up the biscuit dough into small-ish pieces and roll them in cinnamon and sugar. You place the biscuit pieces into a pan (for the Instant Pot I use a half size bundt cake pan*). Then there’s a buttery-brown sugar sauce that’s poured over the top. The “bread” is baked in the oven, typically, but today I’m showing you how to cook it in the Instant Pot. Then you pull off pieces of the bread and pop them in your mouth…careful not to burn the roof of your mouth like I did though.
Even though this is a “cheater” recipe, meaning that it’s so easy and uses canned biscuits instead of homemade, it’s really tasty! It’s always a favorite with kids because the little pieces of biscuits are fun to break off and you don’t even need a knife to cut it.
You can get fancy with this recipe by adding in chopped pecans or walnuts or even dried fruit like raisins or craisins. But it’s pretty much just as good without all the extras.
I have only made this recipe in my bundt cake pan*. I find that “baking” in the Instant Pot works best with this type of pan because the air can circulate around it and cook evenly. If you want to try this in a regular cake pan I would suggest increasing the cooking time by 5 minutes.
You can see exactly how to make this monkey bread by watching my Youtube video. And if you are a visual learner make sure to subscribe to my channel. I post Instant Pot stuff over there pretty much every week.
Try these other Instant Pot recipes too…
Instant Pot 4-Ingredient Banana Bread
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Monkey Bread I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Want more tried and true Instant Pot recipes?
The 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking website has 3-4 new Instant Pot recipes a week! If you sign up for my emails (fill out the form below) you’ll receive an email each time something new is on the site. You can also join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group which is run by my husband Greg and myself. If you’re a visual learner consider subscribing to my YouTube channel where I share Instant Pot stuff with you weekly.
Instant Pot Monkey Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
An easy 5-ingredient recipe for pull apart gooey cinnamon sweet bread.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 (16.3 oz) can of biscuits
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare your 6 cup (half size) bundt cake pan by spraying it with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a bowl stir together the white sugar and cinnamon. In another bowl stir together the brown sugar and melted butter.
- Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces with kitchen shears.
- Toss the biscuits into the sugar and roll to coat each piece. (There will be leftover sugar, just discard)
- Place each coated biscuit piece into the bundt cake pan. (If you add nuts randomly sprinkle them throughout the pan) When you’re halfway through the biscuits pour half of the brown sugar mixture over the biscuit pieces. Finish placing the rest of the biscuit pieces on top. Then pour the rest of the brown sugar mixture evenly over the top.
- Loosely cover the pan with foil. Pour 1 1/2 cups of water in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place the pan on a trivet/sling and lower it into the bottom of the Instant Pot. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 20 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for another 10 minutes. Remove the lid.
- Use hot pads to remove the pan from the Instant Pot.
- Invert the bundt cake pan onto a plate. Pick pieces off the monkey bread and enjoy.
Notes
My bundt cake pan*: https://amzn.to/2CMOoMT
My silicone sling*: https://amzn.to/2STGtEX
My Instant Pot*: http://amzn.to/2rlEsTU
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Curious George rocks! So do you, Karen. Ever since you emailed me this recipe back in 2019, I’ve been making this for all my neighbors for Christmas! They love it & it’s so quick & easy to do. THANKS!!
★★★★★
That’s so fun Kim!
It’s such a delicious sounding recipe, but mine didn’t cook through properly. I followed the instructions to a T, and my dough was mostly raw upon completion, and it all just fell apart.
I’ll try it again, I just have no idea what went wrong!
★★★
Did you use a bundt cake pan?
The same thing happened with me. I used a Bundt cake pan and cooked it exactly following the directions. I think one biscuit piece was cooked through. That was frustrating.
★★
I don’t have a Bundt pan that fits my ip, do you think my spring form will work?
Yes but it might be gooey in the middle 🙂
I am from Canada and could not find the Pillsbury Grands! Southern Homestyle Buttermilk Biscuits so I use the Pillsbury Country Biscuits and it was very good – my biggest challenge was opening the can – I added pecans and my husband loved this dish. The recipe was easy and fun to do, will make again. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Hi Helene! I am glad they worked out for you! thanks for sharing your experience 🙂
Here is the photo: https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/273064e3-9d79-4beb-7b84-458fbfcea5b4
YUMMMMMM your pics are always so amazing
Love your recipe!
Hey what was the depth of your Bundt pan? Do you think you could another on top of your first in the 6 qt IP pot?
★★★★★
*place another on top and set in IP pot
My bundt pan is a 6 cup pan it’s also called half size bundt. I am not sure what the depth is. But here is a link to it: https://amzn.to/2CMOoMT
CAN you Make this with Splenda
I haven’t tried that yet. I am not familiar with splenda so I can’t say for sure. You could give it a shot!
I made this for the first time this morning as part of our Christmas brunch. It was amazing and will definitely make again!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Laura!
Omg the monkey bread was amazing! I tried it last night after buying a super cute lil 6″ bundt pan at Walmart. I’m so glad I did. It was really easy to do. The only problem was that my pan was smaller than your pan and I could only fit 4 biscuits in mine. But I don’t care. It tasted wonderful! Thank you Karen!
★★★★★
Haha that is a built in way to ensure you don’t overeat Bonnie! Good idea about the 6 inch bundt pan I’ll have to look at Walmart next time I go. Thanks for the idea!
I wish we had canned biscuits in Australia. Makes things so easy.
Sad! You don’t have any canned biscuits. I really loved canned biscuits. Most of the time I make homemade foods but biscuits are the one food I usually just go with the convenience factor.
Is it possible to halve this recipe for a 3 qt. IP? I don’t have a 6 qt. one. If I can cut it down, what do I use besides a bundt pan? There are no bundt pans smaller than the one you use. Thanks for any help you can give me! 🙂
Do you have any pans for pot in pot cooking in the 3 quart pot? I am not familiar if they make pans small enough for that. If so I’d use that. If not, maybe bake in the oven instead?
I made this in 6-qt for Thanksgiving – so easy & delicious, a hit with everyone, thanks Karen!💓 Jeanne, I usually cook for myself in the 3-qt. Even though bundt pans are now readily available for 3-qt size, I’ve never bothered to get one – I just improvise. (That pan is on my list though) Always halve recipes for 3 -qt & always great results. I haven’t made this recipe in the 3-qt yet, but anytime a recipe calls for a bundt pan, I use a 6″ cake pan & a tomato paste can. Peel off the paper label & wash well – make sure to remove any paper label glue. Spray inside & out with non- stick spray & place in the center of your pan, then add your ingredients. Take out tomato paste can after cooking, voila! I’m thinking a small can of 5 biscuits to make this in the 3-qt. Hope this helps!
★★★★★
Good tips Jan! Thanks.
I did not see anything about the amount of water in the bottom of the liner.
Barbara, Karen did mention 1.5 cups of water in the liner.
Oh Barbara it must be Monday. I just corrected the recipe. Thanks for pointing that out.