Monkey in a Tree

Were you mystified by this title while you were browsing our recipes? Pull-apart bread (monkey bread) in a tree pan is a festive holiday breakfast. Make it the night before, freeze, then bake in the morning for a hot, cinnamon-y, no-fuss treat. Are you an early riser? Do the whole thing Christmas morning; you'll need just over an hour, start to finish.
Read our blog about these breakfast biscuits, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Buns
- 4 cups King Arthur Mellow Pastry Blend; OR 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour + 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 to 2 1/4 cups heavy cream
Coating
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted, OR 1/3 cup milk
- 1 to 1 1/4 cups Cinnamon-Sugar Plus or your own cinnamon-sugar
Directions
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Lightly grease a 12" x 9" paper tree pan. Or grease a 9" x 13" pan, line with parchment, and grease the parchment. Parchment isn't absolutely necessary, but it makes it easier to get the bubbly, sugary buns out of the pan once they're baked. |
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1) Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. |
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3) Gather the dough in your hands and knead it a few times to make sure there are no dry spots. |
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4) Place the cinnamon sugar in a small, shallow bowl or pan; or in a plastic zip-top bag. |
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8) Next day, remove the pan from the freezer, and let the buns rest at room temperature while you preheat your oven to 350°F. The buns don't need to thaw. If you're using a paper tree pan, set it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil, to catch any potential drips. |
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10) Remove from the oven, and serve immediately, right from the tree pan. If you've baked in a 9" x 13" pan, turn the buns out of the pan onto a serving platter. |
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11) Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired, right before serving. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 15 mins. to 25 mins.
- Baking time:
- 45 mins. to 1 hrs 10 mins.
- Total time:
- 60 mins. to 13 hrs 35 mins.
- Yield:
- 8 to 12 servings

- Recipe comments (6) »
Tips from our bakers
- Can you refrigerate these overnight, rather than freeze? Yes, but they won't bake up as well. Refrigeration slows, but doesn't stop the action of the baking powder, so it very gradually loses its punch overnight. But frozen, the baking powder holds up just fine.
- If you dip the dough balls in butter, the buns will be stickier and richer. A bath in milk produces a "lighter" bun, both in taste, and calories.
Reviews
07/30/2009
Very easy to make and a huge hit with my family. Made these for Christmas morning 2008. Made them 3 days ahead, froze, and baked them first thing in the morning. They were very sweet, even without the confectioner's sugar on top (I forgot to add that). I used parchment paper on the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 glass baking dish, which made it very easy to remove the biscuits after baking. My daughter has requested these for her birthday breakfast this weekend, so I am making them again this evening.
02/09/2009
This is so delicious! My kids and I love monkey bread, but usually make a yeast version that takes FOREVER to make. This one is just as delicious, maybe even more so, and ready in a fraction of the time! I halved the recipe and used rice flour in place of the cornstarch (didn't have the mellow pastry blend on hand). They turned out great with this substitution. Thanks for such a yummy breakfast treat!
01/09/2009
Bread was very doughy - did not pull apart. Greased the paper tree pan that I ordered from Kin Arthur and the bread still stuck to the pan. My family didn't even finish the bread.
12/30/2008
This was a good recipe but I was not prepared for it to taste like coffee cake instead of the sticky, gooey monkey bread I am used to. I made it exactly as indicated (and GREATLY appreciated the thorough, step-by-step instructions). Again, it tasted good, but I probably will not make it again since it was essentially a coffee cake.
12/26/2008
We enjoyed this recipe Christmas morning. It's EASY, TASTY, and my family loved it. I made a half recipe and baked it in a square glass dish.
12/26/2008
While this recipe was very easy and convenient to prepare, the flavor just wasn't as good as expected. I made it in the tree pan for Christmas morning, and while it looked lovely, few people who ate it were impressed with the flavor. I thought it would be really sweet, but the dough was actually pretty bland and not sweet at all. Nice texture, but could have used more flavor. Next time I'll try a yeast-raised Monkey bread recipe...maybe that will have a better taste. I am surprised that we didn't like this recipe very much--I bake a LOT of KAF recipes, and almost all of them are stellar! (The No-Fuss Coffeecake, which we also had on Christmas, is a great example. Deeeeeelicious!)

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