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My homemade Vegan Monkey Bread is sure to become an instant holiday hit with your family.
Vegan Monkey Bread
Last year I developed my recipe for Maple Dinner Rolls and it was the best/worst thing to happen to me. I mean, those babies are GOOD. The recipe makes 36 rolls and everyone said “isn’t that a lot of bread?” Well, yes it is, but also, no it’s not. Let’s just say they never got past day 3 in my house. I got to thinking about what else I could make with this magical dough…..monkey bread! I’d actually only had monkey bread once before, so I had to do a little research, but I knew I was on to something. I learned that monkey bread is sometimes called puzzle bread, or pull apart bread. Basically, it’s small balls of dough, coated in butter, tossed in sugar and cinnamon, and baked together—liked a giant baked cinnamon roll. I know, right? Then you pick at it and pull it apart to eat it—sort of like monkeys pick at each other? Ok, so the origin of this dish is a little weird, but the finished product is anything but.
I mean, come on! This monkey bread is gorgeous!
Jonathan loved helping me assemble the monkey bread! He’s so funny in the kitchen—he’s picked up key words for following directions, even though he doesn’t know what they mean. He stands there with me and says “first you need…” “then next…,” “now you do…” and then goes back again to “first you need…” He got to roll the balls of dough in the coconut oil and then dip into the cinnamon sugar mixture—he was so pleased with himself!
Aquafaba
Aquafaba—you know, the magical bean juice—is a key ingredient in this recipe—it lends a beautiful fluffy texture to the bread! I love using aquafaba in baked goods—have you tried any of my Perfect Brownierecipes? I have 4 varieties! It also makes an amazing pizza crust!
I made this dish for a church brunch a few weeks ago and the plate was entirely clean at the end! I made it again to photograph and it was gone in less than 24 hours. I’m telling you—this vegan Money Bread is addicting! I studded mine with diced apples and dried cranberries. I was on the fence about that because I normally don’t want fruit interfering with the decadence of a dish, but I was really glad I did. It made it look a bit fancier, and it tasted great too! You can of course omit it if you’re going for a more straight forward cinnamon roll taste.
A Perfect Dish for Christmas!
I hope you have a chance to try my vegan Monkey Bread recipe—I’ll be making it for Christmas morning —it’s been requested by ALL Of my boys (I’ve included notes on how to prep some of this ahead of time)! Be sure to take a picture of your Monkey Bread and tag me so I can see! {#frieddandelions // @frieddandelions}
Print Recipe
Vegan Monkey Bread
My homemade Vegan Monkey Bread is sure to become an instant holiday hit with your family.
Prep Time2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins
Cook Time25 minutes mins
Total Time2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins
Course: Bread
Author: Sarah De la Cruz
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 teaspoon yeast I use Fleishman's dried active yeast
- 1 c warm water from the tap
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons aquafaba liquid from a can of beans
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 T neutral oil or liquid coconut oil
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
For assembling the Monkey Bread
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or sub vegan butter, like Earth Balance
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 apple diced into small cubes
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries slightly chopped
Instructions
Place the yeast in the bowl of your mixer. Pour the warm water and maple syrup over top of the yeast and let sit for about 10 minutes, or until the yeast looks puffy.
While it's proofing, pour the aquafaba in a separate small bowl. Whisk with a small hand whisk until it is foamy (but you are not going for the whipped meringue like foam, just a lot of bubbles).
Once the yeast has proofed, add the foamy aquafaba, salt and oil. Using the dough hook attachment, turn the mixer on and give it a few spins before starting to add the flour. Add the flour 1/2 c at a time and continue kneading until the flour is all incorporated and the dough is soft and smooth. It will be soft and slightly sticky. If you press your finger in the dough it will hold the indentation of your finger for a few seconds but it will puff back out.
Remove the bowl of your mixer from the mixer itself and drizzle neutral oil over the dough. Turn the ball around a few times to coat with oil so it won't stick. Cover with plastic wrap or a dishtowel and place in a warm spot for the dough to rise for an hour. I love using my dehydrator, set to 110 degrees, for fast rising, but an oven that has been slightly preheated and then turned off works well too.
While the dough is rising, melt the coconut oil in a small bowl. In another small bowl mix the sugars and cinnamon together. Finally, grease a bundt pan with coconut oil and set aside (if you don't have a bundt pan you can use two loaf pans.)
After the dough has risen and doubled in size, turn it out onto a clean work surface dusted with flour. (At this point, you could store the dough in a sealed ziplock bag for a few days. Let the dough come to room temperature before shaping it, letting it rise a second time, and baking.)
Form the dough into a roughly 8"x8" square.
Using a sharp knife, score the dough into 64 squares (8x8, as shown in picture below)
Roll each ball slightly in your hands (they do not need to be rounded balls at all)
Dip the ball into the melted coconut oil.
Dip the ball into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Place the ball into prepared bundt pan.
Repeat with remaining dough balls until you have finished, staggering the balls as you go, filling in the gaps. As you build, scatter apple and cranberry pieces. The dough will rise and fill in, and hold the fruit in place as well.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and leave in a warm area to rise for another hour. This time you can let them rise on the counter and they should be fine, or you can speed things up and pop it in a dehydrator or slightly warmed oven).
Once the balls have risen, preheat your oven to 350°.
Bake the monkey bread for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown
Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly. Invert the pan onto a large plate and wiggle it just a bit to get the bread to release. The sugars and coconut oil should have melted into a gorgeous caramel sauce.
Serve!
Notes
Prep time includes dough rise time.
Prep Ahead Tips: After the first rise you could store the dough in a sealed ziplock bag for a few days. Let the dough come to room temperature before shaping it (you can speed this up by carefully "defrosting" it in the microwave on the defrost setting for just a minute or two). Then form the balls, roll in coconut oil and cinnamon mixture, and then let it rise a second time before baking. It's still a bit of work, but it's mostly inactive time, and it definitely tastes most amazing fresh out of the oven!
You might enjoy…
Don’t forget to pin this recipe for Vegan Monkey Bread!
More Aquafaba Recipes to Try!
Maple Dinner Rolls
Perfect Gluten Free Brownies
Pizza Dough with Aquafaba
Peppermint Mocha Brownies
Peppermint Patty Brownie Cupcakes
Perfect Brownies
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