With only 6 ingredients and can be prepared the night before, you are going to love this overnight monkey bread and maybe hate me little for how easy and crazy good it is. Better break out the stretch pants for this easy monkey bread recipe made with frozen Rhodes dinner rolls and butterscotch pudding.
When it comes to breakfast I actually tend to lean towards a big old breakfast sandwich with crispy strips of bacon and dripping in cheese, but then there is one way to have me steer away from it.
And that’s monkey bread.
But monkey bread rom scratch can take awhile, so I decided to simplify it by using store-bought Rhodes dinner rolls and butterscotch pudding. This monkey bread comes together so simple fast. Prepare it the night before and stay in your pajamas a little longer the morning of.
Why Is It Called Monkey Bread?
The reason it’s called monkey bread is because of how it’s meant to be eaten. You are meant to pick the bread rolls apart and eat them with your fingers. Like a monkey might!
Why You Will Love This Rhodes Roll Monkey Bread
- Only 6 Ingredients – Yup, you only need 6 ingredients to make this insanely easy monkey bread.
- Quick Prep – You can prepare this overnight monkey bread using frozen dinner rolls in about 15 minutes or less making it a super easy holiday breakfast to prepare.
- One Bowl – Basically all you need is to melt together some butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon on the stovetop and everything else gets dumped right into your bundt pan. Less dirty dishes around the holidays? Yes please!
Ingredients Needed
- Rhodes Dinner Rolls – Mine came in a bag of 36 count, and said “thaw, rise, and bake” on them.
- Pecans – Walnuts would be a good substitution.
- Butterscotch pudding – Not the instant kind. This is going to make the “caramel” sauce that covers the monkey bread in the end and is essential in making this recipe.
- Brown Sugar – Light or dark brown will work.
- Unsalted butter – But salted butter will also work.
- Cinnamon
How To Make Overnight Monkey Bread With Butterscotch Pudding
Sprinkle some pecans in the bottom of your greased bundt pan and place your rolls evenly around. You want them in the bottom of your bundt pan, so they don’t burn while baking and when you invert the monkey bread, the pecans will be on top.
Place your frozen dinner rolls on top. I used 24 Rhodes frozen dinner rolls.
Then sprinkle a box of butterscotch pudding (not the instant kind!) over the rolls.
Next, all you have to do is combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon on the stove until melted and combined.
Then pour the melted butter mixture over the rolls.
Cover the bundt pan with plastic wrap loosely (these will rise quite a bit), and let rise.
Rising Times
- Day Before (24 hours): Cover and let rise in the fridge for 24 hours. I love prepping this the morning before I plan to serve and then pop in the fridge and they are ready to bake the next morning.
- Overnight: Let rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours just to basically let them partially thaw, then cover and let rise in the fridge for 8-10 hours. This is a great night before option!
- “Last Minute”: Let them rise at room temperature for 5-6 hours then bake. Great for early morning risers and serving for a late brunch!
Once they have risen, go ahead and bake! I recommend placing a cookie sheet underneath to catch any drips. The tops of the rolls are going to rise above the pan, which is normal. If while baking, the tops of the rolls are getting too dark, simply tent loosely with aluminum foil to keep from getting too dark. I like to test with a thermometer to see the inside rolls are baked and reached an internal temperature of 190oF.
If you don’t own a thermometer, simply use a butter knife, and reach in and pull apart two of the rolls to look for raw dough. Raw dough means it needs more time baking!
Then let them cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes or so, and invert onto a platter. There may be some “caramel drippage” so you might want to use a platter with an edge, but I used my cake stand and they turned out just fine.
Recipe FAQ’s
You can bake this in a tube pan or 2 loaf pans. If baking in loaf pans, you will want to bake for less time. Start checking around 20-25 minutes.
Store at room temperature overnight, well covered, or in the fridge for up to 4 days.
For this overnight monkey bread version, you don’t need to let them thaw. Simply place them in your pan frozen. If you let them thaw, you would want to bake them right away, but it won’t yield quite a fluffy of a bread in the end. If you wanted to cut the pieces into smaller chunks, then you would need to let them thaw, cut and then bake immediately, but I haven’t tried it this way.
I haven’t tried reheating the entire thing, but I have reheated small chunks of it in the microwave for 15-20 second intervals at a time just fine.
More Recipes To Try
So when you wake up tomorrow, you simply press START on your oven, and relax on the couch (with maybe a big mug of Homemade Hot Cocoa) and know that easy monkey bread is going to be ready before you know it.
If you love this recipe, be sure to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below!
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Overnight Monkey Bread (Rhodes Rolls Monkey Bread)
Ingredients
- 24 unbaked frozen yeast dinner rolls *I used Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
- 1 3-ounce package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix (do not use instant)
- 1/2 cup (107 g) packed light brown sugar *dark brown sugar will also work
- 3/4 cups chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Grease a 12-cup capacity bundt pan. I like to use cooking spray with flour, but you can also grease with shortening, or regular cooking spray.
- Sprinkle the pecans into the bottom of the pan.
- Place the frozen rolls into the pan around and on top of each other over the nuts.
- Sprinkle the dry pudding mix over the rolls.
- On a stove over medium low, in a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Stir and heat until melted and combined.
- Drizzle the melted butter mixture over the rolls.
- Let rise. To prevent the dough from forming a hard crust while rising cover with a lightly damp tea towel over top, or place a piece of plastic wrap very loosely over the top and allow to hang at the sides (do not make the wrap tight as these will rise to double).Allow to rise for 24 hours in the fridge, covered. Or rise for 2-3 hours at room temperature, then 8-10 hours in the fridge, covered. Or rise 5-6 hours at room temperature.
- Bake. Near the end of the rising time, position a rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat oven to 350°F (177°C). Place the bundt pan on a baking sheet (lined with foil for easy clean up) to catch drips). Bake for about 35 minutes until tops are golden brown, and internal temperature reaches 190°F. (if rolls are getting too dark on top, tent loosely with foil). Remove the pan from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Turn the pan over and invert onto a serving plate and serve warm.
Notes
- Storage: Store overnight at room temperature covered, or in the fridge, for up to 4 days.Â
- Pan: You can bake this in a tube pan or 2 loaf pans. If baking in loaf pans, you will want to bake for less time. Start checking around 20-25 minutes.
Marcia says
I have used a similar recipe for years, couldn’t find it and searched finding this. I make mine before I go to bed around 10:30pm or after midnight mass at Christmas Eve. Then bake them between 7-9am and they’re great! I manage to get 24 in but 18 works as well. I also use a tsp of vanilla in the butter mixture. And definitely non-instant pudding. French Vanilla works if you cannot find butterscotch.
Heather says
Hi Marcia! I’m so glad you loved this – and love the idea of adding in a little vanilla. Can’t go wrong there! And thanks for the tip on the French vanill pudding!
Kim says
The pudding stayed dry, so the top of the fully baked monkey bread (bottom of bunt) was full of dry pudding and looked bad. Any suggestions?
Heather says
Hi Kim, sorry to hear that. I haven’t had that happen. Are you sprinkling the mix over the rolls and not underneath them? Make sure when you pour the brown sugar mixture over it’s coating the pudding mix. Hope that helps!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
What a great idea to use the rolls to save time. It’s great to make something at home that is so impressive with a few shortcuts.
Ieva says
I have been wanting to make monkey bread forever, but never find the time to make the yeasted dough and all the bits to go with it! Thanks for sharing this minimal-effort and easy recipe: it’s such a great idea to use frozen rolls!
Heather says
thanks Leva…yup sometimes you just gotta take the shortcuts!
Tara says
This monkey bread recipe is so easy! One bowl, less than 10 ingredients, and easy prep. Thanks!
Heather says
you’re welcome Tara! 🙂
Tavo says
Great recipe, and it was much easier to make than the one made from scratch. My family loved it!
Heather says
Glad you loved it!
Toni says
This quickly became a favorite at my house!! Everyone really enjoyed it! Thanks for the recipe!
Heather says
you’re welcome Toni! 🙂
Honey says
I’m going to try it with frozen bread dough and cut into cubes and swap out the pudding for a slightly sweetened heavy cream. Fingers crossed – I’ll report back on the outcome for those who don’t like or can’t find butterscotch pudding.
Heather says
Hi Honey, yes you can definitely cut into cubes for smaller portions 🙂 and let me know how it goes I’d love to be able to give other readers options who may not have the option of butterscotch pudding as well!
Cathy Morin says
Can not find I stand butterscotch pudding mix (live in Canada). Can I use instant?
Heather says
Yes I think that would be fine.
Susie says
I sure hope you didn’t use instant pudding. It’s actually disgusting. I accidentally bought instant instead of cook an serve and it was chunky and gross. Not a nice caramelized sauce at all.
Heather says
Hi Susie, yes unfortunately instant pudding does not work in the recipe – it has to be cook and serve.
Laura says
I also had a hard time finding non instant pudding mix. Not sure where in Canada you are, but try a Metro grocery store if there’s one near you. I looked at several stores before finding it there – Dr. Oetker brand
Shelley says
Your instructions say to pop in fridge overnight to rise but the recipe states at room temperature.
Heather says
Hi Shelley, my apologies that’s a typo. You can let it sit out overnight just simply cover the pan. I will be sure to update the recipe!
Crystal says
I’ve made this monkey bread recipe. Thank you
I have a question, if I leave in the fridge overnight, bcuz bundt pan is really cold, the time is off on baking the btead. If I leave the rolls at room temperature, they rise up and way out of the bundt pan. Have you dealt with this? How did you resolve this problem? Thank you, Crystal
Heather says
Thanks Crystal! I haven’t experienced it with this recipe. I would say after rising overnight in the fridge, let it rise at room temperature for about 30-45 minutes just to take the chill off of the bundt pan and then bake accordingly. And then take the internal temperature of the rolls (190oF) to make sure they are done before removing them from the oven!
Susan says
I’m confused. “If using a 12 cup bundt pan, reduce the rolls to 12. . .” The recipe only calls for 12.
Heather says
You’re right! Thank you for catching my error. My apologies for confusing you! I used two bags of rolls (24) and I fit them in my bundt pan. I’m going to make that recipe again and double check everything for you because it is so delicious to let a little error get in the way 🙂
Ellen says
24 was too many, 12 wasn’t enough, 18 is perfect! My whole family loved this recipe! Thank you so much.
ATasteOfMadness says
So simple, yet it looks so good! I would love to have some of this for breakfast!
Catherine Cuisine says
Wow! This look s delicious and easy to make!
[email protected] says
Thank you! Yes too delicious..didn’t take long for my family to polish them off!