If you love a gooey, pull-apart breakfast treat, Monkey Bread with Butterscotch Pudding is going to be your new favorite. This sweet, sticky bundt-style bread uses frozen dinner rolls and a simple brown sugar syrup to create a soft, caramel-like center with crisp golden edges. It takes minimal prep and bakes up golden and gooey in about 30 minutes.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Monkey Bread with Butterscotch Pudding
- 🕒 Ready In: 35 minutes bake time
- 👪 Serves: 10-12
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Frozen dinner rolls, butterscotch pudding mix, brown sugar, butter, pecans
- 📖 Dietary Info: Vegetarian dessert
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: These gooey pull-apart rolls bake in a Bundt pan with a rich butterscotch sauce that caramelizes as they cook.
Summarize and Save the Recipe
I stumbled across this recipe in an old family cookbook, and it instantly brought back memories of how quickly this butterscotch monkey bread would disappear at brunches and holiday mornings. There’s just something about everyone gathering around, pulling apart those warm, sticky pieces; it never lasts long, and everyone always wants just one more bite.
The dry pudding mix melts into the dough as it bakes, creating a rich flavor and soft texture that sets this apart from a traditional monkey bread. If you love sweet brunch treats like this, you’ll also want to try my Dutch oven cinnamon rolls and these buttery sweet cherry rolls.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: This monkey bread recipe with butterscotch pudding uses store-bought rolls and pantry staples, making it incredibly easy to assemble.
- Extra Gooey Texture: The pudding mix melts into the dough as it bakes, giving this monkey bread using butterscotch pudding its signature soft, sticky center.
- Perfect for a Crowd: Baked in a bundt pan, this pull-apart treat is easy to serve and perfect for feeding a group at brunch, holiday mornings, potlucks, or family gatherings.
- Make-Ahead Friendly: You can assemble this monkey bread the night before and simply bake it in the morning.
Ingredients
- Rhodes Dinner Rolls: Use thawed but still cold rolls so they are easier to cut and coat. Keeping the dough slightly chilled helps maintain shape while rising. These same dinner rolls are used in my raspberry bread recipe.
- Butterscotch Pudding Mix: This is the key ingredient in butterscotch pudding monkey bread. Be sure to use cook-and-serve, not instant, for the right texture as it bakes.
- Brown Sugar: Creates the sticky syrup that coats every piece. Light or dark brown sugar both work.
- Chopped Pecans: Add texture and balance the sweetness. You can lightly toast them beforehand for extra flavor.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Skip the Nuts: Not a fan of pecans or cooking for someone with a nut allergy? Just leave them out. The bread will still be soft, gooey, and full of flavor.
- Add Chocolate Chips: Sprinkle a handful of mini chocolate chips between the layers of dough. As the bread bakes, it melts into the sticky center.
- Try Different Nuts: Swap the pecans for chopped walnuts or even sliced almonds if you want a slightly different crunch. For even more flavor, try using my roasted cinnamon nuts, which add a sweet, spiced crunch.
- Cream Cheese Filling: Tuck small cubes of cream cheese between some of the dough pieces for little pockets of creamy richness throughout the bread.
How to Make Monkey Bread with Butterscotch Pudding
This monkey bread made with butterscotch pudding is easy to assemble and turns into a gooey, sweet pull-apart treat. Just a few simple steps and a little patience while the dough rises!
- Step 1: Coat the Dough. Cut the thawed dinner rolls in half, then toss the pieces in the dry butterscotch pudding mix until each piece is evenly coated.
- Step 2: Layer with the Nuts. Add the dough to your prepared bundt pan, alternating with the chopped pecans.
- Step 3: Add the Pudding Mix. Sprinkle the remaining pudding mix over the top of the rolls in the pan.
- Step 4: Make the Syrup. Melt the butter with the brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until a smooth syrup forms.
- Step 5: Add the Syrup. Pour the warm syrup evenly over the dough pieces.
- Step 6: Rise. Cover the pan with plastic wrap lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 30–45 minutes. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Step 7: Bake the Monkey Bread. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the bread for 30–35 minutes, covering loosely with foil during the last 10 minutes if the top begins to brown too quickly. Invert the bread onto a serving platter and serve warm. For a fun brunch spread, pair this pull-apart bread with another sweet treat like my jam filled ebelskivers.
Expert Tips
- Spray the Plastic Wrap: Do not skip spraying the plastic wrap before covering the pan. This prevents the risen dough from sticking to the wrap.
- Prevent Over-Browning: If the top starts browning too quickly, tent the bread loosely with foil rather than sealing tightly. This avoids trapping too much steam.
- Invert Immediately: Flip the pan onto a serving platter right after baking. Waiting too long can cause the syrup to harden and the butterscotch monkey bread to stick.
- Make-Ahead Tip: If preparing the bread overnight, let the assembled pan sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking. This ensures the dough bakes evenly.
- Storage & Reheating: Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerate for up to 4 days. To reheat, warm individual portions in the microwave for 20–30 seconds until soft and heated through.
Serving Suggestions
- This monkey bread is perfect for brunch or holiday mornings. Serve it alongside my French breakfast puffs and Danish aebleskiver for a deliciously sweet breakfast spread.
- Great for potlucks or family gatherings. Bring it to share with friends and family, and for a special twist, top pieces with warm scoops of my skillet cinnamon apples.
- After enjoying a hearty skillet meal like my bacon cheeseburger casserole, serve warm pieces of this monkey bread with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a dessert everyone will love.
Monkey Bread with Butterscotch Pudding Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can swap the butterscotch pudding for chocolate, caramel, or even vanilla pudding to create a new flavor twist. Different flavors may slightly change the sweetness and color of the finished bread.
If your monkey bread is sticky or gooey in the center, it’s usually because it hasn’t baked long enough for the middle layers to fully cook through. With all those buttery, sugary layers packed together, the center takes longer to set than the edges. To fix it, give it a few extra minutes in the oven and check the center before pulling it out—it should feel set, not overly soft or wet. Also, make sure the dough has had enough time to rise before baking, since underproofed dough can stay dense and gummy in the middle instead of light and fluffy.
Sure! To make these mini, you can bake this recipe in a greased muffin tin for individual portions. Let the coated dough pieces rise in the tin until doubled, then drizzle with syrup and bake for 20–25 minutes, checking that the centers are set and golden on top.
More Delicious Brunch Recipes
If you tried this Butterscotch Pudding Monkey Bread or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Get the Recipe
Monkey Bread with Butterscotch Pudding
Equipment
- Cast Iron Fluted Cake Pan
Ingredients
- 24 Rhodes Dinner Rolls thawed but still cold
- ½ small box non-instant butterscotch pudding mix
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup butter or margarine
- ½ cup brown sugar
- Non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cut each dinner roll in half and roll in the dry pudding mix.
- Arrange coated rolls in the pan, alternating with chopped pecans.
- Sprinkle remaining pudding mix over the top.
- In a saucepan, combine brown sugar and butter. Heat until butter is melted and a syrup forms. Stir well.
- Pour syrup evenly over the rolls.
- Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size or even with the top of the bundt pan.
- Remove plastic wrap and bake at 350°F for 30–35 minutes.
- Cover with foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning.
- Do not overbake. Immediately after baking, invert onto a serving platter and serve warm.
Notes
- Spray the plastic wrap before covering the pan to prevent the rolls from sticking during the proofing step.
- Let the dough rise fully before baking for a soft, gooey center.
- Pour the brown sugar syrup evenly over the dough for a consistent flavor.
- Tent with foil if the top starts browning too quickly to avoid burning.
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Edward says
One of the best dessert recipes I've had in a while! Thank you!
Elara says
The texture of this bread is spot on, and the butterscotch provides a nostalgic, warm flavor that is perfect for a chilly morning. It’s a foolproof recipe that turned out beautifully golden and delicious on my very first attempt.
Caspian says
This recipe is a total crowd-pleaser that looks and tastes like it took much more effort than it actually did. The way the sugar and pudding mix caramelize together in the cast iron creates a decadent glaze that had everyone reaching for seconds.
Isla says
I was amazed at how simple this was to prep the night before, making it the ultimate stress-free breakfast for our family gathering. The butterscotch flavor adds a unique depth of sweetness that sets this apart from any other monkey bread I’ve ever tried.
Hollis says
The combination of the butterscotch pudding and melted butter created a rich, gooey caramel sauce that coated every single piece of bread perfectly. Baking it in the Dutch oven ensured a wonderful crust on the outside while the center stayed incredibly soft and pull-apart tender.