Why This Recipe Works

To make this pull-apart treat easier for young chefs to tackle, we made two big changes: First, we turned to the convenience of store-bought pizza dough. Second, instead of filling an entire bundt pan with more than 60 individually-shaped dough balls, we used a smaller cake pan and half the amount of dough. Not to worry—there’s still plenty of cinnamon-sugar goodness to go around! This recipe presents a great opportunity for kids to see yeast in action. Snap a photo of the dough balls right after shaping (at the end of step 3) and have kids compare it to what the dough balls look like after 1 to 2 hours of rising time. They should look larger and puffier. The yeast “ate” some of the sugar in the dough and “burped” carbon dioxide gas, causing the dough to inflate, kind of like a balloon!

Before You Begin

If your pizza dough is cold from the fridge, you can leave it out on the counter for 1 to 2 hours to bring it to room temperature before starting this recipe. To bring it to room temperature faster, place the cold dough in a zipper-lock plastic bag, squeeze out extra air, and seal the bag. Place the bag in a large bowl filled with hot water. Let the dough sit in the water until warmed to room temperature, about 15 minutes, turning and squeezing dough a few times while it sits.

Instructions

In small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place melted butter in second small bowl. Spray 8-inch round cake pan with vegetable oil spray.

Spray counter lightly with vegetable oil spray. Place dough on greased counter and pat into 6-inch square. Use kitchen shears to cut dough in half (see photo 1, “Step-by-Step: How to Shape Monkey Bread,” below). Cut each half into 3 strips (you’ll have 6 strips total). Cut each strip into 6 even pieces (you’ll have 36 pieces total).

Roll each piece of dough into ball. Dip each ball in melted butter to coat, roll in brown sugar mixture, then place in greased pan (see photo 2, “Step-by-Step: How to Shape Monkey Bread,” below). Cover bottom of pan with dough balls in single layer.

Cover pan tightly with plastic wrap and leave in warm place until dough balls are puffy and have risen slightly (about ½ inch), 1 to 2 hours.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Discard plastic. Place pan in oven and bake until top of monkey bread is light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Use oven mitts to remove cake pan from oven and place on cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Let monkey bread cool for 5 minutes (no longer).

Place large plate on top of pan. Ask an adult to carefully flip out monkey bread onto plate. Remove pan. Let cool for 10 minutes before glazing.

In third small bowl, stir confectioners’ sugar and milk until smooth. Use spoon to drizzle glaze over monkey bread. Serve warm.