Prep/Total Time: 25 min.

By Susan Bronson
Recipe by Margaret Knoebel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Tested by Margaret Knoebel
Taste of Home’s Editorial Process
Published on May 25, 2025

There’s nothing better than starting the morning with a freshly baked pastry still warm from the oven. The downside of freshly baked pastries, though, is having to get up early to make them! This recipe for easy-to-make monkey bread muffins is the perfect compromise. Like many other monkey bread recipes, it calls for refrigerated biscuit dough from the grocery store. This shortcut gets these tasty treats on your breakfast or brunch table in less than 30 minutes.

Unlike traditional monkey bread baked in a Bundt or tube pan, these cinnamon sugar-coated dough balls are baked in a muffin tin. A drizzle of caramel sauce over the top ensures each muffin has the perfect sweet and buttery flavor. A great breakfast food for a crowd, they’ll be the hit at any brunch table, potluck or bake sale (so maybe double the recipe).

Ingredients for Monkey Bread Muffins

• Refrigerated buttermilk biscuits: Store-bought refrigerated biscuits make prepping these monkey bread muffins a breeze. Choose from the best canned biscuit brands.
• Cinnamon sugar: Cinnamon and sugar are key to flavoring the dough balls. Vietnamese or Saigon cinnamon is the best type of cinnamon for the boldest flavor.
• Caramel topping: Melted butter and brown sugar make a caramel topping to drizzle on top. In addition to giving the muffins plenty of sweet and buttery flavor, the caramel topping helps the dough balls stick together as they bake and contributes to the muffins’ gooey texture.

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