Mohamed Shili Pioneer Woman Monkey Bread Muffins are individual-sized sticky cinnamon sugar treats made with canned buttermilk biscuits, brown sugar butter sauce, and a simple powdered sugar glaze, baked in a standard muffin pan in 20 to 25 minutes.
This recipe is published on thepioneerwoman.com, where Ree Drummond calls it her go-to when the kids are back home because the sugary goodness disappears before she knows it. She designed these as single-serving portions of her classic Bundt pan monkey bread, so there is no sharing or hovering required.
Place the muffin pan on a foil-lined baking sheet before it goes into the oven because the butter and brown sugar bubble over the edges as the muffins bake. Skipping the baking sheet means sticky caramelized sugar drips onto the oven floor, which smokes and burns while creating a cleanup nightmare.
Pioneer Woman Monkey Bread Muffins
Description
All the cinnamon sugar stickiness of classic monkey bread baked into neat individual portions, each one drizzled with a pourable glaze that drips down the warm golden sides and pools on the plate.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 350F (180C). Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and place it on a foil-lined baking sheet to catch any drips during baking.
- Coat the biscuit pieces. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon-sized zip-top plastic bag. Open the canned biscuits and cut each biscuit into 6 pieces for a total of 96 pieces. Drop all the pieces into the bag, seal it, and shake vigorously until every piece is coated in cinnamon sugar and separated.
- Fill the muffin cups. Divide the coated biscuit pieces evenly among the 12 muffin cups, placing about 8 pieces in each one. Press down lightly so the pieces stick together.
- Make the brown sugar butter. Melt the butter and brown sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until combined and smooth. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the mixture over the biscuit pieces in each muffin cup.
- Bake the muffins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the sugar is bubbling around the edges. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
- Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk in a medium bowl. Add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is thick but pourable.
- Glaze and serve. Remove the muffins from the pan onto a wire rack. Drizzle the glaze generously over each warm muffin and serve immediately.
FAQs
Why cut each biscuit into 6 pieces instead of quarters?
Smaller pieces create more surface area for the cinnamon sugar to cling to, so every bite has a consistent sweet coating throughout the muffin. Larger pieces leave big pockets of plain dough in the center that taste bland compared to the sugary exterior.
Six pieces per biscuit also fit more neatly into the muffin cups and press together into a compact shape that holds its form when you remove it from the pan. Quarters are too chunky for a standard muffin cup and tend to dome unevenly during baking.
Why use non-flaky buttermilk biscuits for monkey bread?
Non-flaky buttermilk biscuit dough holds together as a solid piece when you cut it, so each chunk keeps its shape through the coating, layering, and baking process. Flaky biscuits are laminated with layers of fat that separate and shred when cut, which turns the muffins into a crumbly mess.
The denser texture of buttermilk biscuits also absorbs the brown sugar butter sauce without falling apart. Any brand of basic refrigerated biscuit dough works fine, though the muffins may look slightly different depending on the size and style you choose.
Why spoon the brown sugar butter on top instead of mixing it into the dough?
Spooning the butter and brown sugar mixture over the top lets it melt down through the gaps between the biscuit pieces as it bakes, coating every layer from the outside in. Mixing it into the dough beforehand would make the pieces too slippery to stick together in the muffin cups.
The brown sugar caramelizes as it bakes, creating a sticky golden sauce that pools at the bottom of each muffin cup and becomes the glossy top when you flip them out. This is what gives monkey bread its signature gooey, pull-apart texture.
How do you get the glaze to the right consistency?
Start with 1 tablespoon of milk whisked into the powdered sugar, then add more milk a teaspoon at a time until the glaze drips slowly off the whisk in a thick ribbon. Too thin and it runs right off the muffins onto the plate, while too thick and it sits in a clump on top without dripping down the sides.
The glaze thickens as it sits, so make it right before you are ready to drizzle. If it sets up while you are working, stir in a few drops of milk to loosen it back to a pourable consistency.
Can you make these muffins ahead of time?
These taste best served warm straight from the oven with the glaze freshly drizzled, so the ideal approach is to prep them right before you plan to serve. The total hands-on time is only about 15 minutes, which makes them easy enough to assemble while the oven preheats.
Leftovers keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day. Reheat individual muffins in a 300F (150C) oven for 5 minutes to soften the sugar coating again, since the microwave makes the biscuit dough chewy and tough.
