This page may contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase an item I may receive a commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Are you looking for the ultimate dish for your next brunch? Look no further than this Gluten Free Monkey Bread!
It is not every day that us Celiacs get to eat these nostalgic breakfast treats. Your gluten free friends with love you forever if you treat them to this tasty cinnamon pull apart bread!
I miss the pre-celiac days when I could run to the store and buy a can of cinnamon rolls for breakfast. If you are anything like me, this gluten free monkey bread will curb those cravings! Perfect as a breakfast option for kids, but also doubles as a great holiday bunch dish for adults. The best part about this dish is that your non-gluten free friends will not even know it is gluten free! You will be saved from yet another gluten free elevator pitch because you simply won’t need to divulge that this is a gf dish. But why not tell them?! This monkey bread makes gluten free food look pretty damn good!
I usually try to share recipes that are health-conscious, but this is not one of those recipes. This is an indulgent treat! The gluten free bread nuggets pull apart easily and guests can serve the nuggets with toothpicks, forks, or cut into slices with a knife. Drenched in a buttery brown sugar caramel, the bread can be eaten as-is, or with a simple glaze. Adding orange zest to the glaze would add an amazing hint of freshness to this very rich dish.
MAKING THE BALLS
Once you have combined the ingredients to make the dough, combine the remaining cinnamon and sugar in a shallow dish.
Things can get sticky. Literally. Grab a small bowl of water and your measuring teaspoon. Scoop the dough using your measuring spoon and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place the dough into bundt pan and repeat until all dough has been used. The dough may start to stick and build up on your fingers, so dipping your fingers in water before rolling dough will eliminate the sticky build up.
MAKING THE BUTTER & BROWN SUGAR SAUCE
The addition of yogurt in the mix replaces the moisture from butter or oil in other recipes. I tested a few variations of this recipe for you (less sugar, less butter, sub butter for coconut oil). But this version is simply the best. Trust me. See below for my notes on variations:
Sub Coconut Oil for Butter: You can sub the butter 1:1 for coconut oil, however I found the melted coconut oil does not combine with brown sugar as well as the butter does. Also, your bread will have a coconut taste (nothing wrong with that though, am I right?!)
Reduce Brown Sugar & Butter: You can reduce the brown sugar & butter, however I do not recommend this. The main issue I ran into when I reduced the sugar & butter is the dough balls lost their shape and almost morphed into a bundt cake. They lost their pull-apartness. The butter & sugar mixture gets into all of the cracks & crevices and makes a caramel-like barrier around each ball. SO good. Also, everything tastes better with butter and reducing the butter would compromise some of the taste.
Looking for more gluten free breakfast recipes? Try my slow cooker apple cinnamon oatmeal!
Gluten Free Cinnamon Pull Apart Monkey Bread
Equipment
- Bundt Pan
Ingredients
- 2 & 3/4 cup Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour (with xanthan gum) (if your blend does not contain xanthan gum you can add 1/4 tsp for each cup of flour)
- 1 cup Yogurt (one single yogurt, 5.3 oz. I used Siggi's vanilla coconut yogurt)
- 1/2 cup Milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 Egg
- 12 tablespoon Butter (3/4 stick)
- 1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup sized Bundt Pan. Set aside.
- In large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1/3 cup granulated sugar (save the other 1/3 for later) and salt. Mix with spoon.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture: Egg, milk, yogurt, vanilla. Combine until a sticky dough forms.
- In a separate shallow dish combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon.
- Scoop dough using teaspoon and roll into ball, then drop into dish with cinnamon sugar. Roll dough until covered in cinnamon sugar, then place in bundt pan. Repeat until all dough has been used. Note- your fingers may get sticky. Wet your fingers with water to help roll out sticky dough.
- Melt 3/4 cup of butter in the microwave (microwave in 30 second increments, mixing each time). Combine with brown sugar, then pour evenly over dough in bundt pan.
- Lightly shake pan to allow butter mixture to disperse in between dough.
- Bake for 28 minutes, or until center of dough is cooked through.
- Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serve as is or with simple glaze. Enjoy!
