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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHAT YOU GET: This Cheesy Monkey Bread recipe is the perfect and irresistible cheesy, bready snack that includes two types of cheese and garlic in two ways!
If you’re looking for the ultimate comfort food, a game-day snack, an easy and satisfying appetizer for a dinner party, or just an excuse to eat bread and cheese, then look no further. This Cheesy Monkey Bread is truly everything you want in a pull-apart cheese bread.
This recipe makes an amazingly cheesy, garlicky, herby, savory monkey bread — I think I’ve perfected the combination of ingredients on this one.
My homemade savory monkey bread calls for both Swiss and mozzarella cheese, making this bread both melty and stringy, so you get the best of both worlds. It also features garlic in two ways — roasted and sweet and raw and spicy. I also add fresh herbs to brighten it up for the best cheesy, bready snack!
If you like Monkey Bread, you’ve gotta try these recipes: Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread, Stuffed Monkey Bread with Pecans & Caramel, Pizza Monkey Bread (Pull Apart Bread).
What Is “Monkey Bread?”
Monkey bread is also called pull-apart bread or bubble bread. It was likely named the way it is eaten — picking and pulling sections apart as a monkey might. It is made with a yeasted dough, which makes the bread super soft and stretchy.
How Do I Make Cheesy Monkey Bread Overnight?
You can make this recipe the night before and bake it off the next day if you would like. After the second rise, wrap the dough well and place it in your refrigerator. Before baking, let the dough come to room temperature for a couple of hours, unwrap, and bake as instructed!
What Type Of Cheese Is In Cheesy Monkey Bread?
I love the combination of Swiss and mozzarella cheese for this recipe, but feel free to use your favorites! Keep in mind that every type of cheese does melt differently, so your results may vary. You may also want to experiment with different fresh herbs from my recipe, which calls for parsley and thyme. Again, different herbs are better with certain cheeses than others!
How Do I Roast Garlic?
To roast garlic:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and prepare the garlic bulb by cutting the tips off the top of both to expose the cloves.
- Rub the garlic all over with olive oil and wrap it in aluminum foil.
- Roast the garlic on a baking sheet for 40 minutes until they are brown.
Once they are roasted and cooled a bit, you can simply squeeze the garlic out. It will still taste like garlic, but roasted garlic takes on a sweeter, more mild flavor as it caramelizes, and it becomes soft and buttery and loses the sharpness of raw garlic.
Tools You Need To Make Cheesy Monkey Bread
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Stand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Baking sheet
- 10-inch (25 ½cm) bundt pan
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Cheesy Monkey Bread
- This recipe uses instant yeast that does not need any proofing. Check that you have the correct yeast before you begin.
- If you only have active, dry yeast, you can still use it, but it will need to be proofed to activate it. This can be done with the milk before adding it to the flour.
- If your kitchen is cold, you can create a warm place for the dough to rise by turning on your oven for a few minutes. Be sure to turn the oven off before placing your dough inside.
- You can often find pre-roasted garlic in grocery stores. If you buy it, use 12 cloves.
- You can use different cheeses or herbs in this recipe, but all cheeses melt differently, so you may not get the same result.
- This is a great make-ahead recipe: Wrap the dough well and refrigerate it overnight after the second rise. The next day, allow the dough to come to room temperature for a couple of hours, then unwrap and bake.
- Try serving this with a side of my Five-Minute Pizza Sauce for dipping!
Try These Recipes!
Cheesy Monkey Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups (17oz/461g) all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons (¼ oz/6g) instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 ¼ cups (10floz/300ml) milk (lukewarm)
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/28g) butter (softened)
- 1 bulb plus 4 cloves of garlic (divided)
- 2 ⅔ cups (8oz/225g) grated Swiss cheese
- 2 ⅔ cups (8oz/225g) grated mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup (4floz/120ml) olive oil
- 4 tablespoons (½oz/15g) parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (crushed)
Instructions
- Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, yeast, and salt.
- Add the milk and butter and mix on low until the flour is moistened.
- Increase the speed to medium and mix for 6-8 minutes, until the dough is shiny and elastic.
- Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 ½-2 hours.
- While the dough is rising, roast the garlic: Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Slice the top off of the bulb of garlic and rub it all over with olive oil. Wrap the bulb in aluminum foil and roast on a baking sheet for 40 minutes.
- While the garlic is roasting, prepare the cheese mixture: Crush the remaining 4 cloves of garlic and add to a large bowl along with the cheeses, olive oil, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and set aside.
- Once the garlic has finished roasting, squeeze the cloves from the bulb into the cheese mixture and stir to combine.
- Once the dough has risen, oil a 10-inch (25 ½cm) bundt pan.
- Punch down the dough and divide it into roughly 1-inch (2 ½cm) sized pieces.
- Roll and coat each ball of dough in the cheese mixture and place it in the prepared bundt pan.
- Cover the monkey bread and set aside in a warm place to rise until puffy and until it almost reaches the top of the pan, about 45 minutes.
- While the bread is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Unwrap and bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until the top is a deep, golden brown.
- Let the bread cool for five minutes before inverting onto a platter. Serve immediately – and eat carefully. It will be hot!
- This is best eaten the day it is made, but you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To reheat, cover in foil and place in a 250°F (120°C) oven for about 15 minutes.
Hi! I made this and it was delicious but it stuck horribly even though I used the same bundt pan you do and have with every other recipe successfully without sticking. I used oil with no flour as you suggested but it was stuck from the bottom to the top. Any idea why this might have happened?
This sounds delicious. I might toss in some chopped olives too. Thanks, Gemma.for the recipe. Every recipe you share turns out wonderful!
Perfectly cheesy and garlicky.Very easy recipe. I tried to save it to Pinterest and it tells me the image is broken 🙁
Can this be frozen?
Hi Gemma, I’ve made this twice and it’s a HUGE hit for the whole family however mine doesn’t seem to want to rise (especially on the second rise). Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong?
Put this together yesterday then baked it today. Came out perfectly. 😀
Hi Gemma I am going to make this with a gluten-free pizza dough and I will be using pizza sauce and pepperoni and mozza cheese. Keep you fingers crossed