A Southern Soul
While monkey bread — the sticky, gooey, cinnamon-filled treat — is well-known and loved, there's a wider world of pull-apart breads to explore. The comfort food comes in all shapes, such as in loaves and skillets, and with all kinds of flavors, including savory variations. So when your family is in need of an indulgent and fun-to-eat meal this fall, try one of these pull-apart breads made with everything from pumpkin to pepperoni.
Related: Comfort Foods for a Cozy Fall Meal
Is there anything ranch seasoning can't make better? It gets mixed with melted butter and poured all over this crusty sourdough loaf that's stuffed with cooked, crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese.
Recipe: My Baking Addiction
Monkey bread is the name given to a popular pull-apart sweet bread made with canned biscuits, cinnamon, and sugar in a bundt pan. This is the classic gooey and sticky version, but with the simple addition of sliced bananas, it earns the bread's moniker.
Recipe: Dinner Then Dessert
Related: Things You Didn’t Know About Bananas
Hummingbird cake is a tropical, banana-pineapple spice cake, and this pull-apart version uses all those same flavors. Canned biscuit dough is tossed with cinnamon, sugar, crushed pineapple, bananas, and pecans, and then the whole thing gets a glaze of cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut when cool.
Recipe: Lemon Tree Dwelling
Pull-apart breads can also take the form of a loaf. In this recipe, canned biscuit dough is sliced into thin rounds and sandwiched with a filling of cooked, spiced apples. The filling makes it so that the bread pulls apart in leaves, and a vanilla glaze adds extra sweetness.
Recipe: A Southern Soul
You can fit a full meal into a pull-apart bread recipe, or make it a substantial party snack for football watching. Use your favorite taco-seasoned beef, shredded cheese, and other taco toppings in this loaf, which is kind of like nachos but with bread instead of tortilla chips.
Recipe: Homemade Home
The frozen dinner rolls used in this recipe require some rising time, but they're worth it for the soft, fluffy buns you end up with. A coating of fresh orange zest, orange juice, brown sugar, and butter gives them bright, sweet flavor, and a sprinkle of pecans adds contrasting texture and nuttiness.
Recipe: Cooking on the Front Burner
For a pull-apart loaf that eats like a full meal, try this Philly cheesesteak variation. Start by frying up onions, bell peppers, and shaved steak, and mix it with a creamy garlic and herb cheese spread. Layer it all with biscuit dough in a loaf pan and you've got a hearty family pleaser.
Recipe: Real Food by Dad
If you are one of the many people obsessed with Girl Scout cookies, you're going to adore this recipe riffing on Samoas/Caramel Delites. Coconut and chocolate are layered between bread dough with a thick layer of warm, melted caramel oozing all over the top.
Recipe: I Wash You Dry
The classic monkey bread recipe gets a fall makeover in this pumpkin cheesecake version. The biscuit dough is tossed in pumpkin spice, and a gooey mixture of pumpkin puree, cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar permeates the bread while it bakes.
Recipe: Pillsbury
Canned biscuit dough is a typical shortcut for pull-apart recipes, so why not take the next logical step and use canned cinnamon rolls? That's what this easy recipe does to get an extra boost of cinnamon flavor. Making it in a slow cooker keeps it soft and gooey, just like a freshly baked cinnamon roll.
Recipe: Crazy for Crust
Related: Recipes to Keep Your Slow Cooker Bubbling While You're Busy
Some of the easiest pull-apart bread recipes start with a loaf of bread that's cut into squares only part-way through so the loaf stays together. This recipe uses a sweet, soft, Hawaiian bread and covers it in garlic butter, onions, and plenty of cheese for extra gooeyness when it's baked.
Recipe: Taste of Home
Related: Ways to Make an Ordinary Grilled Cheese Extraordinary
Premade pizza dough is the shortcut in this recipe, which you can buy frozen, fresh at Trader Joe's, or from a favorite local pizza place. It's layered with jarred caramel sauce, pumpkin, spices, and pecans before being baked in a loaf pan. Give it an extra drizzle of caramel sauce right before serving.
Recipe: Will Cook for Smiles
Related: Pumpkin Spice-Flavored Products You'll Want to Try — and Which Ones to Skip
This monkey bread has the sophisticated flavors of fig and orange and will wow any houseguests you might have. Canned orange rolls are rolled in dry vanilla pudding mix, then layered with an abundant amount of dried figs, walnuts, and orange zest. The remaining pudding mix is mixed with butter and drizzled over everything before baking.
Recipe: Taste of Home
These pretty garlic knots pack a punch of savory flavors. Sun-dried tomatoes are sweet and rich, feta cheese is tangy and sharp, and the generous amount of fresh basil gives it all an herbaceousness. Lots of garlic butter and a tomato dipping sauce bring everything together.
Recipe: Host the Toast
Remind yourself of summer treats anytime with this s'mores monkey bread. The biscuit dough is wrapped around chocolate squares (use Hershey's for the classic flavor) and rolled in graham-cracker crumbs. Mini-marshmallows baked briefly on top add that sticky, toasted sweetness.
Recipe: Tasty
Jalapeño poppers are not easy to make at home, but this pull-apart bread could satisfy that craving. Thinly sliced fresh jalapeños are stuffed into a loaf of bread with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and scallions. Don't be afraid to sprinkle on some garlic powder for extra flavor.
Recipe: The Baker Chick
If you're a fan of sweet and salty bacon, this recipe is for you. In addition to the usual cinnamon, sugar, and butter coating, this monkey bread gets a splash of bourbon for depth and a half-pound of crumbled bacon poking through it.
Recipe: Wry Toast
This monkey bread is pretty fancy, and good for a quick fix during the holidays that will feed a lot of guests. Brie is wrapped inside biscuit dough, forming a melty pocket of cheese. It's sprinkled with fresh herbs and layered with canned cranberry sauce for a festive take on cheese and fruit.
Recipe: Tasty
Related: Incredibly Easy Holiday Recipes for People Who Can't Cook
For those of you who love the idea of monkey bread but don't like sweets in the morning, there's this savory breakfast version. Scrambled eggs, bacon, cheddar, and green onions are scattered among the biscuit layers for a breakfast sandwichlike loaf.
Recipe: Pillsbury
Is spinach dip still a dip if you put it inside a biscuit? Get the answer to that hot-button question when you make this biscuit pull-apart bread. A simple spinach dip with garlic and cheese is stuffed into the dough for a savory filling. Serve it with warm marinara or garlic butter for dipping.
Recipe: Taste of Home
This maple bacon bread is reminiscent of the popular maple bacon bar doughnut, but a lot easier to make at home. Biscuit dough is coated in butter, maple syrup, and sugar before being sandwiched with cooked bacon. A sweet glaze adds another punch of maple flavor.
Recipe: Delish
A base of cream cheese mixed with basil and oregano gives this pizza bread a flavorful base that won't make it soggy the way pizza sauce would. Pepperoni, onions, and bell peppers are the toppings, but feel free to use whatever your family likes. Dipping the cheesy bites into pizza or marinara sauce is a must.
Recipe: Real Housemoms
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This ridiculously easy recipe has only two ingredients: canned cinnamon rolls and Nutella, the chocolate hazelnut spread. All you do is cut the rolls thinner and spread Nutella on each layer before lining them up in a loaf pan. Use the glaze from the canned rolls on top.
Recipe: Crazy for Crust
Related: We Tried Store-Bought Cinnamon Rolls to Find the Best
