With the holiday right around the corner, I took it upon myself to make the BEST gluten-free Monkey Bread (or Bubble Bread) that I could. After the success of my Best Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns last January, I decided to try using that dough to create the best Sticky Monkey Bread I could do. I don’t mean to toot my own horn here, but I think I’ve done it. 
I did make a gluten-free Monkey Bread last Christmas, and it was good, but wasn’t great. I’m always trying to raise the bar with gluten-free baking, and improving existing recipes is a part of that. If you’ve just landed on my site while searching for gluten-free Monkey Bread, you will notice that I have two recipes posted. Use this one. Trust me. The ingredient list is longer, but the end result is worth the extras, trust me.
The great news is I have done some testing with this recipe. You can form the dough, get it all prepped and in the baking pan, wrap it up in plastic wrap (a few layers is best), and put it straight in the freezer. Decide when you want to bake it (like Christmas morning), and take it out of the deep freeze the night before, letting it defrost (still covered) in the fridge. In the morning (when you are awoken at 5:00 a.m. by the kids) place the Monkey Bread into a warm, draft-free place. I like to warm my oven slightly, and place the baking pan in there to get it nice & cozy warm. After it has risen, bake it, and it will be just as good as if you hadn’t made it ahead of time. I would not recommend freezing it for longer than 1 week, but you can easily make it a few days in advance and use this method without a problem.
Ingredients:
Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (see note) OR 1 2/3 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch and 1/3 cup tapioca starch
- plus an additional 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1 Tbsp rapid rise yeast
- 3 Tbsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 Tbsp margarine
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp oil (I used Canola)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup re-hydrated raisins (optional, I didn’t add them, but if you like raisins in you cinnamon buns, you can add them to your Monkey Bread too)
NOTE: 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.
The Ooey-Gooey Goodness:
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon (more or less depending on how cinnamon-y you like it)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Place chopped pecans into the bottom of Bundt or tube pan. Set aside. Do not use a pan with a removable bottom, as the syrup would run through and make a huge mess.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix all dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
- Put water and margarine in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the margarine has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add other wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
- With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you have to. Add the raisins if using.
- Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup granulated sugar and ground cinnamon. Form the dough into 3/4″ balls and roll them to coat them fully in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. I used my smallest cookie scoop and just dropped the dough into the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Place sugar coated dough into the Bundt pan, on top of the pecans. Be sure to not tightly pack the dough into the pan, allow gaps between the dough. Repeat until all of the dough has been formed, rolled in the cinnamon/sugar mixture & placed in the pan. If you have any cinnamon/sugar mixture left, sprinkle it over the top of the dough in the pan.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the brown sugar, maple syrup, salt & vanilla. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream. Pour mixture over the top of the dough.
- If you want to freeze the dough, now would be the time to wrap the pan in two layers of plastic wrap and place in freezer.
- To bake immediately, allow the dough to rise for 20-30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. When you remove the Monkey Bread from the oven, allow to sit in the baking pan for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a serving dish or plate. To do this, place the plate upside down on top of the baking pan, and (while wearing oven mitts, just in case), quickly turn the plate and baking pan upside down. Your Monkey Bread should release from the pan without a problem. If there are still pecans and syrup in the baking pan, use a spoon and spoon the mixture over the top of the Monkey Bread. If you can wait, it is best to wait 10-15 minutes before serving. This not only allows the syrup to cool off a bit, but also allows the texture of the bread to improve (when gluten-free bread cools, it is less ‘gummy’).
If you froze your Monkey Bread for baking it later:
Remove your baking pan from the freezer and place it in the fridge the night before. This allows the dough to defrost, but not begin rising too much yet. When you are ready to bake it, you want to place the baking pan in warm, draft-free place and allow it to rise for 20-30 minutes, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size. Baking directions are the same as if you were to bake it immediately.
Merry Christmas!
Oh Jeanine, your bar must be right up there..how can you raise it anymore girl?? This monkey bread looks fantastic..it seems I should be able to pick it right out of the screen..yummers!!
Thanks, Betty! I was so thrilled when it worked. lol Silly things make us happy.
Your Monkey Bread is the bestest EVER…………I haven’t really found any good recipes for bread, especially Monkey Bread. All my co-workers and in-laws loved the bread and couldn’t believe it was Gluten Free…..Thanks so much, I ate the bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner the first day I made it ………had a little more self control the next time I made it so I shared it with others !!!!
I cannot wait to try this! Just when I think there isn’t anything missing from my gluten-free repertoire, you’ve found something I hadn’t thought about in years. Yum!
Oh, Johnna, there’s always something, isn’t there?
Hope you enjoy!
Oh, Jeanine…I think I’ve made you “Empress of the Kitchen”…this looks amazing! And I did try the monkey bread recipe last year, and it didn’t turn out as good as this one looks! Happy Holidays to you and yours! (Hooray for great cooks and bloggers like you!)
I’ll take that title, Tamara!
Maybe I should get an apron stitched with that. hehe I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this one. 
Merry Christmas to your family as well!
OOh how delightful sounding! I will so be making this
Just one question, what could I use instead of the pudding mix, as it’s not something readily available here?
Thank you!
Instead of the pudding mix, you could use dry milk powder. I’ve done that in the past without a problem. Enjoy!
This looks AMAZING!!! One question I have… I also have to eat dairy free so is there anything I can substitute for the heavy cream that you would recommend?
For the dairy in the dough, I would suggest a coconut or almond milk. And for the syrup, I would think a little bit of the same milk of your choice would work there as well. I add heavy cream to the sauce so that after it has baked, it stays soft & pliable. If you omit it, the syrup has a tenancy to turn hard. Sort of like making caramels. When the temp of the syrup reaches a hard ball stage, you need something like cream to keep it chewy. HTH. If you do make it, please post back with the changes you’ve made, so that others know what works! Thanks!
ooewy, goewy goodness! yum! thanks for this delicious looking recipe!
My 3-year-old son had severe eczema until he was diagnosed with food allergies a few months back. I have a blog that shares our family’s battles with eczema, allergies, and asthma (yes, lucky guy has that too).
I think the key is to learn from one another, so the more information out there to the masses, the better. With this in mind I’ve started a blog hop for anyone dealing with allergies, eczema, or asthma, either for themselves or as a caregiver. If you’re interested in joining, please add a comment. I’d love to welcome you to the group. http://itchylittleworld.wordpress.com/blog-hop/
Thanks.
Jennifer
Oh my goodness. Always wanted to try monkey bread but hadn’t discovered it before becoming GF. Thanks for your recipe. Will have to try it out during Xmas break!
OH thank you, thank you! I was so sad that I couldn’t have monkey bread this year for Christmas and this recipe looks fantastic!
You definitely won’t be denied, Jennifer! Enjoy the monkey bread!
Thank you! With the exception of my husband (who is a weirdo and doesn’t like anything with cinnamon in it) we all loved it. I could quite possibly say this was the best monkey bread I’ve ever had!
Awesome!! Love hearing that. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of anyone that doesn’t love cinnamon before. lol Well, his loss. more for you.
My daughter will be visiting Christmas and we are both Celiacs. I made Money Bread every Christmas morning. I can’t wait to try it! Once question, could I make the bread a day ahead and just put it in the fridge? Then, warm, let rise and bake on Christmas morning? Thanks
Yes, you most certainly can! I’ve made it in advance, frozen it, let it defrost in the fridge, rise on the counter & baked it and it worked well. I’m sure that putting it in the fridge the day before would not be problem.
Merry Christmas!
Yummo! GF Monkey Bread!? ahhh…
Looking forward to a starting a new Christmas morning tradition with this one. Question? Could I sub butter for the 4 tbsp of margarine? Thanks!
Absolutely! Butter would work just as well. I think I have Margarine because this recipe stems back to a recipe that my home ec teacher taught us 15+ years ago, and she probably had margarine.
Butter should work just fine.
The Recipe that Saved Solstice! We make Wish Bread every year as part of our solstice celebration. We’re currently testing my son for gluten intolerances, so we would have had to do without if we couldn’t find a good GF alternative. This was WONDERFUL and his picky little self was so happy with it!
(FYI, your directions for the glaze do not include the heavy cream listed in the ingredients – I added it anyway!)
Wonderful, so glad that the recipe worked so well for you as well! And thanks for the mention of the heavy cream omission, I missed that, but added it now.
Oh my! I have a pan of monkey bread in the fridge right now for Christmas morning. I can hardly wait for morning to bake it. There sure is a lot of the sticky sauce…Like the dough balls are swimming n it right now. Hum… I will let you know how it turns out. Smile… happy Christmas.
I had to come back and let you know —it was awesome! We loved this recipe and it will be on the menu for next Christmas for certain. I should never have had any doubts. Smile.
Now that makes me smile. So glad that it worked out well for you. I agree, it does look a little scary at first, but the dough grows and does overcome the syrup in the end.
We just finished eating this delicious monkey bread this morning. Thanks for a great recipe. My mother-in-law hasn’t been able to have Monkey Bread for the 10 years since she was diagnosed with celiac disease so this was a great Christmas gift. She’s a petite lady and I’ve never seen her grab such a large slice of sweets in my life
Even those that can eat gluten went back for seconds. Thanks again!
Haha, that’s wonderful! I guess you found something that your MIL really enjoys!
Thank you for the amazing recipe! It was a huge hit on Christmas Day, and it was good for the next couple of days! Just delicious!
Awesome to hear! You are very welcome!
Please tell me where I can find the gluten free all purpose flour mix that you call for on here. I cant find it anywhere on your page.
I want to make this tomorrow morning for our Chirstmas breakfast……I know its a little late but I had to wait for my husband to get home. Thank you~! 
Have a blessed day.
The mix can be found right under the ingredient list:
NOTE: 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.
Merry Christmas, Christy!
Hi Jeanine,
My household is also Dairy Free, I’m guessing the ‘ooze’ is basically a caramel ? is there an alternate to using cream do you think.
Thanks,
Nyssa
I think you could use a few Tbsp of your preferred milk. The dairy is added just to keep the caramel from getting tough when it bakes, it keeps it a nice syrup then.
Hi Jeannie
Last night in bed I was wondering what I could make for a 10:00 a.m coffee as we were having company over. I thought monkey bread!!!! So first thing this a.m. I googled gluten free monkey bread and your recipe came up. I tried it and was so excited. It turned out perfect. I never told the company it was gf. They devoured it as did I. I called my daughter-in-law and told her my success and emailed her the link. She had made regular monkey bread for her company over the holidays and gf cinnamon rolls for her husband and daughter. She was so excited for t his recipe. I can forsee a batch for breakfast there next Sunday morning.
Thanks so much.
Marlene
P.S I have book marked your blog.
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!! So happy to hear that you loved the recipe, and love that you ‘pulled one over’ on your company, with them having no idea they were eating GF.
Win! 
I made this for Christmas brunch this year, and it was DELICIOUS!!! Everyone devoured it, event the non-GFree members of the family. Definitely a keeper! BTW, I made up the recipe the night before and chilled it overnight in the fridge, which worked out great. Just pulled it out to rise a bit while we opened presents and the oven preheated in the morning. Perfect!
Awesome! Glad to hear that it worked so well for you, and I love that it can be made ahead, makes those morning brunches so much easier.
Jeanine, this picture and recipe is AMAZING! You are doing the gluten free world justice over here
Thank you, Cara!
Thank you SO much for this recipe! We’ve been GF for 4 months (celiac) and learning how to revamp my recipes has been tricky! I double grind my brown rice (I have a grain grinder–) and grind my brown rice flour two times to make it super fine. It takes extra time but the consistency is great and the price is right! Also, I made this the night before, refrigerated it, got it out at 6am let it sit on the counter for 1 1/2 hours (I went back to bed after getting up and then oops! it was later) and cooked it for my daughter’s birthday breakfast –it was perfect!
yeah!! That is so awesome! And such a great treat for the birthday girl too! Happy Birthday!!!
Great tip about grinding your own flour, I should maybe look into investing in one of those…hmm…
What if I don’t have a stand mixer?
If you have a strong hand mixer, you can use that, or you can really give your muscles a good workout by using a wooden spoon.
I have never made Monkey Bread and it sounds divine !!! I was wondering if I could make it, bake it, and then freeze it. I work long hours and try to pack in my baking whenever I can. This would be terrific if I could pull it out of the freezer and voila !
I did some asking around on facebook, since I haven’t tried doing it that way myself. I’ve frozen it before baking it, but never after. Some people suggested that as long as it is wrapped up well, you should be able to defrost and reheat in the oven.
Another formed & rolled the dough in sugar, then let them rise, then flash-froze them on a pan. When she wants to bake some (in muffin tins), she places a few balls of dough in a pan, pours the syrup over them, and bakes them that way. Sounds interesting, but I’ve never tried it myself.
I’ve frozen it before letting it rise, then defrosting it, letting it rise & baking it without a problem. I ‘think’ it should be similar to freezing cinnamon buns though. They can be frozen, defrosted, and gently reheated in the oven without a problem. If you do try it, let me know how it worked for you!
My mother in law passed away over 4 years ago. Every Christmas she made Monkey Bread for our family brunch. My family continues to make Monkey Bread in her honor, but I have not been able to enjoy it due to being Gluten Sensitive. I came across your recipe and did a test run today to see if this dish would be one I could make and share this Christmas. It is delicious! Even my husband who can eat gluten agreed it is very good. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! Happy Holidays.
My pleasure, Trish! I’m so happy to hear when traditions have been restored, and memories can be carried forward because of a recipe.
Merry Christmas!
Hello! I’m very new to this whole gluten free game and so happy I found this recipe! Its by far my favorite Christmastime treat and I was so sad when I thought I couldnt have it. So I made it last night only to realize this morning that I used reg. active dry yeast instead of rapid rise. Did I totally ruin it? What can I do to save it? Its currently in the freezer.
I sure hope it isn’t ruined.
The one concern I would have would be that the yeast would not be able to fully activate in the dough without it being proofed first. Rapid rise yeast you can mix directly into your dry ingredients, with no need to proof, but active dry yeast is supposed to be proofed in a warm liquid with a little bit of sugar to get it going, since the granules are larger. From Breadworld.com “Can Active Dry Yeast be used in RapidRise recipes?
Yes, but with limitations. The Active Dry has larger granules and it is necessary to dissolve completely for the yeast to work. Therefore, Active Dry works best if dissolved in warm water (100° to 110°F).” So, it’s hard to say – you may need to bake that one this weekend to see how it worked, then make another for Christmas?
I was just thinking tonight about making your Monkey Bread recipe for Christmas morning, but was wonderful about freezing it so I can make it now to eat later. Low and behold you have my answer right here!!! Have I told you lately just how amazing you are?? Thanks so much for keeping my tummy so very happy! Off to make Christmas breakfast, 5 days early!
Haha, my pleasure, Beth! I had to test it myself, and low & behold, it worked!!
I’ve had some people say they even do it in muffin tins, just a few dough balls per, and bake as many as they ‘need’. Sounds good, but I think we’ll need the whole Bundt pan. 
Merry Christmas!! 
I am so excited that I found this recipe. I grew up with monkey bread every Christmas morning and I was sad that this year we wouldn’t be able to have it since we found out in June that my daughter is gluten intolerant. But you saved the day! You’re like a super hero.
. I was wondering if I could use a prepackaged all purpose flour mix without affecting the outcome? I have on that already xantham gum in it and I would prefer not going out and buying more flour (I have a 25 lb bag).
any thoughts if you can substiture egg replacer? looks lovely
Someone posted just today that they made the cinnamon buns with egg replacer and it worked perfectly, so I think it should work well in this recipe too, since the dough is the same.
Would love to find out if egg replacer will work in this wonderful recipe?
Last year was the first Christmas I had to gluten free and my whole family missed my homemade cinnamon rolls. We enjoyed this recipe this morning..and a new tradition has been born. Thank you!!
Made this for Christmas breakfast this morning…turned out awesome!! Absolutely picture perfect and absolutely delicious! Thank you so much!!!
Thank you for sharing your expertise and talents with so many, what a blessing this web site has been to so many! I was hoping to get feedback in regards to the monkey bread. I tried making it egg and dairy free, but had issues with rising. My boys still ate the small hard balls, great flavoring. I did use active yeast, but let it proof in warm milk. I wonder when I took the water/earthbalance from the microwave, which was just melted, if the temperature was too hot and killed the yeast, or if replacing the egg made such a difference. THe dough structrue was great, just didn’t rise. Put it in my oven, previously warmed, with oven light, and let rise for over anhour, no such luck. I would like to try again, but hoping for some pointers. I used almond flour in place of vanilla pudding, we do have dry potato milk, but no protien in that, so choose almond flour. Thank you again, I would be delighted to get this to work, and make it for years to come. Next time I will use rapid rise for sure, just was out on Christmas eve.
I just took this out of the oven and patiently waited for about 15 minutes to let it cool.. Oh my goodness! It’s amazing! Thank you so much for all of your wonderful recipes! I also really enjoyed your choux paste recipe!
Thank you for this recipe! My 9 yr old daughter has celiac, and I was determined she would still have our traditional Christmas morning monkey bread.
I made this ahead of time, wrapped it tightly in layers of saran wrap, froze it until the night before, put it in the fridge over night to defrost, let it sit for 30 minutes in a slightly warm oven to rise, then baked as directed. I didn’t have any tapioca starch, and I think I put in a little more xantham gum by accident (I was in a hurry..) but it came out delicious!
I also made a “regular” gluten monkey bread (careful not to cross contaminate, of course) because we had a ton of guests staying at our house, and I was nervous the GF version may not be enough, or as good as the regular version because I hadn’t made it before. It turns out, the GF version was just as good, if not better, and my daughter was getting mad that people were eating “her” bread. Next year, I’m just going to make two GF breads, so there is enough, and call it a day.
Thank you, again, for this amazing recipe!
Hello Jeanine,
Just wondering if you white rice flour could be substituted for the brown rice flour?
Yes, since brown & white rice flour weigh the same, you should be able to interchange them without a problem.
I’m ecstatic to find this recipe! My question is about the dry ingredients. The recipe calls for 2 1/2 c. g-f flour mixture, but your measurements for the mixture (in your “note”) add up to 6 cups total. I don’t get it–do I just use 2 1/2 c. of that whole mixture? I’m sure this must be obvious to everyone else since no one else asked about it, so I apologize for being so dense!
I can’t WAIT to try this & am practically drooling after reading all the positive comments!
If you mix up the “flour blend”, you will have extra flour. I used to do a lot of baking using that blend, but since then, I’ve broken things down into individual flours. If you have a pre-blended flour that you’ve purchased, you can use that in place of the flour blend as well, it’s a pretty versatile recipe that way.
Do you weigh your flours at all? I know that every gluten free flour weighs differently. And if I am using a different blend do you think the difference in the weight would ruin it? I made this a few weeks ago and it was amazing!! I am curious to see how it would work with the gluten free flour blend that I typically use.
I’ve begun weighing the flours for my bread recipes. If you check out the Cinnamon Buns on here, that recipe includes the weights, and that dough, and this dough are the same. You should be able to figure out the weight difference between this blend and the flour blend you typically use. Hope that helps – glad to hear that it was yummy though.
Thank you for letting me know that! I am going to check it out now
And it did help!