Maple Bacon Monkey Bread
Thick and fluffy brioche dough balls, rolled in a cinnamon sugar swirl with a sweet and sticky maple caramel glaze, topped with candied bacon, this Maple Bacon Monkey Bread is a delicious and delectable snack for dessert or breakfast. No one will be able to resist!
I have been wanting to do a homemade dough on the site for awhile. Yeasted doughs can make people skeptical – but I promise, this is so easy and so worth it! The homemade dough is soft and fluffy and a beautifully sweetened brioche. It’s like cinnamon rolls – looks scarier than it is.
The bacon I topped my Monkey Bread with is my Pumpkin Spice Candied Bacon posted a few days ago. You can use any candied bacon recipe you choose, but I think the spice adds something extra special.
What do I need to make Maple Bacon Monkey Bread?
- A bundt pan.
- Dough ingredients – milk, yeast, sugar, flour, salt, eggs, and melted butter. You can also use a store-bought refrigerated biscuit dough if you do not want to make your own dough. It might be a little less fluffy and thick, but the maple bacon flavor more than makes up for it!
- A sugar and cinnamon mixture.
- Pumpkin spices (or cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice.)
- Butter and brown sugar for glaze to go over the bread.
- Water, granulated sugar, butter, and heavy cream for the caramel.
- Pure Maple Syrup. You do not want table syrup for this – you want the real stuff with the real flavor.
- Candied Bacon.
Making the Dough
The brioche pull-apart dough might look scary to make from scratch, but I promise it is so easy if you follow the steps as outlined in the recipe!
Slightly heat up your milk. You don’t want it to be hot, only warm. Then add the yeast to the milk. Set it aside. Mix all dry ingredients, then in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix in the milk, then eggs, then butter.
The dough will be quite sticky at this point. Place it onto a floured surface and form into a large ball. Let the dough rise for at least 1 1/2-2 hours. In the mean time, make your caramel, glaze, and sugar mixture.
Once the dough has risen, roll it out onto the floured surface again and break apart into small biscuit pieces – the pieces need to be about 30g or about 3-4 tbsp.
Roll dough into balls, and roll each ball into your cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each ball in your bundt pan sprayed with cooking spray. Let that rise for another 20 minutes, then make your glaze.
Cover dough balls with the butter and brown sugar glaze (while it’s still hot) and bake for about 40 minutes. It will be a beautiful golden brown out of the oven. Cool in pan for at least an hour before removing to a serving plate. Top with bacon and maple caramel.
How to make Maple Caramel
This caramel recipe is pretty straightforward, and a lot like the caramel used in my Caramel Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies – but this time with pure maple syrup!
Place sugar in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, and then add water. Make sure the sugar is completely covered with water. Heat over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved and turns an amber color – add the butter (it will get very steamy), then add the cream. Once the caramel is done, add the maple syrup.
Caramel is VERY hot. Do not taste it while hot and give it a lot of time to cool off.
Tips and Tricks
- Yeasted dough requires a lot of patience. Keep the dough in a warm place to rise, and don’t bother it. Let it do its thing.
- Use pure high quality maple syrup. The flavor is very different and will add something special to your caramel.
- Also have patience after the monkey bread it out of the oven. It smells amazing and it is very tempting to cut it open immediately, but it is best after at least an hour of cooling.
Storage and Make Ahead
This can be made the night before serving, if you choose. Transfer it to its serving dish, then cover. Drizzle on the maple caramel and bacon before serving.
Keep covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Maple Bacon Monkey Bread
Brioche dough with a maple caramel and topped with candied bacon!
Ingredients
Brioche Dough
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk, warm
- 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
Cinnamon Sugar Swirl
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
Glaze
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
Maple Caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 5 tbsp butter, cold and cubed
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- Chopped Candied Bacon, for topping
Instructions
- To get started on the dough, take your warm milk and add the yeast, then set aside.
- Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl on a large standing mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- With the mixer on, slowly add in the milk.
- Add the eggs and mix until incorporated.
- Add in the melted and cooled butter and mix until it forms one large ball.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface and let sit for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes is up, transfer to a bowl and cover. Let rise for at least 2 hours.
- While dough is rising, get started the caramel.
- Heat sugar and water over a medium heat, until sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture has turned an amber color. Take off the heat and add the butter. Mix until butter is melted. Then slowly add the heavy cream. Once heavy cream is incorporated, add the maple syrup. Transfer to a jar and let cool.
- Once dough has risen, punch the dough ball to deflate it. Remove from bowl and onto a floured surface. Cut the dough into about 40 smaller pieces, each weighing about 30g (or 3-4 tbsp each) and roll each into a ball.
- Combine all Cinnamon Sugar Swirl ingredients into a large bowl. Take a dough ball, roll in the sugar mixture, then add to a bundt pan sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat until all dough balls are in the bundt pan. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, heat the Glaze ingredients (butter and brown sugar) until the butter is melted and brown sugar is completely dissolved. Let simmer for 1 minute before removing from the heat.
- Pour hot glaze over dough balls and bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour, before transferring to a serving dish. Drizzle with maple caramel and top with candied bacon.
