It was wrong of me to hold onto these gorgeous little breakfast treats as long as I did. So very wrong. But I’m here to make it right. Because chocolate chip monkey bread muffins are worthy of being in everyone’s home, every day of the week, from now until the end of time.
And P.S. if you are looking for a way to confess your unbeknownst love to someone, I can assure you that these will do the trick. If you need further proof, see below for chocolate-overload goodness.
If you love this recipe, be sure to check out our Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!
What is monkey bread?
If you’ve never tried homemade monkey bread before, you’ve been missing out. Monkey bread is a type of pull-apart bread that’s made from lots of little dough balls that have been rolled in melted butter and some sort of topping (usually cinnamon sugar, but these money bread muffins are rolled in chocolate chips). The coated dough balls are then baked all together in a bundt pan or muffin cups, and once they’ve cooled down a bit you’re able to easily pull one delectable piece of monkey bread off at a time.
Many “homemade” monkey bread recipes use pre-made biscuit dough, but these chocolate chip monkey bread muffins are made 100% from scratch. Making your own dough for these monkey bread muffins doesn’t take much time or effort, and the end result is borderline addicting.
What’s in monkey bread muffins?
These chocolate chip monkey bread muffins are made with pantry staples, which is a blessing and a curse because it’s easy to whip up a batch of these babies at a moment’s notice. The homemade monkey bread is made with a simple mixture of warm water, yeast, all-purpose flour, butter, granulated sugar, and kosher salt.
It’s then rolled in a mixture of dark brown sugar, mini chocolate chips, and cinnamon.
The vanilla icing is made with confectioner’s sugar, milk, and a splash of pure vanilla extract. You can use any milk you’d like, or even cream if you have some hanging out in your fridge.
How to make monkey bread muffins from scratch
First, you’ll need to pull together a simple dough. If you are absolutely terrified of making this from scratch, let me say two things: (1) Don’t be! This monkey bread from scratch recipe has never steered me wrong. (2) If you really really really don’t want to, you can use store-bought cinnamon bun, crescent roll, or biscuit dough. You know the kind I’m talking about… in the cylindrical tube that pops open when you twist it.
Other than the dough, it’s easy. Messy, but easy! Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate chips in a bowl, et voila! Your filling is ready.
Roll the dough out and cut into small squares. Then, roll the squares into balls, dip in melted butter, roll through the chocolate chip topping, and gently press down into lined muffin cups.
These chocolate chip monkey bread muffins need to bake for roughly 18 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they’re golden on top.
Make the vanilla glaze while the monkey bread muffins are still warm, and be generous when drizzling.
Are chocolate chip monkey bread muffins breakfast or dessert?
Please don’t fight me on this one — ain’t nobody got time to argue with me about the validity of whether muffins are breakfast (because they are).
*Caveat: you can also eat these for dessert judgment-free!
What type of icing do you use?
I like a simple vanilla-powdered sugar icing to drizzle on top, but you could also top these easy monkey bread muffins with homemade cream cheese icing and that would be to die for.
Can monkey bread muffins be made gluten-free?
I haven’t tried with this recipe, but I’ve had a lot of success in the past substituting Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 gluten free flour in place of regular all-purpose flour and the results are astounding. If you give it a try, let me know in the comments below whether it worked out!
Tips for making monkey bread muffins
When you set the dough aside to rise, it’s important that you cover the bowl with plastic wrap. You can get away with using just a kitchen towel for some bread recipes, but the monkey bread dough must be covered with plastic wrap otherwise it won’t rise properly.
If you don’t have mini chocolate chips on hand, you can chop up regular sized chocolate chips or a chocolate bar instead. Make the pieces as small as possible, otherwise your monkey bread muffins will be overwhelmed by the chocolate.
Lastly, these homemade monkey bread muffins can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container. They’ll stay fresh up to 3 days, but they never make it that long in my house.
If you make my Easy Chocolate Chip Monkey Bread Muffins, please let me know by leaving a review below! And make sure to sign up for my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more Well Seasoned recipes!
For additional indulgent desserts, check out the following:
- Cookie butter skillet cookie
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Creamy dulce de leche cheesecake
- Cannoli cream parfaits
- Milk Bar’s Crack Pie
- Magnolia Bakery banana pudding recipe
- Chewy spelt dark chocolate chunk cookies
- Dark chocolate chunk browned butter blondies
Easy Chocolate Chip Monkey Bread Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
For the monkey bread
- 1 ⅓ cups warm water
- ½ cup 1 stick plus 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, (melted)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose or white pastry flour
- 2 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
- 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ cups mini chocolate chips
For the glaze
- ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the monkey bread:
- Combine 1 ⅓ cups water, 2 Tbsp butter, ¾ cup sugar, and 1 package yeast in a large bowl, then whisk to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place 3 ¼ cup flour and 2 ½ tsp salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with hook attachment.
- With mixer on low, slowly drizzle in yeast mixture. When most of the flour is incorporated, increase speed to medium-high. Scrape down the sides, the mix for about 6 minutes, or until dough is extremely smooth and shiny. Use nonstick butter spray to coat the inside of a large mixing bowl. Transfer dough to prepared bowl, then cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour.
- While dough is rising, make chocolate chip topping. Combine 1 ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 ½ tsp cinnamon, and 1 ¼ cup chocolate chips in a small bowl. Melt remaining stick of butter in a separate bowl.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 9×13 rectangle. Use a pastry cutter or bench scraper to cut dough into 1” squares.
- Gently roll each square into a ball, then dip in the remaining ½ cup melted butter. Immediately coat dough in the chocolate chip topping, then place in lined muffin cups, pressing down a little to make room for them all and filling to the top. Let dough rest for a half hour before baking.
- When ready, bake at 350 F for 18 minutes. Let cool in tray for 5 min, then carefully transfer to a wire rack.
To make the glaze
- To make glaze, combine ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar, 2 Tbsp milk, and 1 tsp vanilla, then whisk until smooth. Add additional milk, 1 tsp at a time if you like a thinner glaze. Drizzle on top of warm monkey bread.
These look incredible! I don’t do chocolate for breakfast, but, these are perfectly wonderful snacks.
Yes, there’s no wrong time to eat a chocolate chip monkey bread muffin!
I adore the homemade quality of the dough, but my 10 year who is dying to make these herself is looking for a shortcut before trying out the teasers dough when she’s more confident.
Would the dough more resemble a Pillsbury canned biscuit dough, a Pillsbury canned bread dough, or a frozen Rhodes bread dough?
Over the holiday vacation I will help her through the original, but I’d love for her to gain some confidence with the process first. Thank you in advance!
YES absolutely try it with either canned biscuit or canned bread dough! These are not actually biscuit-like in texture (it’s a much softer, chewier dough), but for the purposes of practicing technique with a child, it really doesn’t matter. It will be a fun experience, and one that I’m sure she will love because she’ll be putting all the hard work in herself. And then possibly more fun to make them again with your over winter break! Good luck, please report back or send a picture on Instagram! xo
Ari teased this recipe on social media WEEKS before actually sharing it. My oldest was going through a monkey bread phase at the time (as in, I was constantly making it) and the second I saw these decadent muffins I had to have them. Only she made me wait.
When she finally posted the recipe, it did not disappoint! It came together easily and was worth the extra time the yeast dough takes (compared to making a biscuit dough). It made a lot… But they didn’t last long, I definitely gorged myself on them. I couldn’t resist pulling off a bite or two every time I walked past them in the kitchen. Yum!
Really happy they lived up to the hype! xo, Ari