Chocolate Monkey Bread

This is our chocolate monkey bread (without pudding)! It can be made as a frozen bread dough recipe or Rhodes rolls too!! If you haven’t made this version of ooey gooey sweet pull apart breakfast it is not only possible but delicious!

Chocolate Rhodes monkey bread is seriously so easy to make! Semi homemade but way better than already made in the box, we’ll show you how to make all sorts of varieties.

Yes, you could make this with their frozen rolls as well, but we think this is even better! Since there is already a bit of sweetness in these, there’s less to add on your end.

I am ALL about easy breakfast recipes. Now that we have the timing and easy monkey bread base figured out, we can share it with y’all. From there you can tweak it and add your favorite flavors into the mix. There are TONS of frozen cinnamon roll recipe ideas you can make I tell you. Whether you make it in to a traditional large bundt pan, or make in a muffin pan they are all fantastic treats.

Ingredient Notes

First things first, you’ll need 2 bags of their frozen rolls or frozen cinnamon rolls. With the latter each one comes with 2 tubs of frosting each. I only needed 1 of the 4 total packets since I added chocolate to ours. I didn’t want to make it over the top puckeringly sweet.

You are going to want melted and cooled butter to dip pieces in before coating with brown sugar and cinnamon. Here we added some cocoa and chocolate chips for a chocolate flavor.

Can you make monkey bread with Rhodes frozen dough?

You could do the same thing with frozen rolls but those don’t have as much sweetness. The key is to defrost just enough so they aren’t rock hard, but tender enough to slice without sticking. Using a pizza cutter helps to get the cutting done quickly too.

How Long to Defrost Rhodes Rolls

For this recipe you only need to let it rest and rise a bit for an hour. Find a warm place in your kitchen. Cover the top with plastic wrap and leave it alone. I use a closed microwave myself. This will make them soft enough to cut into smaller bite size pieces.

How Long to Cook Chocolate Monkey Bread

For reference you should start this 2 hours before you are ready to eat it if you use frozen rolls. This is important in case you’re preparing a lot of things for Christmas morning. It will need time to defrost and then rest / rise for an hour first and then 40 minutes or so to bake in the bundt pan in the oven. If using refrigerated rolls it would be faster.

Variations

You can change it up a number of different ways. If you want just the basic type you can omit those two ingredients all together. It won’t change the success of the overall dish at all, it will still be sticky and sweet like you want it to be. Just chop nuts and sprinkle in the bottom vs. chocolate chips if you prefer.

Before I made this, it was Fall and I came up with this killer pumpkin monkey bread. My family was so obsessed with this added flavor that I just kept going…….

Want to incorporate fresh fruit instead? Use these rolls and follow our apple monkey bread recipe instead. That was our next creation and perfect for a potluck we went to in the Spring.

Tips for Success

You will first have to defrost these which will take about 45 minutes. Make sure that you cover them with some sprayed saran wrap or it will stick, and without it they will dry out. Cut each one into fourths.

Put sugar coated pieces into bottom of the pan so they’re evenly distributed. (if you want it really chocolatey add more chips in the middle layer when layering of the biscuits.)

Melt butter with brown sugar, stir and pour on the top. Cover pan with plastic wrap and a towel. Put into a warm place (or close inside microwave but don’t turn on). Allow to rest for 1 hour. Bake for 40 minutes (until top pieces are no longer sticky, do not overbake)

Drizzle 1 frosting packet included in the Rhodes bag on top and enjoy! OR use a packet of ice cream caramel syrup if you want a different flavor profile.

If you wanted to make these in a smaller form you can. Just follow the temp and timing for our monkey bread muffins here for that. Looking for more recipes using cinnamon and/or frozen dinner rolls?

How do you remove monkey bread from a bundt pan?

You do want to flip over when it is still a bit warm, and not room temperature. This will help it slide out easier. Make sure to leave it in the pan for at least 15 minutes though so it can continue to bake and solidify. I let it sit for about 20 min. and it worked great. Using pot holders I flipped it on to a cutting board, tapped the bottom all around and it slid out well.

If you are trying to prepare Christmas brunch items you may be able to prepare and leave in the fridge overnight. My fear is it may not rise properly unless you then put it into a warm place for a few hours. The pan and rolls would need to thaw and rest before baking.

Another smaller version that is fun during Spring time is making Easter egg bread with them this year too!

If you wanted to make this in a larger pan full for your family we have directions for that too. Using a 9×13″ rectangular pan, our cinnamon roll breakfast casserole is easy to throw together. A little bit like bread pudding, it’s a throw it all in and go type of treat.