Sourdough Monkey Bread (discard or active starter)

Soft, warm, gooey, and nostalgic, this Sourdough Monkey Bread is such a special treat. A Christmas morning tradition in our home, this delicious monkey bread can be prepped the day before, refrigerated overnight, and baked fresh the next morning. Use discard or active starter to make this fun recipe - I'll give you all the details below!

Ingredients

This monkey bread recipe uses my sourdough discard cinnamon roll dough recipe as the base and the ingredients are exactly the same.

• milk: I usually use whole milk but you can use reconstituted buttermilk powder, regular buttermilk, an alternative milk, goat or sheep milk, or half and half or cream for a richer dough.
• sugar: I most commonly use granulated sugar but have also used sucanat and brown sugar to make this dough. You can use honey or maple syrup but you'll need to add a bit more flour to make up for the added moisture.
• yeast: active dry or instant are both fine here. Since we are not using an active sourdough starter, we need the yeast to help these rise If you are looking for a long-fermented version, you can either leave the yeast out of this recipe and use active, bubbly starter or you can use my Sourdough Cinnamon Roll dough.
• egg: to add richness and softness to the dough.
• sourdough discard: unfed sourdough starter. I usually use mine straight from the fridge and very sour but you can use it at any stage whether you are just starting a sourdough starter or you have one that is well-established.
• butter: soft, room temperature - unsalted or salted work fine in this recipe. You can also use oil (coconut, avocado, etc.) or your preferred cooking fat.
• flour: I use unbleached, all-purpose flour.
• salt: I test all of my recipes with Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.

for rolling the dough balls you will need:

• melted butter
• vanilla (optional)
• brown sugar
• cinnamon

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

The dough mixes up in about 10 minutes in a stand mixer. You can also mix it up with a wooden spoon and then knead by hand for about 10 minutes.

How to make sourdough monkey bread dough

• Pour milk into bowl of stand mixer, along with ¼ cup sugar and yeast. Whisk and let sit for about 5 minutes until you see some foaming (this means your yeast is alive).
• After 5 minutes, whisk in sourdough discard and egg. Next, add flour, 4 tablespoons butter, and salt to mixer. Using your dough hook, mix dough on low to medium speed until it begins to come together. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until you have a soft, but not overly sticky dough. It will stick to the bottom of the bowl a bit but it should pull away from the sides and not be overly sticky. Add a tablespoon or two of flour if it is very sticky.

• Remove dough hook. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rise for an hour in a warm place until doubled in size.

How to shape monkey bread

Now for the fun part:

Melt one stick of butter in a shallow bowl and in another shallow bowl mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Set those aside while you work on the dough.

• Dump dough onto lightly floured surface and press or roll into a large rectangle. The size doesn't really matter but mine was about 12x8 inches. Cut the rectangle into 64 pieces (so 7 cuts one way and 7 cuts the other way to make 8 rows in each direction) - I like to use a pizza cutter for this.
• Roll each piece into a ball. I don't worry if they aren't exactly the same size but you want them pretty close - so no gigantic ones and no tiny ones. If you are a precision baker, feel free to weigh the dough and divide your grams by 64.

• Enlist little helpers if you want to create precious memories. Roll the balls first in melted butter and then in sugar mixture - this part gets messy but it's worth it.

• Place coated dough balls in greased bundt pan. Once all dough balls are in the pan, scrape any extra butter or sugar mixture over, cover pan, and allow to rise until very puffy - about an hour.
• Bake in preheated oven until puffed, browned, and bubbly. This will take about 45 minutes and I like to tent mine with foil after about 20 minutes to prevent over-browning.

Can I use active sourdough starter and omit the yeast in this recipe?

Yes! You can omit the yeast in this recipe if you are using a very active and bubbly starter. Or you can use the dough from my Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls. Once the dough is mixed, you will need to increase the first rise (bulk ferment) to anywhere from 4-8 hours to allow the dough to double in size - this will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. Then the second rise will take around 4 hours but again, this will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. You want it to get nice and puffy before baking. Once it has risen, you can cover and place in the refrigerator overnight to bake fresh in the morning - this is especially great if you are making it for Christmas morning!

I don't have a bundt pan, what can I use?

You can split the dough balls between two 9x4 or 9x5 loaf pans.

Variations

I keep my monkey bread pretty classic but here are some ideas to mix things up:

• Add orange zest to the dough for a Christmasy flavor.
• Instead of vanilla use your favorite extract such as rum or almond in the melted butter.
• Use different spices such as nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, allspice, or ginger in the coating.
• Add mini chocolate chips in between the layers of dough balls as you are adding them to the pan.
• Drizzle a caramel sauce or glaze over the warm monkey bread for some extra sticky fingers.

Storage

This is best eaten fresh and warm but if you have leftovers keep them covered and eat within a day or two. Give it a few seconds in the microwave to refresh or a few minutes in a warm oven or airfryer.

Related - sourdough recipes

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

More Christmas recipes:

Sourdough Monkey Bread (discard or active starter)

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Soft, warm, gooey, and nostalgic, this Sourdough Monkey Bread is such a special treat. A Christmas morning tradition in our home, this delicious monkey bread can be prepped the day before, refrigerated overnight, and baked fresh the next morning. Use discard or active starter to make this fun recipe

• Total Time: 3 hours
• Yield: 8-12 servings

Ingredients

for the dough:

1 cup whole milk (240 grams) warmed to 100-110 degrees F

¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (7 grams)

1 egg

½ cup sourdough discard (140 grams)

3 ½ cups all purpose flour (420 grams)

1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (3 grams)

4 tablespoons butter (56 grams)

for the coating:

4 ounces (1 standard stick) butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (optional but really good added to the melted butter)

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

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Instructions

1. Pour milk into bowl of stand mixer, along with ¼ cup sugar and yeast. Whisk and let sit for about 5 minutes until you see some foaming (this means your yeast is alive).
2. After 5 minutes, whisk in sourdough discard and egg.
3. Next, add flour, 4 tablespoons butter, and salt to mixer. Using your dough hook, mix dough on low to medium speed until it begins to come together. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until you have a soft, but not overly sticky dough. It will stick to the bottom of the bowl a bit but it should pull away from the sides and not be overly sticky. Add a tablespoon or two of flour if it is very sticky.
4. Remove dough hook. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rise for an hour in a warm place until doubled in size.
5. When dough has doubled, melt butter in a wide, shallow bowl, add vanilla extract, and set aside. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in another wide, shallow bowl and set aside.
6. Butter a 10-inch bundt pan very well or use baking spray. Set aside.
7. Dump dough onto lightly floured surface and press or roll into a large rectangle. The size doesn't really matter but mine was about 12x8 inches. Cut the rectangle into 64 pieces (so 7 cuts one way and 7 cuts the other way to make 8 rows in each direction) - I like to use a pizza cutter for this. Roll each piece into a ball. I don't worry if they aren't exactly the same size but you want them pretty close - so no gigantic ones and no tiny ones. If you are a precision baker, feel free to weigh the dough, divide your grams by 64, and roll your balls accordingly.
8. Roll the balls first in melted butter and then in the sugar mixture. Enlist little helpers for this part if you want to create messy but very precious memories.
9. Place coated dough balls in prepared bundt pan. Once all dough balls are in the pan, scrape any extra butter or sugar mixture over, cover pan, and allow to rise until very puffy - about an hour.
10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F during last few minutes of rising time and place rack in lower third of oven.
11. Place bundt pan on a tray or on some foil just in case it bubbles over and bake in preheated oven until puffed, browned, and bubbly. This will take about 45 minutes and I like to tent mine with foil after about 20 minutes to prevent over-browning.
12. Allow to cool for only 5 minutes before inverting onto a large plate or cake stand. To do this you will place the plate on top of the baked monkey bread, and using oven mitts hold the plate tightly against the pan while you flip the whole thing over so the pan with the monkey bread is now upside down on top of the plate. Carefully lift the pan off to reveal the ooey, gooey monkey bread! If anything sticks just put it back together - nobody will know. Enjoy while still warm but be careful not to burn your fingers like I always do!

Notes

• To make this without commercial yeast, you can omit the yeast and use a very active and bubbly starter or you can use my Sourdough Cinnamon Roll dough. Once the dough is mixed, you will need to increase the first rise (bulk ferment) to anywhere from 4-8 hours or even overnight to allow the dough to double in size - this will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. Then the second rise will take around 4 hours but again, this will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. You want it to get nice and puffy before baking. 
• Make Ahead with yeast: Once you have all balls coated and in the bundt pan, allow to rise for about 30 minutes at room temperature before covering and placing in refrigerator overnight - it will rise a bit more overnight. The next morning, allow to sit at room temp while you preheat the oven. Bake as instructed in the recipe card.
• Make Ahead without yeast using active starter: Once you have all balls coated and in the bundt pan, allow to rise at room temperature until puffy (it should reach the top of a 10 inch bundt pan) before covering and placing in refrigerator overnight. The next morning, allow to sit at room temp while you preheat the oven. Bake as instructed in the recipe card.

• Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
• Prep Time: 30 minutes active
• rising: about 2 hours
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Category: sourdough, breakfast, dessert, brunch, Christmas
• Method: sourdough, baking
• Cuisine: American