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If there’s one thing December needs, it’s this Snowflake Pull-Apart Monkey Bread. If you love cinnamon rolls, then you will absolutely love this cinnamon roll snowflake brunch recipe.
Ingredients
- Warm whole milk
- Instant Dry Yeast
- Honey
- Eggs (3)
- Salted Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher Salt
Filling
- Butter
- Light Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
Butterscotch Sauce
- Dark Brown Sugar
- Whiskey
- Heavy Cream
- Vanilla Extract
What you will need in the kitchen to get started:
- Mixing bowl
- large bowl
- plastic wrap
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
- 2 inch wide drink glass
- small saucepan
Would love to see some snow here, but since I can’t control the weather, I’m making snowflakes!
It’s weird, by this time of year we always have snow on the ground, and not just a thin layer, but lots of it. I can’t remember a year when we haven’t had piles of snow all over the place by now, so the fact that we have so little snow is weird…and kind of sad. Snow in December is my absolute favorite. Snow in March…April…May? No thanks, but snow in December, yes please. Obviously, there’s not much I can do about the lack of white stuff here in the west, but what I can do…is make deliciously gooey and sweet monkey bread that looks like a giant snowflake. Yup, that I can do.
For real though, how cute is this snowflake monkey bread? I’ve seen these snowflake breads all over my Pinterest page for years now and always thought they were the cutest. It wasn’t until this year that I had the idea to recreate my mom’s butterscotch monkey bread recipe into this festive snowflake. But I’m so glad the idea came to mind, because not only is this bread cute, it’s also incredibly delicious.
Warm, doughy, gooey, extra sweet, and loaded with cinnamon and butterscotch. It’s basically the ultimate Christmas morning breakfast.
Couldn’t love it more.
Now, I know what you guys are thinking, this looks so hard to make. Trust me though, this is not hard to make. I know it looks fancy, but in all honesty, it’s kind of easier than making monkey bread. I mean, it’s not as easy as my mom’s monkey bread, because her recipe doesn’t use homemade dough, or homemade butterscotch sauce and filling, but the process of actually making the snowflake is pretty easy…and fun!
And once you finish? You’ll feel a little proud that you created such a pretty looking bread…
Or at least I did anyway. Hey, I am not a professional pastry baker. I can bake, but making things look extra pretty? Not necessarily my thing.
Point is, even if you think you can’t make this, you can!
I tried to snap a bunch of photos of the twisting process so that you can use those as a guide when making your own bread. I am such a visual person, so at least for me, photos always help.
It’s really just a matter of layering the dough and then twisting. Pretty simple. And even if your snowflake doesn’t end up looking very “snowflake…ish”, don’t worry. All that matters is how the bread tastes, and it’s going to taste great in whatever shape or form.
Think of this snowflake monkey bread like your favorite gooey sticky bun, but instead of in bun form, they’re in cute, pull-apart snowflake form.
If like me you plan to make this for Christmas morning, you can form the snowflake on Christmas Eve, pop it in the fridge and let it sit overnight. In the morning, remove the snowflake from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature while the oven preheats, then just bake and eat!
Since I wanted my bread to be extra, extra gooey, like my mom’s monkey bread that we traditionally eat on Christmas morning, I ended up making an extra butterscotch sauce to lightly drizzle over the snowflake. In full disclosure, the butterscotch sauce is totally not needed. The bread is sweet enough on its own, but it’s the holiday’s and let’s be real, while the bread is good enough on its own, it’s better with that additional butterscotch sauce.
And a dusting of confectioners sugar…you know, for the snow effect.
Obviously.
Snowflake Pull-Apart Monkey Bread
Servings: 10 servings
Calories Per Serving: 740 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup warm whole milk
- 1 packet instant dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 1/2-4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg beaten, for brushing before baking
Filling
- 6 tablespoons butter, very warm, but not melted
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Butterscotch Sauce
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons whiskey
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. To make the dough. Combine the milk, yeast, honey, 2 eggs, butter, 3 1/2 cups flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl. The dough should be sticky, but if it seems too sticky, add the remaining 1/2 cup flour.2. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Kneed into a smooth ball. Grease a large bowl and add the dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 45 minutes-1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Mix the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon to a bowl.4. Lightly dust a surface with flour. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough down and roll into a ball. Cut the dough evenly into 4 pieces and roll each piece out into a 10 inch circle. Place 1 circle on a parchment lined baking sheet with sides. Spread 1/3 of the filling over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge. Place another piece of dough on top and spread with 1/3 of the filling. Add the 3rd layer of dough and spread with the remaining filling. Finish with the 4th dough round.5. Place a 2 inch wide drink glass in the center of the dough and use as a guide when cutting the strips. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 4 triangles, then cut each triangle in half creating 8 triangles. Now cut each triangle in half again to make a total of 16 triangles (see photos above for a guide). 6. Remove the drink glass. Lift the edges of 2 wedges that are next to each other and twist them away from each other twice. Pinch the ends to seal (see photos above for guide). Repeat with the remaining pairs of wedges. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes, or let rise overnight in the fridge. 7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center. Brush the snowflake with the beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and carefully spoon any sauce that has leaked out of bread back over the bread. Return to the oven and bake another 15 minutes or until golden brown. 8. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and boil 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the whiskey and vanilla.8. Drizzle the snowflake with butterscotch sauce and dust lightly with confectioners sugar. Eat warm. Enjoy!
The best piece…the one with with extra butterscotch sauce…because it’s Christmas!
PS. have you guys entered my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer giveaway over on Instagram yet?
This post was originally published on December 12, 2017
Love this recipe! At 66 I’m just getting into baking and I made this Xmas morning for my husband and myself and we enjoyed it until it was gone. I’m bringing it this morning to a church service for coffee hour and I look forward to hearing the comments from my friends and neighbors. Also, for NYE I tried this with two different types of pesto inside instead of the sugar/butter and it was really great.
Hi Julia,
Awesome!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and your notes, so glad it was enjoyed!
Have a great Sunday!☃️
I think this will be my fifth year making this for Christmas morning. My family absolutely loves it. I offered to make something different this year or alter this a bit and they said absolutely not. I always make it through step 6 and pop it in the fridge overnight – makes for an easy treat the next morning. I do let it sit out while I’m preheating the oven maybe even a bit longer. Always a hit! Thank you 😊
Hey Ashlee,
Awesome! Thanks so much for making this recipe every year, I am so glad it always turns out nicely for you!
Merry Christmas!🎄🎁
I made this several times last holiday season and wasn’t completely happy how it turned out. The final product had what I’d consider a dry crumb every time. I am a very experienced home baker but having a hard time troubleshooting. Anyone have any pointers? Reduce bake time?
Hey Anna,
Can you share some details? Are there any steps you have changed? The bread should absolutely not be dry!
How long do I need to kneed it for? My dough seemed to come off the side of the bowl in the mixer pretty quickly
Worried I didn’t kneed it enough (or much) and it’s not rising
Can you make ahead (1 week) and freeze after step 6? Then thaw in fridge overnight to bake in the morning?
Hey Heather,
Totally, that will work nicely for you! I hope you love this recipe! Let me know if you give it a try:)
Hi Annie,
I would say about 5 minutes or until you have a smooth dough ball. I hope you love this recipe! xx
Can I leave the dough to rise overnight in the fridge?
Hi Lillith,
I would just make through step 6 and then pop in the fridge and bake as directed in the morning:) I hope you love this recipe! xT
Salted or unsalted butter?? I want to make this tomorrow!
Hi Christina,
I like to use salted butter:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xx
Wondering if it would be possible to par-bake this so I can have all the work done Christmas Eve, then pop it in the oven to brown Christmas morning?
If so, how long do you think?
Hi Nat,
I’ve never tried this. I would just complete through step 6 and then finish the recipe in the morning. I hope this helps. Merry Christmas! xx
Tried making the butterscotch recipe and the cream curdled and did not make a coherent sauce.
Hey Charlie! Oh no I’m so sorry! Hmm I would maybe let your cream come to room temp or warm it a but before adding it! xT
why would that matter if I’m just going to boul it for 3-4 minutes? That part of the recipe seemed off to me. Should we instead boil the butter and sugar, remove from heat and THEN add cream and everything else?
Is there a video of how to fold the dough anywhere?? Hoping to do this with my husband for his birthday!
Hi Kathleen,
So sorry, I do not have a video, but I tried to show the steps in the photos above. You really are just twisting the dough. I hope this helps! Happy Birthday to your husband! xx
Thank you!! The pictures will help, for sure!
Can you use pre-made pie crust from store?
Hi Lori,
Sorry, I would not recommend that for this recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
This is so delicious and the sauce is to die for! Will definitely make again.
Hey Deborah,
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for making it! Happy Labor Day! xT
Hi. Just wondering if I can sub eggnog for milk in the recipe. Thanks
Hi Tamara! Yes that should work fine! 🙂 xT