Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread With Maple Caramel Sauce
Refrigerated biscuits, chunky apple preserves, and spiced maple caramel sauce combine for a loaf of apple pull-apart bread that’s essentially a giant bear claw-meets-cinnamon bun. 😋
Ingredients
- 1 Can Refrigerated Biscuit Dough
- ¾ - 1 Cup Apple Preserves recipe below.
- ¾ Cup Spiced Maple Caramel Sauce recipe below, or Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Spread
Spiced Maple Caramel Sauce
- ½ Cup Maple Syrup or honey
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Cup Half and Half or ½ cup each cream and milk
- 4 tablespoon Butter
- ½-3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt or fine sea salt. Optional, for salted caramel vibes
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
- ⅛ - ¼ teaspoon Ground Cloves optional, for added warmth
- ⅛ - ¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg optional, for added warmth
Apple Preserves (Half Batch)
- 1.25 pounds Apples peeled and small diced. Mix of sweet-tart, firm varieties like Pink Lady or Granny Smith
- ½ Cup Water or apple juice
- ¼ Cup Sugar or brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ Lemon juice & zest
- ½ tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar optional, for canning
Instructions
Make Maple Caramel Sauce
- Add maple syrup, brown sugar, half n half, butter, and salt to a heavy bottomed saucepan and whisk to combine.
- Simmer mixture over medium-low heat, whisking often, until it reaches 230ºF—about 7-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and carefully whisk in vanilla extract and spices. The vanilla will make the hot caramel sputter. Measure out ¾ cup and set aside to cool. The remaining caramel will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
Make Apple Preserves
- Add finely diced apples, water, sugar, spices, salt, lemon juice & zest, and apple cider vinegar (if using) to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir to combine.
- Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid is mostly evaporated and the apples are tender and syrupy. Measure out ¾ - 1 cup, depending on how apple-y you want the monkey bread. Set aside to cool. The remaining apple preserves will keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks or can be water bath canned for longer storage.
Assemble Monkey Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Open the can of biscuit dough, separating the biscuits. Cut each one into 4 pieces and roll into balls.
- Dip each ball in the warm caramel sauce, then place in the prepared loaf pan. You may need to reheat the caramel a bit to thin it out. Once you've made a full layer of balls (about 16), spoon on half of the apple preserves, spreading the chunks out evenly. (NOTE: If you don't want to be precious about it, you can simply drizzle the warm sauce evenly over the balls. I find that dipping ensures every bite is fully covered, but drizzling is admittedly much quicker and does a good enough job!)
- Repeat the process process of dipping the biscuit balls in the caramel sauce and spreading on the remaining apple preserves. (If there is any remaining caramel from the ½-3/4 cup you measure out), drizzle it evenly over the top.
- Bake in the prepared oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the deepest part comes out clean and all biscuits are cooked through. (If the top is browning too quickly, you can tent it with foil.)
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate, scrape out any extra caramel sauce to spread on top, and dig in!
Notes
Storage/Reheating:
- Allow the bubble bread to cool completely to room temperature, then store in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- You can also transfer the container to the fridge for up to a week. That said, this is not my favorite storage method as the fridge tends to make it taste a bit more stale.
- For longer storage, my preferred method is freezing. Wrap it well in plastic wrap then place in a freezer bag—double protection helps prevent freezer burn. Remove as much air as possible (preferably using either a vacuum sealer or the water displacement method), label, and date it. It will keep well in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.
- To serve, allow to defrost at room temperature for an hour, then warm in a preheated 300ºF oven until warmed through. I like to tear it into smaller chunks (~4-5 balls per chunk) during rewarming—this helps crisp up the outside and warm up the insides evenly without leaving any cold spots in just about 5 minutes.
- For extra maple flavor, feel free to add up to ¾ teaspoon of maple extract to the caramel sauce with the vanilla extract.
- You'll end up with about ½-3/4 of the maple caramel sauce leftover. It's lovely as a hostess gift! You can also drizzle it over ice cream, apple pie, and more. I like to make a quasi-pralines and cream ice cream by layering cooled caramel sauce with freshly churned vanilla ice cream and honey roasted peanuts. SO GOOD!
- These apple preserves are perfect for water bath canning. Visit my apple preserves recipe post for details on how.
Nutrition
Calories: 274kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 347mgPotassium: 136mgFiber: 2gSugar: 47gVitamin A: 161IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 64mgIron: 0.5mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!