This King Cake Monkey Bread Recipe uses Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls as the base. It's like your traditional Monkey Bread recipe but with a New Orleans twist!
Table of Contents
What is King Cake Monkey Bread?
My King Cake Monkey Bread recipe is a delightfully indulgent dessert dish that marries King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls with the rich, festive spirit of New Orleans' Mardi Gras.
Each piece of the Hawaiian rolls is tossed in a sticky, slightly crunchy brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon glaze that's absolutely incredible.
It works because of the light, fluffiness of the King's Hawaiian Rolls mimics the traditional yeasted dough found in a standard King Cake.
To really bring it all together, a plastic baby jesus is inserted into the cake after baking.
It's then sprinkled with a heavy dusting of yellow, purple and green Mardi Gras themed sugar sprinkles.
This is a totally nontraditional but fun and absolutely delicious way to celebrate Mardi Gras.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Kings Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls - If you want to make this the traditional way, and use raw biscuit dough, you totally can - but these sweet rolls are so good!
- Egg - No real substitution for egg - we need it to glue everything together. However, if you're using biscuit dough, no egg is needed.
- Cinnamon Sugar - You can either make your own cinnamon sugar or use storebought.
- Salted Butter - If you're using unsalted butter, just be sure to add an extra pinch of salt to make up for it.
- Brown Sugar - Light or dark brown sugar works just fine.
- Cream Cheese Icing - I'm using store bought cream cheese icing that i loosened up with a little bit of milk. You could absolutely make your own if you're into that sort of thing!
- Sprinkles - I'm using a mix of yellow, green, and purple sugar sprinkles which are the colors of Mardi Gras and the typical sprinkles you find on a king cake.
- Plastic Baby Jesus - The most iconic part of King Cake is finding the tiny plastic baby Jesus in there! So if you can, def order some from amazon to keep the tradition alive!
How to make it
Making Monkey Bread out of Kings Hawaiian Rolls is super easy!
Prep the Monkey Bread: To begin, preheat your oven to 350F degrees then tear each Kings Hawaiian Original Sweet Roll into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Pour beaten egg and cinnamon sugar on top and toss with hands until each piece is coated.
Prep the Baking Dish: Spray a 10x10 baking dish with nonstick spray and pour the cinnamon sugar coated pieces into it and set aside.
Make the Brown Sugar Butter Glaze: In a small soup pot, add butter over medium high heat; stirring often until melted. Pour in the brown sugar and stir. Let the mixture come to a boil and stir once more before removing from the heat.
Make the Monkey Bread: Pour the brown sugar butter mixture over the top of the cinnamon sugar pieces, evenly coating each piece, as well as you can, and then place in the oven for 20 minutes.
Ice the Cake: Remove from heat, add the king cake baby if you have one, then top with icing and sprinkles.
What goes with King Cake Monkey Bread?
Since this is a New Orleans dish, I recommend pairing them with some of these tasty dishes:
Frequently asked questions
How long does King's Hawaiian sweet rolls last?
King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls are best savored fresh within 3-5 days. But if you tuck them away properly, they can last a little over a week.
What does it mean if you get the baby in the King Cake?
If you get the baby in the king cake, it means that you're super lucky! It's said that you will have a year full of wealth and prosperity. It also means that you will be the one to provide the King Cake for next year's festivities.
What type of bread is King Cake usually made of?
Although King Cake is not traditionally made from King's Hawaiian Rolls, it's actually made with sweet cinnamon laced yeasted bread which is almost like a mix between brioche and babka.
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Recipe
King Cake Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- 1 12 pack Kings Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls
- 1 large Egg beaten
- ⅓ cup Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 cup Salted Butter
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Cream Cheese Icing
- 1 tablespoon Yellow Sugar Sprinkles
- 1 tablespoon Green Sugar Sprinkles
- 1 tablespoon Purple Sugar Sprinkles
- 1 tiny Plastic Baby Jesus
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Tear each Kings Hawaiian Original Sweet Roll into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Pour beaten egg and cinnamon sugar on top and toss with hands until each piece is coated.
- Spray a 10x10 baking dish with nonstick spray and pour the cinnamon sugar coated pieces into it and set aside.
- In a small soup pot, add salted butter over medium high heat; stirring often until melted. Pour in the brown sugar and stir. Let the mixture come to a boil and stir once more before removing from the heat.
- Pour the brown sugar butter mixture over the top of the pieces, evenly coating as well as you can and then place in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat, add the king cake baby if you have one, then top with icing and sprinkles.
