Praline Pecan Monkey Bread

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword easy-monkey-bread, monkey-bread-recipes, praline-pecan-monkey-bread-using-rhodes-frozen-yeast-rolls

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 40

Rise Time 45

Total Time 2 10

Servings servings

Calories 342kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

1 cup pecan pieces toasted and divided
20 frozen yeast rolls thawed but still cold, quartered i.e. Rhodes frozen rolls or similar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract or rum extract
flaky sea salt optional

Instructions

To Prep the Rolls: Place the frozen yeast rolls in a single layer on a platter. Allow to thaw at room temperature on the counter for 15-20 minutes. Use a sharp knife and quarter each roll. (If the rolls are slightly frozen in the middle they're much easier to quarter.)
Toast the Pecans: Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spread the pecan pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 6-8 minutes. Cool completely
To Assemble: Spray a tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large plastic storage Ziploc bag sift together 2/3 cup of granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp of ground cinnamon. Add the rolls and seal the bag. Toss until all pieces are evenly coated with the cinnamon brown sugar mixture.
Assemble: Sprinkle 1/3 of the toasted pecans on the bottom of the pan and top with 1/2 half of the cinnamon sugar coated rolls. Repeat with 1/3 pecans and a final 1/2 coated rolls. Sprinkle any cinnamon and sugar left in the bag over the top. Finish with final 1/3 of pecans.
To Make the Praline Sauce: In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan melt brown sugar, butter and heavy cream over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla or rum extract. The mixture will be hot, handle carefully. Let stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Pour sauce evenly over the rolls in the pan. Cover with a damp cloth or loosely cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes.
To Bake: Uncover rolls and place into a preheated 350 °F oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. Rest for 5 minutes before carefully inverting onto a serving plate.
Sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt if desired, then pull apart and enjoy.

Notes

Flavorings: You can use vanilla extract or rum extract for the sauce or a combination of both.
Dinner Rolls: You can make this easy monkey bread recipe using canned biscuits if there's no time to allow the frozen bread dough to rise.
Sugar: You could use dark brown sugar in place of light brown sugar giving hints of molasses to the caramel flavor.
Nuts: You could use walnuts in place of pecans.
Pan: Due to the fact that the rolls will rise while baking, a classic Bundt cake pan is not quite deep enough for this monkey bread. You could split the amount and bake in two 8-inch loaf pans or deep dish pie pans.

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