This easy Apple Fritter Monkey Bread is loaded with apples, cinnamon sugar and walnuts, then finished with a sweet vanilla glaze. No frying required!

Apple Fritter Monkey Bread

This Apple Fritter Monkey Bread is everything you love about a bakery-style apple fritter, turned into an easy pull-apart bread.

Pieces of flaky refrigerated biscuit dough are coated in buttery cinnamon sugar, layered with sweet apples and crunchy walnuts, then baked until golden, sticky and gloriously gooey. A simple vanilla glaze gets drizzled over the top while it’s still warm.

And yes, you are absolutely allowed to eat this for breakfast.

Or dessert.

Or stand at the kitchen counter and pull off “just one more piece.”

I don’t make the rules.

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS APPLE FRITTER MONKEY BREAD

It tastes like an apple fritter. You get tender apples, cinnamon sugar, buttery dough and that sweet vanilla glaze all in one bite.
It’s ridiculously easy. Refrigerated biscuit dough does all the heavy lifting here. No yeast, no kneading and no waiting around for dough to rise.
It’s perfect for a crowd. A Bundt pan gives you plenty of pull-apart pieces, making this an easy breakfast or dessert for holidays, brunches and family gatherings.
It’s gooey and crunchy at the same time. The inside stays soft and sticky while the edges caramelize and get beautifully golden.
You can make it ahead. Assemble it the night before, refrigerate it and bake it the next day.
It works for breakfast OR dessert. Honestly, I refuse to make that decision for you.

WHAT IS MONKEY BREAD?

Monkey bread is simply a pull-apart bread made from small pieces of dough baked together in a Bundt pan.

The fun part is that you don’t slice it like a traditional cake or loaf of bread. You pull the pieces apart with your fingers and eat them.

Which is probably where the monkey part comes in.

I have questions about the naming process, but absolutely no complaints about the eating process.

For this version, we’re taking that classic monkey bread idea and giving it an apple fritter makeover with apples, cinnamon sugar, walnuts and vanilla glaze.

WHAT MAKES THIS APPLE FRITTER MONKEY BREAD SO GOOD?

The magic is in the layers.

The refrigerated biscuit pieces are coated in melted butter and cinnamon brown sugar before being tucked into the Bundt pan with diced apples and walnuts. As everything bakes, the sugar melts into the butter and apple juices, creating those sticky caramelized edges that make monkey bread so good.

Then you flip the whole thing out of the pan and drizzle it with vanilla glaze.

It’s basically an apple fritter that decided it didn’t want to be fried.

And I’m perfectly fine with that.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

For the Apple Fritter Monkey Bread

Refrigerated flaky biscuits – I use Pillsbury Flaky Grands. They make this recipe incredibly easy and give you soft, tender pull-apart pieces.
Apples – Granny Smith or Honeycrisp are my favorites because they hold their texture while baking.
Brown sugar – Light brown sugar gives the bread that deep caramel flavor and beautiful golden color.
Granulated cinnamon sugar – Cinnamon brings all those classic apple fritter flavors together.
Butter – Melted butter helps the sugar mixture stick to the biscuit pieces and adds plenty of buttery flavor.
Allspice – Just enough to give the cinnamon mixture a little extra warmth.
Salt – A small amount helps balance all that sweetness.
Walnuts – They add a little crunch against all those soft, gooey pieces.

For the Vanilla Glaze

Powdered sugar
Whole milk
Vanilla extract

HOW TO MAKE APPLE FRITTER MONKEY BREAD

Prepare the Bundt pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and place it on a baking sheet. The baking sheet is important because the buttery brown sugar mixture can bubble up and make a spectacularly annoying mess in the bottom of your oven.
Make the cinnamon sugar. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and salt in a bowl and stir until evenly mixed. Melt the butter separately and set it aside.
Cut the biscuits. Separate the refrigerated biscuit dough and cut each biscuit into four equal pieces. Try to keep the pieces roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.

Prepare the apples. Dice the apples into small, bite-size pieces. You can peel them if you prefer, but you absolutely don’t have to.
Start the first layer. Sprinkle a light layer of diced apples and walnuts into the bottom of the Bundt pan.

Coat the biscuit pieces. Dip each biscuit piece into the melted butter, then roll it generously in the brown sugar mixture until well coated.

Build the first layer. Place the coated biscuit pieces into the Bundt pan over the apples and walnuts. Continue until you have an even layer around the pan.

Keep layering. Sprinkle about one-third of the remaining apples and walnuts over the biscuit layer. Continue dipping the biscuit pieces in butter and brown sugar, adding them to the pan and layering with the remaining apples and walnuts. You should end up with about three layers.

Bake the monkey bread. Place the Bundt pan on the baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the biscuit pieces in the center are cooked through.

Let it rest before flipping. Remove the monkey bread from the oven and let it sit in the pan for 10 minutes. This gives the buttery sugar mixture a chance to settle and makes the bread easier to release.

Flip it out. Place a large serving plate upside down over the Bundt pan. Carefully flip the pan and plate together, then gently wiggle the Bundt pan until the monkey bread releases onto the plate.
Make the icing. While the monkey bread is resting, sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in the vanilla extract and milk until smooth and drizzleable.

Drizzle and serve. Drizzle the vanilla icing generously over the warm Apple Fritter Monkey Bread and serve.

Pro Tips for Perfect Monkey Bread

Apple Peeling: You do not need to peel the apples before adding them to the recipe. If you prefer peeled apples, go for it.
Biscuits: Canned cinnamon rolls can be used instead of refrigerated biscuits if you want even more cinnamon flavor.
Walnuts: Not a fan of walnuts? Substitute chopped pecans or leave the nuts out completely.
Apples: Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples both hold up beautifully during baking while still giving you plenty of apple flavor and texture.
Icing: Sift the powdered sugar before making the glaze. It’s a tiny extra step, but it gives you a much smoother icing instead of a lumpy one.
Baking Sheet: Don’t skip the baking sheet underneath the Bundt pan. The buttery brown sugar mixture can bubble over, and trust me, cleaning baked-on sugar from the bottom of the oven is not how anybody wants to spend their afternoon.

How to Free your Monkey Bread

Flipping your apple bread out of the bundt pan is not nearly as intimidating as you would think.
Hold your bundt pan in one hand and add a large dinner plate or serving plate on top of your bundt pan, face down.
Place your second hand on top of the dinner plate firmly so you have the bundt pan / dinner plate sandwiched between your hands.
Keeping firm pressure, flip both hands and your pans upside down so now the hand securing the dinner plate is now on the bottom and move everything as is to the kitchen counter.
Once everything is sitting on the counter, gently wiggle your bundt pan and it should immediately release from your apple fritter bread.
Let cool 10 minutes or so and then add your icing. Enjoy!

Can Monkey Bread Be Made Ahead of Time?

Yes, you can make this Apple Fritter Monkey Bread ahead of time and save yourself the trouble of rushing.

Simply follow the instructions up to actually putting the bread in the oven. Instead, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake it the next day.

How to Store Monkey Bread

To store any leftover monkey bread, simply move the leftovers to the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for 10 -20 seconds until warm and enjoy!

More Easy Fall Baking Recipes

Pumpkin Cobbler – Soft and warm, this Pumpkin Cobbler is spiced with all the fall flavors you crave.
Pumpkin Crunch – Made with pumpkin puree and fall spices, this is the ultimate combination of pumpkin pie flavors on the bottom and a buttery streusel cake mix crumble on top.
Maple Coffee Cake – This Maple Coffee Cake is moist, fluffy and layered with sweet pecan streusel to make this the perfect maple pecan coffee cake

Enjoy ♥ Heather

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

I would love for you to leave a rating and a comment below! Let me know, how’d you do?! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐