This Easy King Cake recipe is the ultimate easy pull apart bread to celebrate Fat Tuesday with. Made with balls of refrigerated biscuits, colored sugar and a sweet praline coating, this King Cake Monkey Bread is perfect the traditional Mardi Gras dessert for any Mardi Gras party!
If there is one place that I feel most at home, it’s walking around the French Quarter in New Orleans with a Hand Grenade in one hand and a huge piece of King Cake in the other.
It’s called balance … and being on vacation … and a recipe for a monster hangover the next day 🙂
My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and I instantly fell in love with the people, the mystique, the history, the endless miles of wrought iron, the food and especially the New Orleans King Cake!
The muffaletta sandwiches, the powered sugar covered beignets, the pralines and the freshest seafood around are the New Orleans food they are so famous for. Did I forget to mention the po’boy sandwiches and the Cajun BBQ shrimp??
Oh my, my mouth is just watering thinking about it all! It’s all amazing but the thing I probably love most when it comes to iconic New Orleans food is the King Cake… every. single. time.
You can spend two weeks there and still miss something seeing something but one thing you cannot bypass is that multi-colored famous Mardi Gras sweet treat.
WHAT IS KING CAKE?
Traditionally speaking, King Cake is a ring of cake, twisted and flavored with cinnamon and a frosted glaze. The King Cake is then often times decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of yellow, green and purple.
Also, baked inside the King Cake is a little plastic doll that represents Baby Jesus.
This recipe transforms an easy King Cake recipe into a pull apart monkey bread by making balls out of canned refrigerated dough and then roll them in cinnamon sugar and pecans (nod to NOLA Pralines).
Arrange the dough balls in a greased bundt pan, then top it all with a glorious brown sugar sauce before baking.
Flip your baked bundt pan of praline gooeyness onto a serving plate, drizzle with creamy vanilla icing and sprinkle with colored sugar.
Served this New Orleans inspired monkey bread pull apart style where everyone jumps in, tears off a piece and walks away happy.
WHY THIS EASY KING CAKE IS THE BEST!
- What gets easier than creating a mountain of cake using refrigerated biscuits and sugar?
- Monkey bread is finger food and finger food is fun. Perfect for parties!
- Every biscuit bite is coated in butter and sugar and then layered and covered in frosting so you are guaranteed a perfect mouthful of food every time.
- Ooooooo… pretty colors!
- Bread soaks up beer and that’s important when it comes to all day drinking festivities like Mardi Gras.
To make this Easy King Cake, you will need:
- Refrigerated biscuits
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Pecans
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Colored sugar or sprinkles
- Plastic Baby
HOW DO YOU MAKE MONKEY BREAD?
Easy! To make King Cake Monkey Bread, start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and spraying the inside of a bundt pan with non-stick spray.
Next, remove the biscuits from their tubes and cut each biscuit in half and then in half again so you have four pieces from each biscuit.
In a small bowl combine brown sugar, pecans, vanilla extract, pecan pieces and a dash of salt. In a separate bowl, add the melted butter.
Start by taking one piece of biscuit, dipping it in the melted butter and then rolling it through the brown sugar mixture.
Lay in the bottom of the bundt pan and repeat until you have used up all of your biscuits.
About half way through placing your biscuit pieces, add the plastic baby in your monkey bread and keep placing the biscuits around it.
Once you have used up your biscuits, bake for 40 – 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before running a butter knife around the outside of the monkey bread.
Place a plate upside down on the top (bottom) of the bundt pan and firmly holding both, flip both the plate and the pan upside down so that your top is now your bottom.
Give the pan a little shimmy and your King Cake Monkey Bread should slide right out. Let cool completely.
Once cool, add sifted powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to a medium sized bowl and beat until well combined.
Drizzle the glaze over your monkey bread and decorate with yellow, green and purple sprinkles or sanding sugar.
Serve immediately. Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
PRO TIPS FOR MAKING KING CAKE
- I usually dip my biscuit pieces in the butter first for the bottom 1/3 of the bundt cake. Then skip the butter step for the next 1/3 of the pieces and then dip again for the last 1/3 of the pan. It’s the perfect amount of butter and nothing gets too soggy.
- Don’t forget to spray the bundt pan very liberally with the non-stick spray. This is imperative to your monkey bread sliding out nicely without you having to surgically extract it from the pan. That being said, even the best sprayed pan can sometimes hold on to a piece or two of monkey bread. If it does, don’t sweat it! Simply gently release it using the butter knife and place it where it needs to go. Besides, it’s all getting covered in icing anyways 🙂
- Sift that powdered sugar!! Do not skip this step or you will end up with lumpy King Cake icing and no one wants that.
- If you can’t find a small plastic baby, check online or at a local craft store. You can also ask your local grocery store bakery if they have one you can purchase .. or have! #winning
WHY IS THERE A BABY IN THE KING CAKE?
The plastic baby is the secret ingredient in every great King Cake. If you are lucky to grab the piece of bread with the baby inside, you get the honor of providing the King Cake and the Mardi Gras party the following year.
Depending on who you ask it can also signify you will be blessed with good luck for the upcoming year. In some cases, some believe that if you are the one holding the baby .. you will soon be pregnant and holding one in real life too!!
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
Laissez les bons temps rouler … or let the good times roll … is a popular expression in Louisiana where they celebrate Mardi Gras in a way like no other.
One thing the Big Easy cannot deny is that they KNOW how to throw a party.
King Cake is a must have and although this pull apart monkey bread is not exactly like the cakes you will find as you stroll along Bourbon Street, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Making King Cake using refrigerated biscuits and coating them in a sweet praline sugar mixture might be cheating just a bit but trust me, this monkey bread is quick and easy to make and won’t miss any of your Mardi Gras party being stuck in the kitchen!
MORE MONKEY BREAD RECIPES FOR YOU!
Enjoy!
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Easy King Cake Monkey Bread
Ingredients
King Cake Monkey Bread
- 2 16 ounce cans of large biscuits .. I use the flaky biscuits
- 1 cup brown sugar .. packed
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups pecans .. chopped
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter .. melted
King Cake Glaze
- 3 cups powdered sugar .. sifted
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
King Cake Extras
- yellow, green and purple sugar or sprinkles
- small plastic baby
Instructions
- To make King Cake Monkey Bread, start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and spraying the inside of a bundt pan with non-stick spray.
- Next, remove the biscuits from their tubes and cut each biscuit in half and then in half again so you have four pieces from each biscuit. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, pecans, vanilla extract, pecan pieces and a dash of salt. In a separate bowl, add the melted butter. Start by taking one piece of biscuit, dipping it in the melted butter and then rolling it through the brown sugar mixture. Lay in the bottom of the bundt pan and repeat until you have used up all of your biscuits. About half way through placing your biscuit pieces, add the plastic baby in your monkey bread and keep placing the biscuits around it.
- Once you have used up your biscuits, bake for 40 - 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before running a butter knife around the outside of the monkey bread. Place a plate upside down on the top (bottom) of the bundt pan and firmly holding both, flip both the plate and the pan upside down so that your top is now your bottom. Give the pan a little shimmy and your King Cake Monkey Bread should slide right out. Let cool completely.
- Once cool, add sifted powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to a medium sized bowl and using an electric mixer, beat until well combined. Drizzle the glaze over your monkey bread and decorate with yellow, green and purple sprinkles or sanding sugar. Serve immediately. Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
PRO TIPS FOR MAKING KING CAKE
- I usually dip my biscuit pieces in the butter first for the bottom 1/3 of the bundt cake and then skip the butter step for the next 1/3 of the pieces and then dip again for the last 1/3 of the pan. It's the perfect amount of butter and nothing gets too soggy.
- Don't forget to spray the bundt pan very liberally with the non-stick spray. This is imperative to your monkey bread sliding out nicely without you having to surgically extract it from the pan. That being said, even the best sprayed pan can sometimes hold on to a piece or two of monkey bread. If it does, don't sweat it.. simply gently release it using the butter knife and place it where it needs to go. Besides, it's all getting covered in icing anyways 🙂
- Sift that powdered sugar!! Do not skip this step or you will end up with lumpy King Cake icing and no one wants that.
- If you can't find a small plastic baby, check online or at a local craft store. You can also ask your local grocery store bakery if they have one you can purchase .. or have! #winning
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Update Notes: This post was originally published in Mar of 2019 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in January of 2020.
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