Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread made with frozen rolls, dried cranberries, instant pudding mix and orange juice. Only a few minutes to make these delicious orange pull-aparts that are perfect for fall!
I love monkey bread because it is so much easier to make than traditional sweet roll recipes. Use frozen rolls and sprinkle a few ingredients on top. The rolls sit all night and are ready to bake as soon as you wake up in the morning. Can’t get much easier than that.
Our family has been making traditional monkey bread for years, but I recently decided to try a pull-apart recipe with some of my favorite fall flavors. This version tastes more like orange rolls than cinnamon rolls, but it is absolutely delicious!
Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread
Most monkey bread recipes are made with cinnamon and butterscotch pudding, but this version uses vanilla pudding, dried cranberries and orange juice. Frozen rolls are placed in a Bundt pan with a few simple ingredients the night before, and are completely ready to bake in the morning so that you can enjoy warm sweet rolls just by turning the oven! Mix three simple ingredients together to make a frosting to go on top and serve them immediately.
WHAT IS MONKEY BREAD?
Monkey bread is a pan of sweet breakfast rolls made in a Bundt pan. You pour a mixture of pudding and sugar over frozen rolls and then bake them. Add some frosting on top of the baked rolls and they can be broken into pull-apart bites that are easy to serve. Monkey bread is frequently known as “pull-aparts” because the rolls are all smashed together, but easily come apart into individual servings when baked.
The best part is that the monkey bread is made with frozen rolls so you don’t have to actually go through the whole process of making the dough from scratch!
Ingredients in Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread
Cranberries – The recipe calls for dried cranberries, otherwise known as Craisins. These are found at the grocery store year round near the raisins and other dried fruit. I love that the recipe uses dried cranberries, because fresh cranberries are only available for a couple of months out of the year. This way you can make this recipe all year long!
Frozen white dough rolls – Make sure the rolls are still frozen when you place them in the Bundt pan. I usually use Rhodes rolls, but there may be a generic equivalent at your store and they will work well too.
Sugar – You will only need 1/4 cup sugar to add some extra sweetness to the cranberry orange pull aparts.
Vanilla instant pudding – You will need a small box (3.4 oz) of instant vanilla pudding mix. Don’t mix up the pudding – you will just sprinkle the powder over the top of the rolls.
Orange zest – Using the zest from one large orange adds so much orange flavor to the sweet rolls.
Butter – One stick of butter will provide the needed liquid for the sweet roll mixture. For best results, use real butter.
FROSTING
Powdered sugar – A cup of powdered sugar will serve as the base ingredient for the simple orange frosting.
Butter – One tablespoon of butter adds a little bit of liquid and flavor to the glaze.
Orange juice – The rest of the liquid for the frosting comes from two tablespoons of orange juice. This gives the rolls even more orange flavor.
How to make Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread
Sprinkle cranberries in the bottom of a greased bundt pan. Arrange rolls evenly over the cranberries.
Mix sugar and pudding mix together and sprinkle over the rolls.
Add the orange zest to the melted butter and evenly drizzle over the rolls.
Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray and cover the bundt pan. Leave pan at room temperature overnight (about 8 hours).
Preheat oven to 350°. Remove plastic wrap and bake for 25 minutes.
Immediately invert pan onto a serving platter.
Mix frosting ingredients together and drizzle over the rolls while still warm. If you like frosting, go ahead and double the frosting recipe…it’s delicious! Serve immediately.
Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread
Ingredients
- ¼ cup dried cranberries Craisins
- 16 frozen white dough rolls still frozen
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3.4 oz vanilla instant pudding
- zest from 1 orange
- ½ cup butter melted
Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp melted butter
- 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Sprinkle cranberries in the bottom of a greased bundt pan. Arrange rolls evenly over the cranberries.
- Mix sugar and pudding mix together and sprinkle over the rolls.
- Add the orange zest to the melted butter and evenly drizzle over the rolls.
- Spray a piece of plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray and cover the bundt pan. Leave pan at room temperature overnight (about 8 hours).
- Preheat oven to 350°. Remove plastic wrap and bake for 25 minutes.
- Immediately invert pan onto a serving platter.
- Mix frosting ingredients together and drizzle over the rolls while still warm. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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WHEN TO SERVE MONKEY BREAD
We usually eat Monkey Bread for breakfast, but we’ve had it for dessert many times as well! There really isn’t a wrong time to eat Monkey Bread, am I right?!
WHAT PANS CAN I MAKE THIS MONKEY BREAD RECIPE IN?
If you don’t have a bundt pan to use, you can make this recipe in a 9X13 pan. Just make the recipe as indicated, but keep a close eye on the baking time. The rolls will cook faster this way, so keep a close eye on them. The rolls should be done after about 15-20 minutes when they are in a single layer in a 9X13 pan.
HOW DO I ZEST AN ORANGE WITHOUT A ZESTER?
If you don’t have a zester already, you can often find that your cheese grater has a small section for zesting. You can use this or you can DIY if that still isn’t an option for you.
To DIY this, take an orange and a vegetable peeler. Peel off the outermost layer of the orange and get a long strip of peel. Lay it flat on a cutting board and mince it up as good as possible with a sharp knife. You want to avoid most of the white pithy layer because it’s bitter, but it won’t hurt to have a little in this recipe, so don’t stress too much about it.
MORE SWEET BREAKFAST RECIPES:
- Monkey Bread Muffins
- Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- Cream Cheese Stuffed Monkey Bread
- Mini 15 Minute Cinnamon Rolls
- Breakfast Rolls
- One Hour Orange Rolls
- Cinnamon Rolls Without Yeast
- Banana Cinnamon Breakfast Cake
- Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread
- Cinnamon Roll Bread
- Raspberry Twist Bread
- Air Fryer Apple Fritters
- Creme Brulee French Toast
Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread made with frozen rolls, dried cranberries, instant pudding mix and orange juice. Only a few minutes to make these delicious orange pull-aparts that are perfect for fall!
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