Pull apart Gorilla Bread is gooey, tasty, and will for sure satisfy that craving for sweets. Even though it makes a finger licking dessert (literally), it’s also perfect for brunches and holidays. We won’t tell anyone if you sneak a slice with your morning coffee.
If you like the traditional monkey bread, you’re going to love this hyped-up gorilla bread recipe. It’s bigger, sweeter, and stuffed with cream cheese deliciousness.
This is one of those bread recipes you may sit on the back burner as a Christmas morning breakfast, but why?! It’s SO good and deserves to be made year-round. Let’s talk about how easy it is. Because we use canned biscuits, that means it’s easy to make compared to traditional bread. Honestly, the longest part is stuffing the cream cheese inside the dough.
Another easy recipe that uses canned bakery goods is our campfire cinnamon rolls recipe – you use canned cinnamon rolls and stuff them inside an orange. You could probably use canned cinnamon rolls for this gorilla bread recipe, too! Some of our other favorite sweet breads include my Breakfast Cinnamon Roll Casserole or our Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls or keep it simple with my Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.
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🍞 Ingredients:
- Butter – I prefer to use salted in this recipe
- Light brown sugar – don’t forget to pack it down when measuring
- Vanilla extract – adds a smooth rich flavor
- Granulated white sugar and ground cinnamon – The cinnamon sugar coating on the biscuits gives them a sugary crispy exterior when they bake and add to the caramelization of the bread
- Refrigerated biscuits – look for the 8 count “big biscuits”
- Cream cheese – this is for the rich cream cheese center
- Chopped pecans – adds a crunch to each bite
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Substitutions and Variations
- You can substitute any nut for the pecan. We’ve use almonds and walnuts and each was delicious. Or you can omit the nuts all together.
- This can easily be made without the cream cheese filling if you wanted.
- This would be great with some fresh or frozen blueberries added into the cream cheese mixture center.
🔪 Instructions:
PREP: Grease your bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 1: Combine the butter and brown sugar in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. You can also melt butter on the stove on low heat and mix sugar in until dissolved.
Step 2: In a shallow small bowl, mix together the table sugar and ground cinnamon.
Step 3: Pull each biscuit apart to make 2 thinner biscuits. This is more simple if the biscuit dough is at room temperature.
Step 4: Coat each biscuit dough piece in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Step 5: Slice the block of cold cream cheese into 32 equal cubes. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit. Pull the dough where it is wrapping around the cream cheese to make biscuit balls and pinch it at the seam to seal.
Step 6: Sprinkle ½ cup of chopped pecans into the bottom of bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits (dough balls) into the pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture to cover. Add another ½ cup of the nuts and pour half of the melted butter mixture over the top.
Step 7: Repeat by layering the remaining biscuits, the rest of the cinnamon sugar mix, pecans, and the remaining sauce.
Step 8: Gently press biscuits down on the top just a bit so it’s flat.
Pro Tip: If the gorilla bread is getting too dark while cooking long enough to cook the biscuits in the center all the way through – cover with aluminum foil.
Step 9: Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the gorilla is a deep brown color. All of the dough should be cooked evenly and when pressed, it should bounce back.
Step 10: Remove from the oven and let the bread cool for 5 minutes. Transfers to a serving platter by carefully flipping the pan, against the platter, upside down.
GARNISH/SLICE/SERVE: Cut or pull apart and serve solo or with a cup of coffee or tea and fresh fruit! Make this a great dessert by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Tips for Gorilla Bread Recipe
- Want extra sauce on top? You can make extra pecan caramel sauce to serve over the top of the gorilla bread (butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and chopped pecans.) If you do so, make it in a saucepan on the stovetop until the brown sugar has dissolved completely over low heat. This isn’t necessary when making the sauce to add to the bundt pan because the sauce cooks (the sugar dissolved and caramelizes) while the bread is baking in the oven.
- Using smaller biscuits. If you use smaller biscuits – 2 – 10 count packages, for example, do not split them in half. Instead, cut the cream cheese into 20 pieces and proceed with the instructions – making 20 balls instead of the 32.
- Use a spatula to loosen the sides of the bread from the pan before turning it over onto the serving platter.
Recipe FAQs
When stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, it will stay fresh for 2-3 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
You can follow the full set of instructions up to the baking point. Wrap the bundt pan in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to cook it. However, I would only recommend doing this 24 hours only in advance.
Think of gorilla bread as the monkey’s cousin. The difference is its Monkey bread with cream cheese. Traditional monkey bread is smaller (1 layer of biscuits) and isn’t usually stuffed with cream cheese or other fillings. But the flavor is similar in both.
More Tasty Breads You’ll Love
If you tried this Gorilla Bread Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Gorilla Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cans biscuits 8 count “big biscuits”
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 1½ cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the butter and brown sugar for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Stir in the vanilla extract and set aside.
- Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
- Separate each biscuit into two pieces by gently pulling apart along the side to make two round “biscuits” that are half the height.
- Toss each biscuit in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat both sides.
- Cut the cream cheese into 32 pieces. Place one piece of the cream cheese (about a teaspoon) in the center of the cinnamon sugar coated biscuit and wrap the dough around the cream cheese to form a ball. Pinch the biscuit together at the seam to seal.
- Sprinkle ⅓ of the chopped pecans (about ½ cup) over the bottom of the greased bundt pan.
- Mound half of the prepared biscuit balls into the pan. Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture (I used about 2 tablespoons).
- Sprinkle another ½ cup of the pecans over the cinnamon sugar layer and drizzle half of the butter/brown sugar sauce over the top.
- Repeat by layering the other half of the filled biscuits, then another layer of cinnamon sugar, pecans, and the rest of the sauce.
- Press the biscuits down into the pan a little bit to form a flat top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the gorilla bread is deep brown and the biscuits are cooked through (look for even cooking across the biscuits, and no raw dough; press the bottom of the dough, it should bounce back).
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a large dinner or serving plate.
Notes
- Want extra sauce on top? You can make extra caramel pecan sauce to serve over the top of the gorilla bread (butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and chopped pecans.) If you do so, make it in a saucepan on the stovetop until the brown sugar has dissolved completely over low heat. This isn’t necessary when making the sauce to add to the bundt pan because the sauce cooks (the sugar dissolved and caramelizes) while the bread is baking in the oven.
- Using smaller biscuits. If you use smaller biscuits – 2 – 10 count packages, for example, do not split them in half. Instead, cut the cream cheese into 20 pieces and proceed with the instructions – making 20 balls instead of the 32.
- Use a spatula to loosen the sides of the bread from the pan before turning it over onto the serving platter.
Nutrition
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