This Apple Rum Monkey Bread will steal the show, every time. In a nutshell, it is basically cinnamon bun dough, stuffed with apple pie filling, and drenched in a glaze of brown sugar and rum. I mean, I can hardly think of anything better!
So you can imagine my excitement when I dreamt this concoction up a few years ago. I could hardly wait to get this killer recipe banged out.
If you love baking recipes like this then you need to try my easy one bowl banana bread, or my recipe for THE BEST cinnamon buns!
On another note, Whipped It Up turns ONE today!! We are a little in shock at how fast a whole year has flown by, and we thank each and every one of you for reading our posts, making our recipes, and all of your support! ?
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What Do you need to make this recipe
Here is a list of the equipment you will need to execute this recipe.
- Bundt Pan
- Stand Mixer with a Dough Hook
- Rolling Pin
- Pizza Cutter or Sharp Knife
- Large Glass Bowl
A few things you should know…
Do not make this recipe if you are in a rush!
This apple rum monkey bread takes a while to come together, between the multiple steps, rising time, and baking time. Make sure you have some time, it is totally worth it!
Don’t kill the yeast!
Yeast can be killed easily, especially if your liquid that it is blooming in is too hot. Lukewarm water is the best environment for yeast to initially bloom. If you want to get technical, the water or liquid the yeast is blooming in should be no warmer than 110°F. If your yeast still doesn’t bloom, it may just simply be bad. You should toss it and start over with new yeast. After a package of yeast is opened it is best kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Does the type of apples used really matter?
The short answer, no. BUT, some types of apples don’t stand up to cooking as well as others. I recommend using a harder variety of apple. If honeycrisp apples aren’t available look for granny smith, pink lady, or ambrosia. Steer clear of red delicious, macintosh, and any of the softer fleshed varieties.
Let’s bake!
The first step to this recipe is making the dough. The dough takes two hours to rise. You will start by letting the yeast bloom in the warm water and then adding a slurry of the remaining sugar, butter, eggs, milk, salt, etc.
* You can substitute nut milks for regular milk, I have tested this recipe using regular milk and unsweetened almond milk and you seriously won't be able to tell the difference one way or the other.
Next, using a stand mixer with the dough hook attached you will add your flour in batches, and mix until a sticky dough has formed.

This is what the dough will look like at the end of mixing in the stand mixer.
Now you will get your hands in there and knead that dough into a pretty little dough ball like the one below. Add as much extra flour as you need, but add it slowly. When you are done kneading, the surface you were kneading the dough on should be basically clear of all excess flour.

Place the dough ball in a large glass bowl that has been lightly drizzled with olive oil, turn the dough over and around to fully coat the ball of dough in a thin layer of oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours in a warm area.

Did you know- some ovens have a “bread proof” setting. If your oven has this setting, use it! It is wonderful and provides the optimal environment for any dough to rise.
Another thing to note, when any yeast based bread is rising, try not make super loud noises. This can cause the air pockets being created in the bread to pop and release the gasses prematurely, resulting in your bread turning out dense and heavy. It is also a great excuse to demand some quietness around the house for two hours. ?
This is the perfect time to make the apple filling and glaze for the monkey bread
While the dough is rising, this is the time to make your apple filling and glaze. These both need to marinate for at least 30 minutes before making the monkey bread.

After the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap, and punch it down a few times. Turn the dough out onto a large, generously floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a large oval, that is about ½”-¼” thick.

Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into about 32 pieces. Start by cutting the dough in half lengthwise, and then each of the lengthwise halves in half again. Now you will have 4 long strips of dough. Now cut the strips in half widthwise, and then each width half in half again, and again. This will give you 32 squares. All of the squares may not be identical in size, but that is ok!

Stuffing the monkey bread
Before you start filling your squares, set aside ¼ cup of the apple filling, and ½ cup of the glaze. This will be boiled down into the most delicious sticky topping for the monkey bread!
If you have made apple pie before, you will know that as the apples sit with the spices excess liquid is drawn out of the apples. We do not want this excess liquid to going into the monkey bread balls or they will be difficult to properly seal. We also don’t want to miss out on all of that yumminess, so, place a strainer on top of the bowl of rum glaze and strain the apple mixture into the glaze mixture.

Now, spoon out about 1 tablespoon of apple filling into each of the squares. Some of the smaller squares will take less filling and some of the larger ones will hold a little more. If you do not use up all of the apples, don’t worry, we're going to layer those throughout the monkey bread dough balls!

now, it is starting to look like monkey bread!
Working one square at a time, gather the 4 corners of dough square and pinch the bottom to completely seal the monkey bread dough balls. Repeat until all of the dough balls are sealed.


Stack the dough balls into the buttered bundt pan. If you have any leftover apples sprinkle them throughout the layers, if not, that’s ok! It will still taste the same.



Whisk the rum glaze again, to recombine everything. Evenly pour the rum glaze overtop of the dough balls in the bundt pan.

Place the bundt pan on an aluminum lined baking sheet (to catch any drips) and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown. Let the monkey bread cool in the bundt pan for 5 minutes and then flip onto a large serving plate.


Sticky Apple Topping
To prepare the sticky apple topping combine reserved apples and glaze in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes until mixture has thickened and is sticky. Then stir in 1 tablespoon of butter.
After the monkey bread has been flipped onto the serving tray, pour the sticky apple topping over top.




Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!
We put a lot of work into our recipes, we would love to know if you tried this recipe and how it turned out for you!
If you have any questions about this recipe, I would be happy to answer them in the comments down below!
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Apple Rum Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Monkey Bread Dough
- 1 ⅓ cup water, lukewarm
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- 5 cups All Purpose Flour + more for kneading
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅓ cup Salted Butter, melted
- ¼ cup 1% Milk, or unsweetened almond milk
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Butter, softened
Apple Filling
- 4 cups Honeycrisp Apples**, peeled and cubed
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ Lemon
Rum Glaze
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Spiced Rum
- ¼ Salted Butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Reserve (for sticky topping)
- ½ cup Rum Glaze
- ¼ cup Apple Filling
- 1 Tablespoon Butter, softened
Instructions
Monkey Bread Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, Add lukewarm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom. At the end of 5 minutes the yeast should look frothy on top of the water, If it still looks granulated dump the mixture and start over with new yeast*.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the sugar, melted butter, milk, eggs and salt. Whisk to fully combine and set aside.
- After the yeast has bloomed, add the sugar mixture to the yeast water. Stir slightly to roughly combine.
- Add 4 cups of all purpose flour to the mixture. Mix on low until the flour has combined, the dough will still look very sticky.
- Add remaining 1 cup of flour, and mix on low for 2-3 minutes until a ball of dough has formed and most of the dough has pulled away from the sides of the mixer bowl.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes.
- Lightly brush a glass bowl with olive oil and place dough ball into bowl, turning once to fully oil the ball of dough. Tightly cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and let rise in a warm area for 2 hours.
Apple Filling
- While your dough is rising, it is the perfect time to make your apple filling. The apple filling needs to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- In a medium sized bowl combine the cubed apples**, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and squeeze in ½ a lemon. Stir and make sure that the apples are fully coated in the sugar and spices. Cover the top of the bowl and let marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Rum Glaze
- This glaze should also be made about 30 minutes ahead of time (or more) to let the flavours marinate.
- In a small bowl combine brown sugar, spiced rum, melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk mixture until the sugar feels combined, about 3 minutes. Cover and set aside for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Assembly
- Preheat oven to 350°F and brush 1 tablespoon of softened butter throughout a bundt pan, and set aside. Line a regular sized baking sheet with aluminum foil, set aside.
- After the dough for the monkey bread has risen, remove the plastic wrap and punch it down a few times. This releases the gasses that are created when the yeast rises.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured large surface. Roll out the dough to about ½”-¼” thickness. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter cut the dough into 32 squares. Start by cutting the dough in half lengthwise, and then each of the lengthwise halves in half again. Now you will have 4 long strips of dough. Now cut the strips in half widthwise, and then each width half in half again, and again.
- Place a strainer over top of the bowl of rum glaze and strain the apple mixture into the glaze mixture. (SEE PICTURE)
- Measure out ¼ cup of the apple mixture and set aside.
- Evenly distribute the remaining apple mixture to all of the squares of dough (about 1 tablespoon of apple filling per square, you don’t want to overload the dough squares or they will be tough to seal. If you have leftover apples, that is ok!)
- Gather 4 corners of dough square and pinch bottom to completely seal the monkey bread dough balls. Repeat until all of the dough balls are sealed.
- Stack the dough balls into the buttered bundt pan. If you have any leftover apples sprinkle them throughout the layers, if not, that’s ok! It will still taste the same.
- Whisk the rum glaze again, and measure out ½ cup. Set aside,
- Evenly pour the remaining rum glaze overtop of the dough balls in the bundt pan.
- Place bundt pan on aluminum lined baking sheet (to catch any drips) and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cool in the bundt pan for 5 minutes and flip onto a large serving plate.
- To prepare the sticky apple topping combine reserved apples and glaze in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes until mixture has thickened and is sticky. Stir in 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Pour sticky apple topping over top of the monkey bread (only once it has been flipped out of the pan)
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream (if desired)
Notes
FAQ
* Yeast can be “killed” very easily. If the water is too warm, or if your yeast has simple gone bad it won't “bloom”. Therefore your bread will not rise, and will not turn out properly.
** Any type of apple will work, I prefer to use apples of the harder variety as they tend to hold up better after they have been cooked. If you can’t use honeycrisp apples, then I would recommend using Pink Lady, Ambrosia, or Granny Smith apples.
Other Notes
- To reheat, transfer monkey bread to an oven safe dish and bake at 300°F for 10 minutes.
- Keep Apple Rum Monkey Bread refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 468Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 275mgCarbohydrates: 80gFiber: 3gSugar: 38gProtein: 7g
Please Note- The nutritional information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator and it will vary based on the ingredients that you use.
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