I think monkey bread was the first thing my younger brothers ever baked. They loved the gooey mess of making them as much as the caramel goodness of eating them. Truth told, when I leave the house for any amount of time, my husband makes them with my own boys. He waits until I leave, because he knows the ovens won’t be in use and he can sneak the tube of biscuits into the house. Yep, I’ve found the discarded tubes in my house. As a result I never get to eat them, which I think is part of his master plan. Here is my twist on the classic with chocolate tucked in homemade biscuits. I’ve baked them as individual Monkey Bread Muffins to make them even more festive for a party or Sunday brunch.
Some of you may know that I’ve partnered with Gold Medal Flour for my bread website, breadin5.com. It was a natural fit, since we always tested our bread recipes with their flour. Gold Medal is the most widely available and it has consistent results loaf, after loaf. They have recently redesigned their flour bags and sent me a bunch of samples to take a look at. One of the new designs is for the self-rising flour. I can’t use this in my yeasted bread recipes, but I love making biscuits with it. The results are perfect every time and it means having to hunt for less ingredients.
How to Make Chocolate Caramel Monkey Bread Muffins
Find the full recipe below.
To make the biscuits:
Preheat oven to 400°F
Line 12 muffin cups with papers or grease generously
In a large bowl blend the flour and butter together until it resembles coarse meal.
Add the buttermilk
and combine until it is evenly wet.
Put the biscuit dough on a floured surface and press it together into a rectangle.
Roll into a 1/2 thick rectangle. Cut the dough into 48 even pieces. Place two chocolate chips on each and gently pinch the dough around the chips.
In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Roll the chocolate filled dough in the cinnamon sugar.
Place 4 of the biscuits in each muffin cup.
Over low heat, melt the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup together in a small sauce pan. Cook until the sugar seems to be dissolved, you will need to whisk to keep the butter from separating. Spoon half the mixture evenly over the biscuits.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and set in the middle.
Remove the biscuits and top with more chocolate chips. Reheat the remaining caramel, and add the heavy cream.
When the caramel is warm and smooth, spoon it evenly over the hot biscuits.
Let them cool slightly before serving, but they should be eaten slightly warm.
Ingredients
Biscuits
- 2 1/2 cups self rising flour if you don’t have self rising flour you can use 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon baking powder + 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cold, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup chocolate chips you may need more for the top
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Caramel Topping
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp corn syrup
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 12 muffin cups with papers or grease generously.
- In a large bowl blend the flour and butter together until it resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and combine until it is evenly wet.
- Put the biscuit dough on a floured surface and press it together into a rectangle. Roll into a 1/2 thick rectangle. Cut the dough into 48 even pieces. Place two chocolate chips on each and gently pinch the dough around the chips.
- In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Roll the chocolate filled dough in the cinnamon sugar. Place 4 of the biscuits in each muffin cup.
- Over low heat, melt the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup together in a small sauce pan. Cook until the sugar seems to be dissolved, you will need to whisk to keep the butter from separating. Spoon half the mixture evenly over the biscuits.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and set in the middle. Remove the biscuits from the oven and top with more chocolate chips. Reheat the remaining caramel, and add the heavy cream.
- When the caramel is warm and smooth, spoon it evenly over the hot biscuits.
- Let them cool slightly before serving, but they should be eaten slightly warm.
This chocolate caramel muffin looks fantastic! I’ll try to make this specialty tonight!
Looks yummy.
Zoe, can these be made in little mini muffin pans so I don’t feel quite as guilty eating them? I shouldn’t even thinking about this! Trying to lose 6 pounds before shorts weather! ;+}
Hi Mickie,
It’s a great idea! You may want to make the balls a bit smaller to fit in the mini muffin pans!
Enjoy, Zoë
does the cook time still stay the same or do you shorten it when using the mini pans?
Hi Amber,
You will need to shorten the bake time, I’d check at about the half way point. You may need a bit more time, but good to check early, rather than too late.
Cheers, Zoë
I loved the monkey bread you baked in your loaf pan and it has become a Christmas time tradition in our home 🙂 Such a good idea to make them into muffins!
Thanks Rose! 🙂
Cheers, Zoë
I’m making these tonight for the Superbowl. They look ridiculous.
You rock Bubba!
Have fun, we’ll miss you at Bop and Nana’s. G made a mess of wings and other dude food.
xo z
Looks gorgeous, tastes delicious, smells appetizing !!! What else would one want for desert?
Me and my girls were looking for chocolate muffin recipes and came across this, and now they want to make these instead. They look like simple enough to do with kids on a cold Saturday! Thanks Zoe!
They are beautiful and very yummy!!
I also like to ask you if you could teach us how to make a rainbow cake.
Thanks again wonderful lady for your amazing talent!!!
ah hah! this is where i can use the self-rising flour! dangerous….
They don’t even save you one? That’s mean!
Monkey bread! I love this quick no-yeast version.
How cool! I reckon I could eat about 100 of them!
Awww yeah. Love this!