No-Knead Garlic-Parmesan Monkey Bread

updated Jan 21, 2020
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Credit: Joe Lingeman/Kitchn; Food Stylist: CC Buckley/Kitchn

Store-bought pizza dough is shaped into balls, rolled in garlic butter, and baked in a loaf pan until puffed and brown.

Serves4

Prep30 minutes

Cook25 minutes to 30 minutes

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Post Image
Credit: Joe Lingeman/Kitchn; Food Stylist: CC Buckley/Kitchn

Serving a bread basket with dinner is one of my all-time favorite ways to make the meal feel complete — and it’s an absolute must whenever we’re serving beans or anything saucy. Recently, I’ve given my bread basket an upgrade with this pull-apart garlic Parmesan monkey bread, which is literally cobbled together from pizza dough and kitchen basics but is by far the most fun way to share bread at the table. Trust me — once you try it, you’ll find yourself reaching for this recipe regularly.

Credit: Joe Lingeman/Kitchn; Food Stylist: CC Buckley/Kitchn

How to Turn Store-Bought Pizza Dough into a Loaf of Homemade Monkey Bread

The concept of monkey bread is simple: Cut refrigerated pizza dough into small pieces, roll them in butter, stack them in a pan, set aside to rise, and bake until golden. That second step — the rolling in the butter — is where you get to be creative, and decide whether to make a sweet or savory loaf. For savory garlic monkey bread, you’ll add some minced garlic (probably more than you think) to a combination of melted butter and olive oil. You can add fresh or dried herbs to the butter mixture, too.

After rolling the dough balls in the garlic-butter mixture, you’ll stack them in a loaf pan and let them rise for about 30 minutes while the oven preheats. If you assemble it at the beginning of dinner prep, it will be ready as soon as dinner is, too.

A note about the baking vessel: An 8×5″ loaf pan is the perfect size for a weeknight bread basket, but if you find yourself feeding a crowd, the recipe can be doubled and baked in a Bundt pan like classic monkey bread.

More Delicious Monkey Bread Recipes

Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread

Store-bought pizza dough is shaped into balls, rolled in garlic butter, and baked in a loaf pan until puffed and brown.

Prep time 30 minutes

Cook time 25 minutes to 30 minutes

Serves 4

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray

  • 1 pound

    pizza dough, at room temperature at least 1 hour

  • 4 tablespoons

    unsalted butter, melted

  • 2 tablespoons

    olive oil

  • 4 cloves

    garlic, minced

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    dried oregano

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    dried basil

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    dried parsley flakes

  • 1/4 teaspoon

    kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup

    freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Coat an 8x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

  2. Cut the pizza dough into 16 (1-ounce) pieces and form each into a ball. Stir the butter, oil, garlic, oregano, basil parsley, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the dough balls and toss to coat. Stack the dough balls in the prepared loaf pan, making two layers of 8 dough balls each. Pour any remaining butter mixture over the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise until puffed a bit, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 400ºF.

  3. Uncover and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake until the cheese is golden-brown and the center of the bread reaches 200ºF, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes. Invert onto a plate and serve warm.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 4 days.