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Crock Pot Cinnamon Rolls – turn them into MONKEY BREAD made in the slow cooker. This recipe is one of my favorites – it’s easy and SO delicious. Making it in the crockpot means it’s no fuss.
Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
You have heard of monkey bread, but have you heard of Crockpot cinnamon rolls? They are the same thing just, better. That’s right…better! You’re probably asking yourself how you could possibly make monkey bread better than it already is, well when you make it in a crockpot with cinnamon rolls the edges don’t get as hard and crusty. The whole thing is more soft and doughy; just how I like them!
Ingredients Needed
- Grands! Cinnamon rolls- You can also use biscuits, but let’s face it. Why would you use biscuits when you could use delicious cinnamon rolls? They come with frosting! That’s always a bonus.
- Sugar- Granulated Sugar is used to coat the cinnamon rolls
- Cinnamon- Mixed with the sugar it makes the perfect coating
- Brown Sugar- Make sure to use packed brown sugar, light or dark.
- Butter- Unsalted, make sure it’s melted for ease of use!
How to Make Monkey Bread in a Crockpot
- Cut and coat the cinnamon rolls: Open the cans of cinnamon rolls and cut each roll into 6 pieces. Put the icing aside. Then, place the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon-size Ziploc bag. Add the pieces of cinnamon rolls to the bag (it’s ok if they fall apart slightly). Seal the bag and shake the pieces until they are completely covered with cinnamon sugar.
- Make sugar butter and coat cinnamon rolls: Stir together the brown sugar and melted butter. Stir until it’s mostly combined.
- Spray your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. I recommend using a slow cooker liner for easier clean-up but it’s not a necessity (if you do, be sure you coat it with spray). Add the coated cinnamon rolls to the Crockpot and pour the brown sugar butter mixture on top. Stir gently to coat all the pieces.
- Cook: Place a paper towel over the insert. Then, add the lid in order to keep the condensation off the monkey bread.
- Icing: Drizzle the icing that came with the rolls over the top of the monkey bread in the Crockpot or pour it over like syrup before serving.
- Serve: If you notice some parts of your bread are getting really brown while cooking and not the others, flip the insert around. Some Crockpots have random hotspots in them where more heat gathers than in other areas of the pot. Take the Crockpot cinnamon rolls out of the pot when they are still warm or they will stick inside and serve. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Expert Tip
Make sure you get all of the cinnamon rolls out of the crockpot before it cools or they will be stuck and very hard to clean. The same goes for serving them. You want to serve your crockpot cinnamon rolls right out of the pot when they are still warm to avoid any sticking.
FAQs
Doubling the recipe is not recommended just because it may be too much for your Crockpot to handle. Although, if you have an extra large Crockpot and you think everything will fit while still cooking effectively, then try it out!
Yes, you can assemble the cut rolls the night before to make it easier for yourself the day of.
Dark brown sugar is better! It makes everything taste richer, and with monkey bread, that’s a must.
To properly store monkey bread, make sure it is in an air-tight container. It doesn’t have to be refrigerated just make sure it’s not sitting out in the open.
Crock Pot Cinnamon Rolls Monkey Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cans Grands! Cinnamon Rolls
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter , melted
Instructions
- Open each can of cinnamon rolls. Reserve the icing. Cut each rolls into 6 pieces.
- Place the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon size ziploc bag. Add the cut up cinnamon rolls (the pieces will fall apart a little) to the bag. Seal and shake to coat the pieces with cinnamon sugar.
- Stir together the brown sugar and melted butter.
- Spray a 5-7 Qt slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. I recommend using a slow cooker liner for easy clean-up. If you use the liner you should also spray it with nonstick spray.
- Add the coated cinnamon roll pieces to the slow cooker. Pour the brown sugar mixture over the top and stir gently to coat.
- Place a paper towel over the insert and then add the lid – this is to keep the condensation that collects on the lid off the rolls.
- LOW: Cook on low for about 2 hours. Check it at about 1 ½ hours to make sure it's not getting too done around the edges. It will get dark brown around the edges and look doughy in the center (the pieces will be light, not golden). Once it gets dark around the edges it's done – don't let it burn.
- HIGH: Cook on high power for about 1½ hours, but check it after 1 hour. It will be very dark around the edges and somewhat doughy in the center. (We sometimes like it that way!) Once it gets dark around the edges it's done – don't let it burn.
- Drizzle the icing that came with the rolls over the top of the monkey bread in the crockpot, or pour it over like syrup after serving.
- Not all slow cookers are created equal. Some have hot spots in some areas. If you notice it's browning too much in one area, flip the insert.
- The monkey bread will stick as it cools. Serve from the warm slow cooker and make sure that you take it all out before it cools all the way or it’ll require soaking.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
- You can also substitute Grands! Biscuits (or one can of each cinnamon rolls and biscuits).
Recipe Nutrition
Other Fun Pillsbury Recipes:
Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread – it’s a cinnamon roll casserole and Pillsbury monkey bread all in one! Make monkey bread in the crockpot for an easy breakfast.
Hopefully this answers some questions other folks have had.
First, I have a 6qt, oval, high/low manual slow cooker. I didn’t double, but I did add a third can of rolls. My high settings is usually super hot, so I figured the 2 hour time would be just right, and it would have been had I used 2 cans. I needed at least 30 extra minutes for the extra can. Unfortunately, I forgot, and it went to almost 3 hours, so my sides got super charred. BUT!! The rest was very soft and fluffy! I’d imagine if you have a round cooker, it will take a bit more time, as I find my round cooks a lot differently than my oval cooker. Try not to open the lid often though, as that extends cooking time.
Second, the sauce didn’t really penetrate the rolls (I added an extra 4tbs of butter and a bit more brown sugar for the extra can). The sauce dripped down to the bottom and stayed there. I treated it like I would have a regular conventional oven monkey bread. Next time I do this, I will stir the mix around so everything gets nice and coated. I’ll probably give a stir halfway through as well to redistribute the sauce, as well as move around the softer insides for better cooking distribution.
Lastly, I partially agree with whoever said to skip the cinnamon sugar coating. The standard Pillsbury rolls have a lot of cinnamon already. Maybe 1tsp is good for the plain rolls, or even the yeast rolls; but it’s a tad on the “welcome to heartburn” side for the cinnamon rolls! I didn’t add any extra sugar or cinnamon with the extra can – and it was still a little much on the cinnamon! Go with about a half tsp of cinnamon with the sugar, and you’ll get that extra pop of sweet without the extra spice.
Could this recipe be made in a pressure cooker like an instant pot.
I have never tried that, so I’m not sure.
I made this on our recent camping trip and it turned out wonderful. Mine was done at about 1.5 hours. I used a crockpot liner – which made clean up crazy easy!
Delicious and will make again.
I made double the recipe. Cooking on high was not ideal. I think in future I’ll try to cook on low for 4 hours. The edges burned since I had to cook over the 2 hours (still was doughy in the center). I ended up taking the doughy part out after 2 hours and 30 mins and microwaved it to get it to cook faster. After I mixed it all in the crock pot and poured the icing over and it was great! The edges do burn though. I also used a crock pot liner. Just a stressful morning preparing for a larger group.
Yes doubling the recipe is tricky in a crockpot because it makes it thicker and dough needs to cook all the way. I’d suggest next time using two crockpots.
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