For this episode of Mmmm Drop, my Beastie Boys-inspired comedy cooking show, I turned “Brass Monkey” into Brass Monkey Bread: classic pull-apart monkey bread with rum and orange.
It’s buttery, sticky, cinnamon-sugary and easy to make with refrigerated biscuit dough. I’m not a professional chef, as the video will make abundantly clear.
Easy Brass Monkey Bread Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 35–45 minutes
Cooling time: 10–15 minutes
Serves: 10–12
Ingredients
- 2 cans refrigerated biscuit dough, such as Pillsbury Grands
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Zest of 1 orange, divided
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons rum (Dark rum is better; regular rum will do)
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or orange juice
- Nonstick baking spray
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thoroughly coat a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.
2. Cut each biscuit into four pieces.
3. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a large zip-top bag or mixing bowl.
4. Add the biscuit pieces and toss until evenly coated.
5. Arrange the coated biscuit pieces in the Bundt pan, sprinkling a little orange zest between the layers as you go.
6. Melt the two sticks of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until combined and beginning to bubble.
7. Remove the pan from the heat before adding the rum. Stir in the rum, orange blossom water—or orange juice—and the remaining orange zest.
8. Pour the butter mixture evenly over the biscuit pieces.
9. Bake for 35–45 minutes, until the bread is puffed, deeply golden and cooked through. If the top browns too quickly, loosely cover it with foil.
10. Let the monkey bread cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes.
11. Place a large serving plate over the Bundt pan. Using oven mitts, carefully flip the pan and plate together. Lift away the pan and let the monkey bread cool a little longer before pulling it apart.
Notes From Someone Who Made the Mistakes for You
Use a real Bundt pan. The pan in my video was an angel food cake pan, not a Bundt pan. Do not follow my example.
Let it cool before flipping it. I did not do this and burned the heck out of myself.
I used two sticks of butter, because restraint had already left the kitchen.
I used regular Bacardi instead of dark rum because dark rum was expensive and I only needed two tablespoons.
We happened to have orange blossom water from Trader Joe’s in our pantry, so I added a teaspoon. Orange juice works if you don’t have it.
I initially added orange zest directly to the cinnamon sugar. It got clumpy. Instead, sprinkle the zest between the layers and add the rest to the butter mixture.
Rum is flammable. Remove the saucepan from the heat before adding it. (no I did not set my hair on fire)
Once again: I am not a professional chef.
About Mmmm Drop
Mmmm Drop is a comedy cooking show from comedian Amanda Marks inspired by Beastie Boys lyrics, nostalgic food references and chaotic kitchen energy. Each episode takes a lyric and turns it into an actual dish—usually with at least one avoidable mistake along the way.
Watch the full Brass Monkey Bread episode to see what happened, then make the recipe using the corrected directions above.