Monkey bread is a family favorite. My kiddos love it and I’m sure it has a lot to do with the name. I mean, monkey bread is just fun to say. Last weekend we did a twist on traditional monkey bread, and made Lemon Monkey Bread. It is absolutely amazing! The warm flavors of brown sugar and butter combine with the bright citrus zest perfectly. Top it with a lemon glaze for even more yummy citrus flavor.
Lemon Monkey Bread is a strong contender against my Orange Sweet Rolls as a new brunch favorite in our house!
For this recipe, I used biscuit dough as a shortcut. But you can certainly go homemade. Just substitute a homemade yeast dough, and keep the rest of the ingredients the same.

- 2 cans of Pillsbury Grands Homestyle Biscuits
- 5-6 lemons zested and juiced
- 1 firmly packed cup of light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
- 1 cup melted butter 2 sticks
- 4 cups of powdered sugar for glaze
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-
Spray inside of Bundt or fluted pan with non stick cooking spray, or brush with melted butter.
-
Combine lemon zest, sugar and brown sugar in a large plastic baggie.
-
Quarter biscuit dough and coat in melted butter.
-
Add dough pieces to plastic baggie and shake to coat.
-
Place dough pieces in Bundt pan and bake for about 30 minutes.
-
While monkey bread is baking, prepare lemon glaze.
-
Combine powdered sugar and 6 - 8 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Adjust as needed for a pourable consistency.
-
Remove monkey bread from oven and very carefully invert onto a serving plate or cake stand.
-
The monkey bread will be very hot, so use oven mits and be very careful!
-
You will need to turn out the monkey bread while it is still hot, or it will stick to the inside of the pan.
-
Drizzle with lemon glaze and serve warm.
5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
My five FAVORITE recipes for busy families!
- Quick to make
- Light on your budget
- Easy to clean-up
- and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS
Yummy! You have monkey bread and lemon in one…yes please!!!
This monkey bread is almost too pretty to eat! I love lemon — so perfect for spring and totally wakes up the palate. I need this bread!
Oh my this has me drooling like a foolin!
O-M-YUM!! Pinning this – I love monkey bread, but haven’t tried lemon yet!
Stopping by from The 36th Ave.
Wow, not only is this recipe great – your photography is amazing!!
This looks so good. I’m pinning. We have a link party called Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop and would love to have you share this and any other posts with everyone. It runs from Tuesday night through midnight Sunday. Here is the link to the party.
https://www.adornedfromabove.com/2013/04/wednesdays-adorned-from-above-blog-hop_30.html
We hope to see you there.
Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above
Yum! I love the twist on a classic recipe! Monkey Bread is my all time favorite sinful recipe!
Wowza!!! That is one incredible picture at the top!!! Makes me want to lick my computer screen! These sound so great…I think my kids need more monkey bread too!!!
What a great idea. I love anything lemon. I must try this soon! Thanks for the recipe.
This looks delicious, I love lemon and sweetbread. What a perfect combination. I also love your yellow cake stands, its so pretty.
Found you through 36th Avenue Party Time. Love your blog!
I would love for you to share and link up at my TGIF Link Party.
https://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/2013/05/tgif-link-party-2.html
Please, invite your friends to party too! The more the merrier!
Hugs, Cathy