King Cake Pull-Apart Bread (Print Version)

Festive cinnamon-swirled dough balls layered with brown sugar and pecans, finished with colorful sugars and cream cheese icing.

# Ingredient List:

→ Dough

01 - 2 cans (16 oz each) refrigerated biscuit dough
02 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
03 - 3/4 cup granulated sugar
04 - 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

→ Filling

05 - 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
06 - 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

→ Cream Cheese Icing

07 - 4 oz cream cheese, softened
08 - 1 cup powdered sugar
09 - 2 tablespoons milk
10 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ Decorations

11 - Purple, green, and gold sanding sugars or colored sugar sprinkles

# How-To Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick spray or butter.
02 - In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.
03 - Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
04 - Dip each dough ball in melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat completely.
05 - Place half of the coated dough balls in the prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle with half of the brown sugar and half of the pecans if using.
06 - Add remaining dough balls to the pan. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar and pecans.
07 - Pour any remaining melted butter over the assembled dough balls.
08 - Bake for 32 to 38 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Cool slightly before icing.
09 - Beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until creamy and pourable.
10 - Drizzle cream cheese icing over warm monkey bread. Immediately sprinkle purple, green, and gold sugars in sections to mimic traditional King Cake colors.
11 - Serve warm, pulling apart pieces to enjoy with family and friends.

# Helpful Tips:

01 -
  • It looks absolutely showstopping the moment you drizzle that cream cheese icing and add the Mardi Gras colors—everyone thinks you spent hours on it.
  • Pull-apart is actually a disguise for easy, since you're working with refrigerated dough instead of making something from scratch.
  • The cinnamon-brown sugar layers create these little pockets of caramelized sweetness that make you close your eyes when you taste them.
02 -
  • Don't skip the 10-minute cooling step in the pan—I learned this the hard way when I flipped too early and watched half the cake stick stubbornly to the bottom.
  • The cream cheese icing must go on while the cake is still warm, otherwise it won't drip and pool the way that makes this dessert so visually stunning.
03 -
  • Room-temperature cream cheese makes all the difference for smooth icing—cold cream cheese will be lumpy no matter how hard you beat it.
  • If your sanding sugars seem to be sliding off the icing, let the icing set for just 30 seconds before sprinkling—it needs to be tacky but not dry.
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