King Cake Pull-Apart Bread (Printable)

Cinnamon-swirled dough balls baked with brown sugar, pecans, and creamy icing in festive colors.

# What You Need:

→ 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 ounces 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

# How-To:

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. Mix thoroughly.
03 - Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and roll each piece into a ball between your palms.
04 - Dip each dough ball in melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until evenly coated.
05 - Place half of the coated dough balls in the prepared Bundt pan. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar and half of the pecans over the layer.
06 - Arrange remaining dough balls in the pan. Top with remaining brown sugar and pecans.
07 - Pour any excess melted butter over the assembled dough balls.
08 - Bake for 32 to 38 minutes until the bread is golden brown and fully cooked. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Allow to cool slightly before icing.
09 - Beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until creamy and pourable consistency is achieved.
10 - Drizzle cream cheese icing over the warm monkey bread. Immediately sprinkle purple, green, and gold sugars in sections to create traditional King Cake colors.
11 - Serve warm, allowing guests to pull apart individual pieces.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It looks absolutely stunning coming out of the oven, which means you get major credit for minimal effort—those colored sugars really do the heavy lifting for presentation.
  • The buttery, cinnamon-sugar layers taste way more impressive than the simple prep suggests, and pulling apart pieces at the table feels like an event.
  • You can make this ahead and reheat it gently, which takes so much pressure off when you're hosting.
02 -
  • Don't skip letting the cream cheese soften—it's the only way to avoid a lumpy icing that will frustrate you mid-drizzle.
  • The colored sugars only stick if the icing is warm, so decorate immediately after drizzling instead of waiting—I made this mistake once and watched the sugars just slide right off.
  • If you're including the traditional hidden plastic baby, place it in the bread after it comes out of the oven and cools slightly, never before baking, and definitely warn your guests before serving.
03 -
  • Buy extra butter and keep it melted in a small bowl while you work—dipping becomes faster and easier when you don't have to wait for butter to cool between balls.
  • If your icing is too thick, add milk one teaspoon at a time instead of dumping it all in at once, which prevents the icing from getting too thin and sliding right off the bread.
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