Cheesy Monkey Bread

Chewy, toasty dinner rolls, stuffed with mozzarella cheese and dunked in melted butter. As if that wasn't heavenly enough... I crammed the dough balls into a baking pan and created the world's BEST monkey bread! With just 4 ingredients!

So why is it called "monkey bread"? I Googled it and here's what I found: The origin of the term "monkey bread" comes from the pastry being a finger food: the consumer would pick apart the bread as a monkey would. Sounds good to me!! Let's all eat like monkeys!

The best part about this recipe is that you need just FOUR ingredients. I used frozen dinner rolls, so I had to allow time for thawing (which was 2 hours on my counter). If you use refrigerated rolls, you won't have to wait!

You can also prep ahead - which is something I always find endearing in the recipe world. If you want to assemble the monkey bread in advance, follow the directions right up until the "let stand for 45 minutes" part. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. One hour before you're ready to bake, pull the pan from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Let the monkey bread sit on the counter for an hour, so the rolls have a chance to rise a little.

I like to serve this monkey bread with warm marinara sauce on the side. You certainly don't need it, but since we're monkeying around, we might as well be dunking too!

I think this is a great use of cheese sticks. I always have a huge stash of cheese sticks in my fridge - for the boys' lunches. And 1 cheese stick fills 4 pieces of bread dough, so a little goes a long way! You can also use regular mozzarella - the kind sold in 8- and 16-ounce cubes. Cut the cheese into 2-inch pieces (you need 24 pieces total) and stuff the pieces into the dough as directed. One 8-ounce cube should be the perfect amount for 12 (halved) dinner rolls.

As I mentioned above, I used frozen dinner rolls. Once they were thawed, I cut each one in half and stuffed it with cheese. You can also use refrigerated dinner rolls - and halve them the same way as instructed below.

Cheesy Monkey Bread

6 tablespoons butter, melted
12 frozen dinner rolls, thawed according to package directions, or refrigerated dinner rolls
6 cheese sticks, cut into 4 equal pieces each
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

Brush about 1 tablespoon of the butter in the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan.
Divide each dinner roll in half, creating two equal pieces. Insert one piece of a cheese stick into the center of each piece of dough and wrap the dough around to cover the cheese completely. Roll the dough in your hands to form a ball. Dip the balls in the melted butter and arrange side-by-side in the prepared pan.
Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over top. Let stand for 45 minutes (this allows the dough to rise a second time - since we squished it down).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the rolls are puffed up and golden brown. Serve warm for the best gooey experience!

Serves 4-6