Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (2024)

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ByMichael Wurm Jr.Tuesday, November 21, 2017Saturday, March 4, 2023

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Whether you’re making a casual family brunch or hosting a fabulous holiday get-together, this Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe just might be that easy fall treat you’re looking for. Loaded with the sweet and tart flavors of the season, it will be gobbled up in no time.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (1)

This post is sponsored by Crock-Pot® brand. As always, allopinions are my own.

You may remember that last week my friends over at Crock-Pot® brand challenged me to come up with new and creative ways to use my slow cooker to prepare treats to serve my friends and family this holiday season. I kicked things off with my Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Sangria (which so many of your seemed to love). Today, I’m back with this delightful dessert.

I knew a monkey bread recipe could be made in a slow cooker, so I decided to put an inspired spin on the classic by inviting cranberries and oranges to the party. The result: monkey bread with the sweet stickiness you love, plus an unexpectedly bright and bold flavor. The touch of tartness is a welcome break from the rich sweetness of most holiday desserts.

How to Make Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread:

To create this dish, I used the Crock-Pot® 3.5-Quart Casserole Crock Slow Cooker. I love using this slow cooker for desserts. It’s great for things like cobblers, bread pudding, and brownies, too. Who knew you could use a slow cooker for so many tasty treats?

This monkey bread recipe comes together in much the same way as the traditional kind you make in an oven.

Shake quartered dinner rolls in a delicious combination of sugar and freshly zested orange, and then place the rolls in your slow cooker that contains a brown sugar sauce made with butter, orange zest, and dried cranberries.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (3)

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (4)

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (5)

Set the slow cooker to high, and your monkey bread recipe will be ready in 2-2.5 hours.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (6)

It’s truly that simple. One of the big pluses of using a Crock-Pot Slow Cooker for a dessert such as this monkey bread recipe is that it saves valuable oven space. While the monkey bread is cooking, you can bake a couple other desserts.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (7)

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe (8)

You can serve this monkey bread from the slow cooker, however, I like to flip the whole thing onto a serving tray. For me, seeing all that caramelized goodness from the bottom of the pan is one of the best parts of a monkey bread recipe.

Complete the presentation with a drizzle of orange glaze, orange slices, and fresh cranberries, and it’s ready to enjoy!

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Recipe:

Slow Cooker Cranberry Monkey Bread

This Slow Cooker Cranberry Monkey Bread recipe is the perfect sweet treat for breakfast, dessert, or anything in-between. Loaded with sweet and tart flavors, this will be gobbled up in no time.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: breakfast, brunch, cranberry, monkey bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 458kcal

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 orange zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sugar
24 frozen dinner rolls thawed and quartered
1 cup dried cranberries
Orange slices and fresh cranberries to garnish

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Instructions

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar, orange juice, and kosher salt. When the mixture begins to boil, remove it from the heat. Pour 1/3 of the sauce into a Crock-Pot® Slow Cooker 3.5 qt Casserole Crock. Reserve the remaining sauce.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar and zest from one orange. Stir to combine. Spoon the sugar and orange zest mixture into a large plastic bag; then add the quartered biscuits. Shake to fully coat all of the biscuit pieces.
Add the sugared biscuit quarters to the slow cooker; then sprinkle them with dried cranberries. Finish by pouring the remaining brown sugar sauce over the top of the biscuits. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high heat for 2-2.5 hours or until the bread is cooked through.
To serve, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Place a large serving dish upside down on top of the slow cooker casserole crock. Invert the slow cooker holding the casserole crock in place. The monkey bread should easily fall out onto the dish.
In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and enough orange juice to create a glaze. Drizzle this glaze on top of the monkey bread. Add orange slices and fresh cranberries to garnish. Serve immediately.

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