Air Fryer Monkey Bread (Easy Canned Biscuit Recipe)

Air fryer monkey bread turns one can of refrigerated biscuits into a warm, sticky, pull-apart cinnamon bread in under 30 minutes — no oven, no rising time, no mixer. Every piece gets tossed in cinnamon sugar, layered into a small bundt pan, and drenched in a buttery brown sugar glaze that caramelizes into the edges while it cooks.

This has been one of my kids’ favorite breakfasts for years, and it’s the recipe I pull out when I want something that looks like real effort on a holiday morning but takes ten minutes of actual work. You’ll also see it called cinnamon pull-apart bread or bubble bread — same thing, same result.

If you’re new to baking in the air fryer, this is a great first project. Nothing here is fussy, and the biscuit dough is very forgiving.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Five ingredients. Sugar, cinnamon, canned biscuits, brown sugar, butter. That’s the whole list.
• No oven, no heating up the kitchen. Especially welcome in summer.
• Under 30 minutes start to finish, including prep.
• Kids can help. Shaking the dough pieces in the cinnamon sugar bag is the whole appeal.
• Built-in portion control. Everyone pulls off their own piece, no slicing required.

Ingredients

Full measurements and instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Granulated sugar: coats the dough pieces
• Ground cinnamon: use fresh cinnamon; ground spice loses potency after about a year
• Refrigerated biscuits: found in the dairy section (see the note below on which kind)
• Brown sugar: light or dark both work; dark gives a deeper molasses flavor
• Butter, melted: salted or unsalted; if unsalted, add a pinch of salt to the glaze

Which Biscuits Should I Use?

This matters more than people expect. A standard can of buttermilk biscuits (about 8 biscuits, 16 oz) is what this recipe is written for. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces for 32 total.

If you use Grands or jumbo biscuits, the dough is significantly thicker, so cut each one into 6 pieces instead of 4 and add 3 to 5 minutes to the cook time. Larger pieces are the number one cause of a doughy center.

Flaky-layer biscuits work beautifully here and pull apart the best. Skip anything labeled “frozen” — you want the refrigerated tube dough.

What Size Pan Fits in an Air Fryer?

This is the question I get most often on this recipe, so let’s settle it.

You need a small bundt pan — 6-inch, or roughly 3 to 6 cup capacity. A standard 10-inch bundt pan from your oven cabinet will not fit in a basket-style air fryer.

• Basket air fryers (Cosori, Ninja, Instant Vortex single-basket): a 6-inch bundt or a 6-inch round cake pan is your ceiling. Measure the widest point of your basket before you buy.
• Air fryer ovens and toaster-oven style units: you have more room and can usually go up to a 7 or 8-inch pan.
• Dual-basket air fryers: measure carefully. Many drawers are too narrow for a round pan of any size — a silicone jumbo muffin mold is a better bet, and it gives you individual portions.

The bundt shape isn’t just for looks. That center hole is what lets hot air circulate through the middle of the dough, which is exactly the problem you run into baking anything dense in an air fryer. I wrote a full breakdown of choosing and using a bundt pan in the air fryer if you want to get into the details, and the same small pan works for my air fryer mini chocolate bundt cakes.

No bundt pan at all? A 6-inch round cake pan works. You’ll get a slightly denser middle, so add about 3 minutes and check the center carefully.

How to Make Air Fryer Monkey Bread

Step One: Prep the pan. Grease your bundt pan generously with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil spray. Get into every fluted corner — this is a very sugary batter and it will weld itself to any spot you miss.

Step Two: Mix the cinnamon sugar. Combine the granulated sugar and ground cinnamon in a large zip-top bag and shake well.

Step Three: Cut and coat. Open the can and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Drop them into the bag as you go, then shake until every piece is fully coated. Working in two batches keeps the coating even.

Step Four: Layer the pan. Place the coated dough pieces into the prepared bundt pan. Don’t press them down or pack them tightly — they need room to expand, and the gaps are what create the pull-apart texture. The pan should be no more than two-thirds full.

Step Five: Make the glaze. Melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar until smooth.

Step Six: Air fry. Pour the brown sugar mixture evenly over the top of the dough. Place the pan in the air fryer and cook at 320°F (160°C) for 12 minutes. Check it, and if the center is still doughy, add up to 5 more minutes.

Step Seven: Rest and flip. Let the pan sit for 5 minutes — this lets the caramel set just enough to release cleanly. Then invert onto a plate, scrape any glaze left in the pan back over the top, and serve warm.

How to Tell When It’s Done

Don’t go by color alone. The cinnamon sugar darkens fast on the outside while the interior is still raw, which is how most people end up with a gummy middle.

Check these instead:

• Pull a piece from the center with a fork. It should look like baked biscuit — dry, layered, no wet dough.
• Internal temperature of the center pieces should read 190°F to 200°F on an instant-read thermometer. This is the reliable method.
• The top should spring back when you press it lightly.

If the top is browning too fast but the center isn’t done, tent a small piece of foil loosely over the pan and keep cooking.

Tips for the Best Results

Preheat if your model needs it. Air fryers vary enormously. If yours doesn’t preheat automatically, run it at 320°F for 3 minutes first — otherwise your first few minutes are just warm-up time and the dough dries out.

Grease more than you think you need to. Melted butter applied with a pastry brush works even better than spray for a fluted pan.

Don’t overfill. Biscuit dough nearly doubles. An overfilled pan means glaze overflowing onto your heating element and a center that never cooks.

Serve it warm. This is genuinely at its best in the first twenty minutes. The caramel firms up considerably as it cools.

Every air fryer is different. Times here are a starting point, not gospel. My air fryer cooking charts and tips can help you calibrate your own model.

Variations

Add a simple icing. Whisk 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 to 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until pourable, then drizzle over the warm bread. This is how I serve it for holidays.

Add nuts. Scatter 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts along the bottom of the pan before adding the dough. They toast in the glaze and end up on top after you flip it.

Go with apples. Diced apple tossed in with the dough turns this into something closer to my air fryer apple cinnamon monkey bread, which is worth making on its own in the fall.

Use cinnamon rolls instead of biscuits. Cut a can of refrigerated cinnamon rolls into sixths and proceed the same way, then use the included icing packet on top. Sweeter and softer.

Add a pinch of salt to the brown sugar glaze. It cuts the sweetness and makes the caramel flavor read as caramel rather than just sugar.

How to Store Leftovers

Let the monkey bread cool completely to room temperature first, then transfer to an airtight container.

• Room temperature: 1 to 2 days
• Refrigerator: 2 to 3 days
• Freezer: 2 to 3 months in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container

To reheat: microwave individual pieces for 15 to 20 seconds, or return them to the air fryer at 320°F for 2 to 3 minutes to bring back some crispness on the outside. The air fryer method is noticeably better.

To use from frozen: move it to the refrigerator and let it thaw overnight, then reheat as above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this without a bundt pan? Yes. A 6-inch round cake pan works, or use silicone jumbo muffin cups for individual portions. With a solid-bottomed pan, add about 3 minutes and check the center carefully, since there’s no hole letting hot air through the middle.

Why is the middle of my monkey bread doughy? Almost always one of three things: pieces cut too large, the pan overfilled, or pulling it too early. Cut jumbo biscuits into 6 pieces rather than 4, fill the pan no more than two-thirds, and check for 190°F in the center before you call it done.

Can I use homemade biscuit dough? You can, but the canned dough is what makes this a 27-minute recipe. If you’re making dough from scratch, cut it into 1-inch pieces and expect a slightly longer cook time.

Can I make it ahead? You can assemble the pan, cover it, and refrigerate for up to 12 hours before cooking. Add 2 to 3 minutes to the cook time since you’re starting cold. I don’t recommend cooking it ahead — the texture drops off fast.

Does this work in an air fryer oven? Yes. Use the air fry setting, place the pan on the middle rack, and check at 12 minutes. Air fryer ovens often run slightly cooler than basket models, so you may need the full 17.

What’s the difference between monkey bread and pull-apart bread? Functionally none for this recipe. Monkey bread is the traditional name for cinnamon-sugar dough balls baked together in a bundt pan; pull-apart bread is the broader category, and it includes savory versions.

More Air Fryer Breakfast Treats

If this one works out for you, the natural next step is air fryer cinnamon sticky buns — same warm cinnamon-and-caramel idea, a little more involved. For mornings when even this feels like too much, my easiest air fryer cinnamon rolls take one ingredient and about 10 minutes.

When I want something a bit more special-occasion, I make air fryer caramel apple danish or air fryer cherry turnovers, both built on refrigerated dough the same way this is. And for a fun weekend project with the kids, air fryer strawberry pop-tarts and air fryer apple dumplings are always a hit.

You can browse everything in my air fryer recipe collection or the full breakfast recipes archive.