Cinnamon-spiced and sticky-sweet, this gluten-free vegan monkey bread is the ultimate pull-apart treat made with medjool dates, oats, and chia seeds!
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY NATURAL DELIGHTS.
Monkey bread. Not ginger-spice candy cane cranberry swirl bread with a snowflake streusel. I thought we could all use a minute to adjust to the fact that thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is next on the reasons-to-bake calendar. Crazy, right?
But monkey bread – is it Christmasy? Is it not? See, no one really knows.
And that is the beauty of it. Well that and the fact that it is literally A PAN OF STICKY CINNAMON DOUGH BALLS. We cannot overlook that small detail either.
Reasons monkey bread is holiday apropos:
- Exceptionally bake and bring-able. So if you are tasked with supplying the dessert, a couple of loaves of this sweet stuff and everyone will love you forever.
- Low-key granny vibe. Anything grandma makes = holiday-y. Exhibit A: cookies.
- Cinnamon. Lots of cinnamon.
- Also known as pull-apart bread, so unrivaled on share-ability.
- Literally glistening with joy (sugar). But unrefined fruity sugar because Natural Delights takes our holiday wishes very seriously.
Reasons monkey bread is not holiday apropos:
- It tastes so so good in July too.
- That is all.
So while the holiday-ness of monkey bread remains forever unclear and we eat it whenever we damn well please, I’m going to fill you in on all the details of THIS loaf.
True story: I was kinda (deeply) intimidated by the goals I set for this recipe:
- Made with oat flour.
- No starches (tapioca/arrowroot/cornstarch).
- Still soft. Still moist. Still scrumptious. Still obsess-about-able.
Sometimes you just gotta set the loaf-made-of-balls baking bar high for yourself, ya know?
See here’s the thing. Oats are quite absorptive. Which is great if you are making oatmeal, essential even. But it’s not as great if you are making an oil-free batter for bread that has to be thick enough to easily roll into balls but not so thick that it is TOO dry after baking. A pour-able oat flour batter is easy. A roll-able oat flour dough is much trickier.
And that is why full-fat coconut milk is the one and only liquid ingredient in this recipe. It is the key to striking the rich but roll-able balance. So don’t skip it or sub any kind of low-fat carton nonsense. The textural fate of the entire pan of gooey monkey magic is on the line.
Btw. I wanted this recipe to be made with oat flour because many of you asked for an oat option after the last (chocolate) monkey bread I posted. But if you love baking with almond flour (hello wise and dear friend!) then swap the cacao powder in that recipe for 1/2 cup more almond flour and simply skip the cacao in the coating. Wham bam grain-free monkey bread if that’s your jam.
Goal number 1 – check.
Goal number 2. As much as I am tapioca starch’s biggest fan, I get it. You don’t want your entire pantry to be crammed with bags and boxes of a zillion different floury things. So instead of a starch to bind the ballz – chia seeds! Sticky, bind-y, and ground to seedy chia specks.
I was worried they may not have what it takes (overly crumbly texture). Or they may have too much of what it takes (funky gummy texture). But rest assured, they nailed it and neither happened. Sweet little spheres that hold together with a fluffy defined crumb inside. Tapioca who? (Jk, tapioca starch I still love you!)
You may be thinking: Why isn’t date-sweetened on the list of goals? Because monkey bread + medjool dates is a match meant to be. It’s not hard. It’s not a challenge. It’s just the world as it should be operating in monkey-medjool harmony.
There is no lady-like way to say it: this recipe uses a hugeass NOT small quantity of dates. But stick with me, because you deserve the medjool-iest of monkey breads.
The dough itself is completely sweetened with my favorite medjool dates from Natural Delights. Why are they my favorite? Only because they are always super fresh and sweet, easy to find, and even come already pitted in case you like saving time. Do your monkey self a favor -> best medjool dates.
And then there’s the coating, a.k.a. what makes monkey bread the best thing to ever happen in a loaf pan. Date paste smothered on the outside of every doughy ball so once they are all piled in a pan delicious gobs of gooeyness form in between – it’s nothing short of magnificent. And hey, normally that would be gobs of butter and brown sugar, so dates + water is looking pretty good now, huh?
You and me and this lumpy loaf – easing into the Christmas season sticky finger-licking style!
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Cinnamon-spiced and sticky-sweet, this gluten-free vegan monkey bread is the ultimate pull-apart treat made with medjool dates, oats, and chia seeds!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (300g) rolled oats (*)
- 1/3 cup (55g) chia seeds
- 1 cup (200g or about 12) medjool dates, (pitted)
- 1 1/2 cups (345g) full-fat coconut milk (**)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
Date Coating
- 3/4 cup (130g or about 8) medjool dates, (pitted)
- 2/3 cup (150g) water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a high speed blender, blend the oats and chia seeds until finely ground. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Blend the pitted medjool dates with the coconut milk on high until smooth.
- Add the cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Blend briefly to combine.
- Add the date mixture to the dry ingredients and mix/knead to form a sticky moist dough.
- Blend the ingredients for the date coating and transfer to a shallow bowl.
- Break off a chunk of dough and roll it into a ball (about 1″ diameter). Dunk in the date coating and cover on all sides. Transfer to a greased loaf pan (I used this 8×5.5″ glass dish).
- Repeat with the rest of the dough. Spoon any leftover date coating on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350F or until golden brown on top and bounces back when lightly pressed.
- Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10-15 minutes before serving. Top with addition date paste, maple syrup, or caramel sauce for extra sweet sticky-ness!
Notes
*For a grain-free almond flour version, use THIS recipe but replace the cocoa powder in the bread with an extra 1/2 cup almond flour, and add 1 tbsp cinnamon. Use the coating recipe listed above.
**I do not recommend subbing any other kind of milk. Because the dough has to be thick enough to roll, you need the higher fat content of coconut milk to keep the bread moist after baking.
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It’s fluffy, full of cinnamon, it’s shareable and I bet you it smells like Xmas, so no doubt, this is a festive ‘stuff your face with me’ bake for sure!!! Yummerz all around!!!
★★★★★
Like a freaking spiced cozy holiday candle in a pan except better because you can eat it not just get super close and sniff it (and maybe accidentally burn your hair trying to get closer…not that I speak from experience lol) Haha I love that description, thanks Anna <3
Thank you, these look amazing. I don’t like coconut so I’m going to boil down my soy milk to make it creamier, add a little lecithin and oil to make a sub. Thank you again, they look divine!!
★★★★★
I’m so happy you are going to try it Rebecca! You could also try blending a nut or seed butter with the soy milk to add richness, you just need some extra fat to keep it moist after baking 🙂 Hope it turns out awesome!
OMGoodness…does that look delish..I love monkey bread an haven’t had it in years..after today..me thinks I’ll be having it all the time..how many C. do you get out of that 3 C. of oats after it turns to flour.?…….. Thanks for yet another easy peasy recipe.!
Hi Wende! I find it’s easier to grind the chia with the oats which is why I did it that way, but if you have a way to grind the chia on it’s own then you will need approximately 2.5 cups oat flour 🙂
Thanks…I was thinking about using some chestnut flour with the oats..I’ll probably use the coffee grinder for the seeds, when I try the flour……..Thanks again.
Girl! I just saw this on pinterest and pinned it. I have to say, You are rockin it! LOOOOOOVE the photography and videos and wow! Keep inspiring us
You are so so sweet Lindsay, thank you <3 (and thanks for pinning too!)
*For a grain-free almond flour version, use this recipe but replace the cocoa powder in the bread with an extra 1/2 cup almond flour and leave the cocoa powder out of the coating.
I’m so confused, there is no cocoa powder in this recipe???
By “this recipe” I meant the recipe linked right there which is this one: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/chocolate-monkey-bread/ Hope that makes more sense 🙂
Looks fabulous! can I put all I ingredients together and then wait to bake it the next day?
Hi Leeann! Hmm so oats continue to absorb moisture they longer they sit (hence overnight oats) so I worry the dough may be too dry by the next day. What you could do is blend the dates, milk, spices, and baking powder and put that in a jar and then just add it to the dry ingredients the next day if you wanted so save some time. You could pre-blend the coating too, I just wouldn’t reccommend adding wet to dry until right before you are going to bake 🙂
“Low-key granny vibe”…bahahaha! You are always cracking me up girl! I’m totally feeling like a granny these days and not necessarily in a good way, lol, so me thinks this monkey bread would cure all my problems, right?? This looks so awesome! So sticky and full of my #1 favorite flavor..cinnamon! Woohooo! Can you hear me screaming over here?! This looks like the perfect easy and healthy dessert for the holidays. No guilt whatsoever. I love that it is oat-based too because oats are just so darn healthy and yummy! In love! On a side note…when I look over to your Instagram gallery, it’s all brown monochromatic pics….so it’s all pumpkin, cinnamon, perfect Fall-vibes going on…I’m just drooling and giggling at the same time. It’s like you planned it that way!
Wait what’s the not good way to feel like a granny–too cozy? Too many cookies? Too much hot cocoa? There’s no such thing lol. You should be woohooo-ing all day long today with the epically long stream of recipe creation you just wrapped up 🙂 I have a feeling you are all kitchen-ed out by now, but hopefully a couple of weeks to recoup before the holidays will be enough. Ha I know right, i feel like i need a pink smoothies in the IG mix or something. Ah well–so is the season 🙂
We have monkey/bubble bread every Christmas morning, but the last two years, my sister has been gf and sugar free. This is wonderful to see!
I love that, beats cinnamon rolls in my opinion! I hope this version turns out perfect for you and your family, and the christmas tradition can carry on now. Also “bubble bread” is the best name, I’ve never heard that but so cute 🙂
Hi. Just made this today and loved how it turned out. Delicious! I recently discovered your site and I’m now a massive fan!!! How long can I keep this for? Best way to store it? I’m worried that I live in a warm place and might spoil if it’s out longer than a day. Not that I think it will last that long but it’s a one man show
★★★★★
Hi Beatriz! I am so happy it turned out well, and really happy you found me over here too 🙂 So it’s best to store it in the fridge, it will last probably 4-5 days that way although will dry out slowly since there’s no oil involved. But it really tastes best warm so I usually heat it up before eating so it gets all gooey again (microwave or in the oven) Enjoy the rest of the batch and thanks for the feedback!
Quick question. I am grain free and I’d like to make the almond flour version of this but I still want all the cinnamon goodness in this recipe. Can I add cinnamon into the almond flour recipe?
Oh yes yes of course! Ah I should’ve mentioned that, but yes cinnamon it up🙌
Awesome!! Thank you!
I made these last night and they were great! However, when following the recipe to a T, the consistency of my dough was very wet and I could not form into balls. I added more oats and coconut sugar to get to a thickness that I could roll, but they were still not as dry as the ones in the video. It still cooked fine, and is very filling and yummy, but I am wondering where I could have gone wrong? For the coconut milk it was full fat, and I used the whole can which was 1 and 1/2 cups. Should I have only used the cream at the top? I didn’t see that specified or done in the video, but was the only place I thought I may have made a mis-step.
★★★★★
Well I am happy it still tasted good, but it should be quite easy to roll so it sounds like your dough was too moist. Full fat coconut milk is perfect and you want to shake it first and use all of it not just the cream. Although I usually find one whole can to be about 1 3/4 cup so maybe don’t use the full can next time and measure it out. Or even start with 1 1/4 cup and add more only as necessary. Adding more flour always works too although it will dull the flavor if you have to add too much. Hope that helps and the next batch turns out better 🙂
for the coconut milk, is it the stuff out of the can? and is it considered coconut cream or just full fat coconut milk. thank you so much this looks amazing!!!!
If you shake it and use the entire can then it is coconut milk, if you just scoop the solid part off of a chilled can than it is cream!