This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We are such big fans of easy Christmas breakfast, especially when there is a crowd to feed in a hurry. This monkey bread with canned biscuits hits the spot, especially if you are the designated home chef. The orange and cranberry is SO GOOD, and if you love this flavor combo anyway, I think this cranberry orange monkey bread is for you. Sweet muffin cups of pull-apart finger food that tastes as festive as it looks!
WANT TO SAVE THIS?
Don't lose this! Enter your email and we'll send it instantly.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Muffins With Canned Biscuits
Tools you’ll need
You can use either buttermilk or flaky layers biscuits, but the layers pull-apart easily. For the cranberries, you can use thawed-from-frozen (I buy them in bulk once a year and keep them in my freezer) or fresh, whole cranberries.
Step 1: Gather the canned flaky layer biscuits, whole cranberries, granulated sugar, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, and confectioners sugar. Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray or grease a muffin pan.
Step 2: Wash and dry the fresh whole orange. Zest the orange (avoid the white pith since that’s bitter) and set aside the zest. Slice that orange in two and juice the zested orange; set aside juice, too.
Step 3: I like to use kitchen shears for this, but you can use a knife and cutting board also: Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces as shown above, placing them in a large bowl as you go.
Step 3: In a small bowl: Stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and orange zest, then add to the bowl with the biscuit pieces and gently toss until they are evenly coated.
Step 4: Add the cranberries and gently turn with a spatula or large spoon.
Step 5: Carefully divide the biscuit / cranberry dough between the muffin cups, ensuring there is a good ratio of cranberry to dough in each (be careful not to pinch the dough too much). Fill each one nearly to the top.
Step 6: Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and stir in the brown sugar until combined. To save a dish, you can use the sugar dish you just used.
Step 7: Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture over each muffin cup. Set the bowl aside, we will use it again here in a sec.
Step 8: Bake 16 to 20 mins, until the tops become golden. The edges will “pop over” the tops.
Step 9: While these cool in the pan, grab the bowl you had the sugar/butter mixture in. In it, whisk together the powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest until smooth.
Step 10: You can either remove the muffins to a wire rack or plate or glaze them right in the muffin pan. (They will be a bit messier to remove from the pan after they are glazed but the mess is contained to the pan. Pros and cons there.) Drizzle the glaze over the warm monkey bread bites. Best served warm, but delicious eaten at room temp too.
Tools & Equipment
Pinterest keywords for the tools section: muffin tin, microplane zester, mixing bowl. Delete this line when it is written.
- 12-cup muffin tin
- Nonstick baking spray
- Large mixing bowl
- 2 to 3 small bowls
- Zester
- Whisk
- Knife and cutting board or kitchen scissors for the biscuits
Tips for Success
- Because cranberries pop, I recommend spraying the whole muffin pan, top and the inside of the cups. It will help them come out easier.
- For holiday brunch ideas like this one, either kind of canned biscuit dough will work but the flaky layer kind turns out pretty and easily pulled apart.
- You can add double the zest if you want a stronger orange flavor.
WANT TO SAVE THIS?
Don't lose this! Enter your email and we'll send it instantly.
Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread Bites
Ingredients
- 2 cans refrigerated biscuit dough
- 1 c fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1 t ground cinnamon
- 1 T orange zest
- 1/2 c unsalted butter melted
- 1/3 c brown sugar
- 1 c powdered sugar for the glaze
- 2 T fresh orange juice for the glaze
- 1/2 t orange zest for the glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, spraying the area between cups too, since these will "pop over" the top.
- Cut or scissor each biscuit into 4 pieces and place them in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and orange zest. Sprinkle over the biscuit pieces and toss gently until coated.
- Add cranberries and stir gently. Divide the biscuit and cranberry mixture between the muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
- To save a dish, grab the sugar bowl you just used, and if it's microwave-safe, melt the butter and brown sugar in the microwave.
- Spoon butter/brown sugar mixture over each cup, about 2 tablespoons per muffin cup. Set aside the sugar/butter bowl but keep it nearby since we are about to use it a third time.
- Bake 16 – 20 minutes, until the tops are golden and the biscuit pieces done. Soe of the cranberries will pop, but not all. Cool in the pan about 5 minutes before carefully removing.
- In the sugar/butter bowl we set aside earlier: Whisk the powdered sugar, orange juice and orange zest until smooth. Drizzle over the warm monkey bread bites before serving.
Notes
- Fresh or frozen cranberries both work. Thaw frozen cranberries on the counter about 10 mins before adding to dough mixture.
- Fill muffin cups 2/3 full; they will “pop over” the top as they bake.
- Storage: airtight in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
Nutrition
The bottom line
Check out my other easy recipes that use canned biscuit dough:
Apple Cinnamon Biscuit Pull Apart Loaf
Chocolate Dipped Donut Holes
Apple Fritter Monkey Bread
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Biscuits
Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings
…or get the whole list here!
