Healthy single-serve vegan monkey bread is the most delectable sticky-sweet bread with cinnamon caramel goo baked between puff-balls of gluten-free dough!
Maybe I don’t want a long slinky tail that would make wearing pants impossible. And the thought of inescapable fur in the middle of summer sounds torturous. And eating critters with my bare hands does not appeal to me on flavor or texture. But there is one thing that does make me kinda jealous of monkeys: they have the most delectable sticky-sweet bread named after them.
The first time I tasted monkey bread I fell absolutely in love with it. Like this-might-be-better-than-chocolate-cake in love. How could you not, it’s soft cinnamon bread with caramel goo baked right in between every little puff-ball of sweet dough!
Yes that’s right, I said goo. It’s a very technical term for a very delicious substance usually made of butter and sugar and a lot of it. But for this vegan monkey bread recipe we’re keeping it much healthier with a caramel goo made from dates, almond butter, and cinnamon.
The dates naturally have the exact caramel flavor monkey bread needs. The almond butter adds nutty richness, but is optional if you prefer to keep it low fat. And the cinnamon…well I don’t think that really needs an explanation, it’s monkey bread after all.
The dough itself is rather untraditional too, made without sugar, oil, or gluten. But perhaps the most untraditional part of the entire recipe (and which I have somehow neglected to mention until now) is that the whole thing happens in the microwave! No need to wait 30+ minutes for a mouthful of monkey bread. Just mix, roll, dunk, microwave, and dive in!
Oh, and there is an oven option too since I know not everyone has/uses a microwave.
Some monkey bread recipes mix up a whole separate glaze to go on top. But I have a feeling there is a reason you clicked on this mug cake version of vegan monkey bread: because you like easy just as much as I do! So to keep things simpler, I just thinned out the caramel goo with maple syrup to make an easy sweet topping and drizzled that on top followed up with a sprinkling of cinnamon. You could also thin it out with non-dairy milk or water to keep the recipe entirely fruit-sweetened, it’s up to you.
The outside pieces that are drenched in caramel goo—amazing. The inside pieces insulated by their doughy friends that stay extra soft and warm—so yum. And I highly recommend keeping an extra little cup of caramel goo/frosting/heaven on the side for double dipping.
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10 minPrep Time
1 minCook/Chill Time
11 minTotal Time
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Ingredients
10 Medjool dates
1/2 cup water
Optional: 1 tbsp almond butter (or any nut/seed butter)
1/3 cup oat flour
¼ cup date paste (above)
2 tbsps tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
¼ cup date paste (above)
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients for the date paste. You may have extra date paste, but most blenders cannot blend with any less volume than this.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the dough. It should be quite sticky, but firm enough to roll into balls.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the caramel goo.
- Pinch off a small piece of dough. Roll it into a ball. Drop in the caramel goo and use a spoon to evenly coat. Place in a microwave safe ramekin. Repeat with the rest of the dough (I got about 8 balls).
- Microwave for 1 to 1.5 minutes on high. *See notes for oven option.
- Top with remaining caramel goo and a sprinkle of cinnamon Enjoy!
Notes
I actually prefer the texture of the microwave version with this recipe, but you can bake it in a preheated oven for approximately 15-20 mins at 375F.
Oh my gosh, this looks so good!
It is!! I am just obsessed with all things cinnamon-filled and date-paste gooey right now😋
I’ve never had monkey bread, but I am kind of obsessed with it? Sweet bread-y carby goodness smothered in cinnamon and more sweetness, come at meeee! I love how easy this is and how magical it looks! Can’t wait to whip this up and fall in love <3
You’ve never had monkey bread?? 😳 It’s like that time I learned that you had never had pumpkin pie either…total shock! I think it’s pretty safe to say you would like be into it 🙂
You are dead on with all of the classic dessert recipes lately. SO awesome! Monkey bread is one of my mom’s favorite treats. I’ll have to make this for her and see what she thinks! 🙂
Either it’s a classic dessert spread or an all things gooey and date-filled streak…maybe both! 😀 Oooh yes, I would love to hear her feedback!
“make wearing pants impossible”: LOLOLOLOL. Oh, wow. Oh… WOW. It’s Monday and I still found that hilarious. Well, you know, if you have a sweet bread named after you, you can endure absolutely anything: be it an unremovable fur suit, a pants-mystifying tail, and even the dreaded critter consumption. 😉 Goo: Yep, I just looked it up in the Official Dictionary of Culinary Things and Shenanigans and it says “goo.” LOVE that you wrote “Caramel Good” in your recipe! You’re simply the best. That is all. 😉 Now, can you ship THIS to me?? xo
Is that so? Well I’ll keep that in mind when naming my children–Banana Bread if it’s a boy and Cinnamon Streusel if it’s a girl. Oh wait…does it only work if the bread is named after them and not the other way around?😁 Bummer. I so wanted invisible children! Anyways, I’ll just feed them lots of goo and they’ll be fine I’m sure. Oh actually I think the ‘d’ in good was autocorrect, not me. Oops! It’s already in the mail 😉
I love that you called it caramel “goo” <3 This looks SO tasty!!
There was just no other word to use there lol 😀 Thanks Aimee!
Caramel GOOOOOO!? Well that sounds amazing. I happen to have some date paste in my freezer that needs to be used up! Perfect recipe to use it in! Love that you used my beloved oat flour as well! 🙂
I never thought to freeze it! I usually just use up any leftovers on apple slices, but that’s a great idea! Let me know if you give it a gooey shot 🙂
OMG this looks amazing! I just bought tapioca starch also, so this is definitely going to happen! Have you baked it yet? I don’t have a microwave. I’m sure it’d be delicious either way!
Yep I tested it in the oven too, it takes about 15-20 mins at 375F. Oooh yay, I’m so happy you got tapioca starch! It’s such an awesome ingredient 🙂 Enjoy!
This looks awesomely delicious and I just ate and still want to make it! Thank you thank you.
I haven’t had a micro in decades so will be using oven. Is it that it’s not as gooey in oven made?
I just had a client who was allergic to cinnamon, isn’t that awful?
Rebecca
No cinnamon!?! I don’t know what I would do! And you are correct, it is less gooey if you make it in the oven. But just add extra caramel goo after baking and it will be equally as delicious!
Natalie, I just can’t even handle this!!! It is the BEST mug cake idea everrrrr. I seriously cannot wait to try this! I love monkey bread so much and have on my to do list to create a traditional one, but dang, this super duper fast version is much more appealing, because hey, who doesn’t want dessert faster?? It’s so pretty and the pics are so vibrant and in your face in a really drool-inducing way, haha. I literally today just made some of my almond caramel, which is a similar sticky texture of date paste, so I’m thinking that may work amazingly, delicious since you know I’m not a fan of dates. I definitely want to try it and see. It just looks fabulous and I can almost smell at that delicious cinnamon!!
I’ve had it on my to-do list for forever too, but rolling all those little dough balls for a full size pan sounded like a lot of work I kept putting it off lol. Dessert faster–YES! I was worried about texture with the microwave thing, but tapioca saves the day again. I can’t wait to see and try your non-date version, any reason to make more monkey bread is good with me 🙂
I really really really want to try my hand at MONKEY BREAD MAKING!!
You gotta try it!! Those monkeys know what’s up when it comes to baked goods lol🐒
Oh my gosh, I just absolutely adored the video you did for this. And can I just say how impressed I am with your website. I have been super slack at even updating my own, never mind visiting anyone else’s. But I just wanted to stop by and say, you’re amazing, and I hope you win some kind of award for your site, as it’s unbelievably good, as are your recipes. Well done xx
You are so very kind Jo, I’m blushing over here☺️ Oh I know, keeping up with everybody and everything and every site is a monumental task! But you do post on IG everyday and kill it over there (which no matter how hard I try I just cannot manage to keep up). If only we could do it all 🙂 Thank you <3 xo
Heeeeeyyyy Natalie!! As a huge fan of caramel goo, must say this is one of the top 3 caramel goo recipes ever!! And don’t know anything cuter than food in a mug 🙂 Will definitely do this when baby has arrived and i have max 15 min to bake 🙂 So thank YOU for saving me from horrible cravings!! Will let you know how it works out 🙂 Hehe and I know I’ll earn the best Mom title again when I make this for the kids too 🙂 So thank you for that too <3 <3
Well now I must know what the other 2 top rated caramel goo recipes are🤔 lol Because anything with gooey date paste involved I probably am going to love 🙂 Gah I know, mug food is the best! Well you can add that one to your mom award collection right along with most creative, best photographer while mom-ing, and just generally amazing human <3 xo
No I have not tried this yet…YES I Absolutely need to!!! And this time it’s not going to go on my list…I’m actually making this! I think you’ve out-done yourself with the mug cakes on this one! It looks fantastic! And i know I already told you that my entire family watched your video =) which we all love by the way! Ok I’ll comment again once I’ve made them!
I am becoming slightly obsessed with single serve recipes. They are so dang easy! And I don’t mind testing them a bunch of times because one batch doesn’t require all that much of any ingredient. Or time! Thank you for watching, and I can’t wait to hear what you think…and if you share 😀
Hi Natalie – I am adoring your recipes! So thankful I found your page, it’s exactly the type of recipe I love! How do you think you might make this on a larger/non-mug cake scale? Say, a 9×2 pan?
I’m so happy to hear that Matt! A 9×2 pan–like a loaf pan size? You would probably have to multiply all the ingredient amounts by 4 or 5 even to fill a pan that size, and bake it in the oven for 25-30 mins. I haven’t tried it myself, but that would be my best recommendation. It’s a great idea, something I need to test out soon 🙂 Good luck!
Hi there! I love the whole recipe overall. But I cannot acquire any dates as there are highly overpriced here where I live. Is there anything I can used as a substitute for it. If not I will not be able to make this wonderful treat. By the way how many servings does this make?
Hi Ming! You could use raisins or dried plums in place of the dates, both of those would work just fine if you can find them. If not let me know and I will brainstorm more! And it is just a small mug recipe, so it only serves one 🙂
Hi Natalie, thanks for replying. I do happen to have some raisins. How much do I use. Is there also anything else that I can use because I don’t have a blender?
I would suggest between 3/4 to 1 cup of raisins with the same 1/2 cup of water. A food processor would work for making the raisin paste as well, but you will need something pretty high powered to turn the raisins into a smooth paste/sauce.
Any replacement for the Oats tried and tested? Should that make it Paleo then?
No, I have not tested any other flours in this one yet. But you could certainly try almond flour, with the tapioca flour too that will most likely work for a grain free option.