By Monkey bread but it's ready in under an hour, no long rise, and no protein powder anywhere! I've been after a protein monkey bread for many years, and after a few rounds of testing, we've got it! A bit of yeast, plus baking powder and our staple cottage cheese egg white dough, cuts the rise time in half and packs in 8g of protein per serving!
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If you want the full rolled version with the swirl and the frosting, our cottage cheese cinnamon rolls use this same dough. And there are plenty more sweet cottage cheese recipes where this came from 🍯
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cold start bake
I bet you've never heard of this before but I promise its worth it! Normally, monkey bread requires either a standard yeasted dough that takes a few hours to rise or canned biscuit dough that is butter rich, delicious and lacks any nutritional value.
This version skips the long rise entirely. Everything goes in warm, there's double the instant yeast, and the dough gets a five minute rest instead of an hour. Then the assembled pan goes into a barely-warm oven for a 15 minute proof, and here's the part that matters: you leave it in there and turn the oven on to 350°F from cold.
The slow climb to temperature gives the dough its second rise while the oven heats. You're getting the proof and the bake out of the same 40 minutes instead of doing them one after another. No preheating, no transferring a delicate proofed pan into a hot oven.
key ingredients & swaps
All substitutions are a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted. See the recipe card for quantities.
- Egg whites: They bring structure and protein without the fat of whole eggs.
- Cottage cheese: This is the protein anchor, and no you can't tell it's there!
- Instant yeast: This uses double what a dough this size would normally take for a faster rise.
- Bread flour: The higher gluten content gives you the pull-apart chew. You'll need more than the listed amount while kneading, and that's expected with a warm, tacky dough.
- White sugar: Just a little in the dough. It feeds the yeast and rounds things out.
- Baking powder: A small amount alongside the yeast for extra insurance on the lift, since the rise time is so short.
- Salted butter, melted: Of course we need butter!
- Brown sugar and cinnamon: The coating. Brown sugar is what caramelizes in the bottom of the pan and becomes the sauce when you invert it.
- Powdered sugar and milk: For an optional simple glaze. Totally up to you - the caramel from the pan is already doing a lot.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
step by step: tips to nail this recipe every time
- Make your warm oven first: Lowest setting for two minutes, then turn it off and leave the light on. That's your proofing box, and it needs to be barely warm rather than hot.
- Blend the wet mostly smooth: Egg whites, cottage cheese, water, salt and sugar. Don't overblend or you the cottage cheese will liquefy.
- Only add flour if the dough won't pull away from the bowl: This dough will be tacky and wetter. Add a tablespoon at a time and stop as soon as it clears the sides. Overshooting gives you dense, dry bread. I like to knead by hand for a bit to get a feel for how much flour to add then pop it back into my stand mixer.
- Pile the balls loosely: Don't pack them in. They need room to puff, and the gaps are what let the butter and cinnamon sugar run down through the whole thing.
- Puffy, not doubled: The 15 minute proof only needs to get it visibly risen. The cold-start bake handles the rest.
quick recipe video
invert at exactly 5 minutes
This is the one instruction I'd tape to the oven.
When it comes out, rest it for five minutes and then flip it onto a plate. Not ten, not "when I get around to it." The brown sugar and butter in the bottom of the pan are a caramel, and caramel sets as it cools. Five minutes is warm enough that it pours out over the bread. Much longer and it hardens onto the pan and stays there, which means you lose the best part.
Have your plate ready before the timer goes off 🍯
troubleshooting & testing notes
The caramel stuck to the pan.
It sat too long before inverting. Five minutes, then flip. If it's already set, put the pan back in a warm oven for a couple of minutes to loosen it.
My bread is dense.
Usually too much flour during kneading. The dough should stay tacky - only add flour if it genuinely won't pull away from the bowl.
The middle is underdone.
Either the balls were packed too tightly or it needed the full 40 minutes. Pile loosely and give it the time.
It didn't rise much in the proof.
Your warm oven may have been too hot, which can knock back the yeast. Lowest setting for two minutes, then off - it should feel barely warm, not hot.
Recipe
cottage cheese monkey bread (high protein, no protein powder)
Ingredients
the dough
- ½ cup egg whites (about 4)
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- 2-½ tablespoon warm water (hottest out of your tap is usually perfect)
- 1-½ tablespoon white sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2-¼ cups bread flour (2 cups + 3 tbsp, plus more as needed)
- 2-¼ teaspoon instant yeast (1 packet)
- 1 teaspoon salt
the coating
- 5 tablespoon salted butter (melted)
- 10 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
simple glaze (optional)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon milk
Before you start!
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Instructions
- Warm the oven. Turn the oven to its lowest setting for 2 minutes, then turn it OFF and leave the light on. Grease a bread pan.
- Pour your 2-½ tbsp warm water into your mixing bowl with the 1-½ tbsp white sugar and mix. Then sprinkle over the 2-¼ tsp instant yeast and let it bloom for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse the ½ cup egg whites, ½ cup cottage cheese, and 1 tsp salt until most of the curds are gone - do not over blend!!
- Once the yeast has puffed a bit (if it doesn't the yeast is dead and you will need new yeast), then add the2-¼ cups bread flour and ½ tsp baking powder to the bowl with it. Then add the blended mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until shaggy. Knead with the dough hook for 4 minutes or 8-10 minutes by hand. The warm dough will be tacky - add flour 1 tablespoon at a time only if it won't pull away from the bowl.If using my stand mixer, I like to scrape the tacky dough out of the bowl, knead on the counter while adding flour little by little for a few minutes to get an actual feel for the dough. Once I'm happy with the dough texture, I pop it back in the stand mixer for kneading for another few minutes.
- Once the dough is ready, cover the dough and let it rest 5 minutes in the warm oven (with just the light on). Meanwhile, put the melted 5 tbsp salted butter in one bowl and mix the 10 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp ground cinnamon in another. I like to use a wide bowl because we will be rolling the dough balls.
- Roll the dough into a flat rectangle-shaped (doesn't need to be exact), then use a pizza cutter to cut it into long strips about 1" wide and then rotate and cut again to create 1" x 1" (roughly but larger is fine too) squares. Take each piece (combining the small corner pieces as needed) and fold in half, pinching the bottom to create what looks like a little balloon. See the photos for this!
- Dip each ball in the butter, roll it in the cinnamon sugar, and drop it into the pan. Pile loosely so the pieces have room to puff. Drizzle any leftover butter and cinnamon sugar over the top.
- Cover the pan and set it in the warm oven for 15 minutes, until visibly puffy - not doubled.
- Remove the cover, leave the pan in the oven, and set the oven to 350°F. Bake 35 to 40 minutes from when you turn it on, until the top is light blonde.
- Rest exactly 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Much longer and the caramel sets and sticks to the pan.
- Glaze, if you like. Whisk the ¾ cup powdered sugar with the 1-2 tbsp milk a little at a time until pourable, then drizzle over the warm bread. Pull apart and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Storage: This is best enjoyed right away but can be kept sealed on the counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Freezing is my preferred long term storage.
Looking for more information?
Additional substitution information can be found above in the substitution section of this post.
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate and for informational purposes only.
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