Overnight Coffee Cake

Overnight coffee cake is the lazy genius breakfast your grandma probably called monkey bread. Frozen bread dough pieces go into a bundt or tube pan at bedtime, then get blanketed with cinnamon, brown sugar, and dry butterscotch pudding mix. Sliced margarine or butter crowns the whole thing.

Overnight, the dough slowly thaws and rises while the pudding powder and sugar melt together on top. By morning you’ve got pillowy dough pieces sitting in a caramel-colored, butterscotch-scented slurry that turns into sticky glaze as it bakes.

The cover-with-foil step halfway through matters. Without it, the tops scorch before the bottoms set. Flip the pan upside down onto a plate while it’s still warm so the caramel drips down every crevice. The pieces pull apart with fingers, no knife needed.

Kitchen Tips

• Use a well-greased tube or bundt pan so the caramel releases clean.
• Leave the dough to rise overnight at room temperature, not in the fridge.
• Place the pan on a baking sheet before baking to catch any caramel overflow.
• Invert onto a plate within a minute or two of pulling it from the oven, before the sugar sets and glues itself in place.

Variations

• Swap butterscotch pudding for vanilla or chocolate for a different spin.
• Toss a handful of toasted pecans in the pan before adding dough for a praline-style pull-apart.
• Drizzle with a simple cream cheese glaze after flipping for extra richness.