# Why "monkey" bread? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341 "2004-02-21T06:16:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/1 "2004-02-21T06:16:25Z")
I started reading a book by Elisabeth Berg today- “True to Form”- and for the second time ran into characters eating Monkey bread. (the other book that mentioned it is “The Deep End of the Ocean”). Having no clue what it was, I looked it up. Bread with cinnamon, how exotic. Of course, neither of the recipes I looked at said _why_ it’s called that… Does anyone know? It can’t just be because it’s brown. Lots of breads are brown. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/2 "2004-02-21T06:21:16Z")
One theory: > [@](#): > > Monkey bread. A sweet yeast bread, sometimes mixed with currants, formed from balls of dough, laid next to one another, which combine during baking. The origin of the name is unknown, though it has been suggested that the bread resembles the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), whose prickly branches make it difficult to climb. There is also a fruit called “monkey bread,” from the baobab tree…of Africa, but there is not evidence of any connection between it and baked bread. It is probably that the name comes from the appearance of the baked itself, which resembles a bunch on monkeys jumbled together." > —Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 208) > [NOTES: 1.This book contains Nancy Reagan’s recipe. 2.According to the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition), the term “monkey-bread,” meaning the fruit of the baobab tree, dates in print to 1789.] From [here](http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/foodbreads.html#monkeybread). ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/3 "2004-02-21T06:27:43Z")
Also, from James Beard’s book “Beard on Bread”: > [@](#): > > … It has been known as monkey bread for as long as I can remember. I have never seen an explanation for the name; perhaps it has stuck because of the bread’s silly shape. I have also heard it called bubble bread. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/4 "2004-02-21T06:52:19Z")
If you ever have the time, make some. It’s deeeeelicious 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/5 "2004-02-22T01:56:47Z")
Curiously enough, I just saw a recipe for Nancy Reagan’s Monkey Break on FoodTV. It looked good. ---
**Author:** ![n5tp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@n5tp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/n5tp)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/6 "2004-02-22T02:06:28Z")
The monkey bread recipe is here: [http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD\_9936\_14634,00.html](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_14634,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/7 "2004-02-22T02:11:06Z")
I always assumed it’s monkey bread because you eat it by picking at it with your fingers, like a monkey. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/8 "2004-02-22T02:46:02Z")
Hm, this is the traditional Christmas morning dish in our family, and we always called it “monkey brains.” Clearly, I have nothing to add to this discussion. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-monkey-bread/230341/9 "2004-02-22T03:05:31Z")
> [@FisherQueen](#): > > I always assumed it’s monkey bread because you eat it by picking at it with your fingers, like a monkey. That’s always been the explanation given in my family, too. We also comment on how we tend to lick our fingers and smack our lips when we eat it, which are also simian traits. I love monkey bread and I really shouldn’t eat it.