Don't Throw Out Leftover Pizza Dough, Use It For One Breakfast Treat

It's easy to get carried away with your pizza plans and end up buying or making more dough than you need. But, if you're like me and hate wasting perfectly good food, there's a genius way to turn pizza dough into an indulgent breakfast. Use the dough to make monkey bread. Using store-bought dough is an easy shortcut to make this breakfast treat, which can also be made with canned crescent rolls. Since pizza dough is stretchy and full of yeast, it will puff up well in the oven, giving you perfectly soft and chewy monkey bread.

Simply roll your pizza dough into smaller balls, coat them in cinnamon sugar (it's best to do this in a sandwich bag), and pop them into your bundt pan. Pour on some homemade or storebought caramel sauce, and bake for around 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The best part is there are a ton of ways to customize your pizza dough monkey bread to suit whichever breakfast craving takes your fancy.

Of course, cinnamon sugar and caramel is a classic, but since you're saving time using leftover pizza dough, there are plenty of ways to jazz things up. For an extra sweet brekkie, sprinkle on some chocolate chips or spread Nutella between the layers before baking or on top of your monkey bread once it's out of the oven. Alternatively, you can slather your bread with your favorite store-bought frosting (we all know cream cheese and cinnamon are a match made in heaven). If fruit is your thing, pop in some chopped apples, bananas, or dried raisins for a healthier touch. And, for textural contrast, sprinkling in chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts will give your bread some crunch.

If a savory breakfast is more up your alley, don't worry — you can make garlic butter monkey bread instead. Roll your pizza dough balls in a mixture of garlic, melted butter, and seasonings of choice, and pour over any remaining butter before baking. You can also add some parmesan halfway through the baking time for a cheesier upgrade. And voila — a savory monkey bread. So, whether you like a sweet or salty breakfast, your leftover pizza dough has you covered.