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    Food » Dollywood Cinnamon Bread

    Dollywood Cinnamon Bread

    Posted: 09/01/2021 | Last updated: 03/27/2023 by Erin K. Browne 3 Comments
    Post may contain affiliate links via Amazon Associates or other programs. (Disclosure)

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    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    A close copycat of the Dollywood Cinnamon Bread purchased from The Grist Mill in the park, this buttery pull apart bread is coated generously with cinnamon and sugar and is a delicious substitute for the real thing!

    Pull Apart-y Goodness

    Why You Should Make This Bread

    If you've ever visited The Grist Mill at Dollywood, no doubt you have come into contact with their world famous cinnamon bread. The strong aroma of cinnamon, sugar, and yeast dough is impossible to miss as soon as you step inside. The bakers behind the camera are in plain sight, coating loaf after loaf with melted butter and cinnamon sugar before pushing giant pans of unbaked bread into the ovens. It's undeniably one of the park's most popular food options with over 200,000 loaves of Dollywood cinnamon bread being sold each year!

    The bread is tender, elastic, buttery, and absolutely covered in a crunchy shell of cinnamon and sugar. Some folks choose to drizzle it with a simple powdered sugar glaze, and others eat it plain while it's still warm (I recommend the latter).

    This copycat recipe is so close to the original and it's pretty simple to prepare in your home kitchen.

    Cinnamon and Sugar is ALWAYS a good choice

    Where Did This Recipe Come From?

    A recipe for the Dollywood cinnamon bread was published in Dolly's Dixie Fixin's, a cookbook published years ago with all proceeds benefiting Dolly's Imagination Library program.

    The recipe calls for using a pound of frozen bread dough, thawed out, but I really wanted that homemade taste and so I crafted this recipe using a simple from-scratch yeast bread that worked amazingly!

    If you aren't familiar with working with yeast and want a shortcut, please feel free to use the pre-made bread dough and skip to the "topping" section of the recipe instructions (just ignore the part about punching down the dough).

    Ingredients and Substitutions

    • Warm water - it should be very warm to the touch, but not so hot that you can't hold your finger in it. This will help activate the yeast.
    • Sugar & melted butter - mixed into the water to help feed the yeast.
    • Active dry yeast - I buy the jars of yeast and used 1 ⅛ teaspoons. If you buy the packets instead, use half of the packet.
    • Bread flour - bread flour is higher protein and will produce more gluten, resulting in a nice high rise and desirable texture in yeast breads. However, you can use all-purpose in this recipe as well.
    • Salt - a bit of salt makes every dough a little tastier. If you choose to use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt and just use a pinch.
    • Even more melted butter - the dough takes a big bath in melted butter, because of course the secret to Dollywood cinnamon bread is a ton of butter, right?
    • Ground cinnamon and sugar - a match made in heaven, the butter-soaked dough gets a thick coating of this stuff for that unbeatable sugary crunch.
    Two for the price of one...

    Make It Authentic

    It's been over a year (thank you, COVID) since we've visited Dollywood, so I watched a couple of YouTube videos (like this one) to study the footage of the bakers in the grist mill creating Dollywood cinnamon bread.

    In the videos, you can see that the bakers are using 8-inch disposable aluminum pans lined with plenty of parchment paper. Once the bread is baked, the loaves are transferred into classic red checked deli paper.

    If you don't have those things, you can use regular loaf pans and grease them with oil or butter - it'll work fine!

    A photo of the real thing on a previous Dollywood trip.
    Dig right in!

    Tips For Success

    Here are a few tips to keep in mind to make sure your bread is the best it can be!

    • Watch the flour! Start with less flour than is called for in the recipe and add it to the dough a little at a time, stopping just when a nice elastic texture is achieved. You want to be able to handle it without it being overly sticky, but you definitely don't want it too dry.
    • Don't skimp on the butter. Use all of the melted butter to coat the two loaves. If you have any leftover, drizzle it down the sides of the dough in the pan before baking it. This recipe is all about that buttah!
    • Don't overbake. This tip should be added to every baking recipe in the history of ever, but it's no less important here. Pull those loaves out of the oven when they're nice and golden but not too dark or dry.
    Print
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    Dollywood Cinnamon Bread

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    5 from 1 review

    Print Recipe
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    A close copycat of the delicious, buttery pull apart cinnamon bread from the Grist Mill in Dollywood.

    • Total Time: 2 hours +
    • Yield: 2 loaves 1x

    Ingredients

    Scale

    Bread Dough

    • ½ cup + 2 TBS warm water
    • 1 tsp sugar
    • 1 TBS butter, melted
    • 1 tsp + ⅛ tsp active dry yeast
    • ½ tsp salt
    • Up to 1 ½ cups bread flour

    Topping

    • 6 TBS butter, melted
    • ⅔ cup sugar
    • 2 TBS ground cinnamon

    Instructions

    This recipe is currently available in my first published cookbook - The Unofficial Dollywood Cookbook published by the Adams Media imprint of Simon & Schuster. 

    Please click here to purchase your own copy and get access to this full recipe as well as 99 others inspired by treats, meals, side dishes, desserts, and beverages sold on Dollywood properties!

    Notes

    See post above for suggestions and tips.

    • Author: Erin
    • Prep Time: 15 mins
    • Cook Time: 35 minutes + 90 minutes for rising
    • Category: Bread
    • Method: Method

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    About Erin K. Browne

    Erin K. Browne is an author of a cookbook (The Unofficial Dollywood Cookbook, Simon & Schuster/Adams Media) and Dollywood guide (The Ultimate Guide to Dollywood, Simon & Schuster/Adams Media) She has over two decades experience with recipe development. Erin is a mom of two human babies and a sweet kitty named Biscuit Fingers ("Ketto"). She loves comfy clothes, sarcastic t-shirts, and reading thrillers. Make her day and toss her a like on Facebook or follow her on Instagram. Post may contain affiliate links including those via the Amazon Associates program

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    1. Amanda

      January 10, 2023 at 3:59 pm

      Can you give more detail on the glaze, how much powdered sugar, how much lemon juice, how much water? I may have missed this but I do not see this info. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Erin

        January 10, 2023 at 4:03 pm

        Sorry about that! Try a cup of powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, then thin with water as desired.

        Reply
    2. Ellen S.

      June 19, 2022 at 1:28 pm

      OMG, this tastes exactly like the cinnamon bread at Dollywood! I'm doubling the recipe next time to make larger sections of dough for my slightly larger loaf pans. THANK YOU!!!






      Reply

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