Dolly Parton Shared the Official Recipe for Dollywood's Famous Cinnamon Bread, and It's Totally Worth the Hype
Fans of Dolly Parton know that anything she touches is absolute gold. From her Pinterest baking page to her ongoing collaboration with Duncan Hines, there is absolutely nothing the icon can't do. While we can definitely go on for days about the overflowing amount of things Dolly has launched, there's one particular place that keeps fans in touch and in awe: the Dollywood amusement park located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The park, which boasts more than 50 attractions and rides, is a great place for a great time. And, just like any great amusement park, there's also a plethora of good eats. One of our favorite Dollywood spots is the iconic Grist Mill. Home to the first fully operational grist mill built in Tennessee in more than 100 years, the mill was built in 1982 and has been reeling customers in ever since. And the world-famous, freshly prepared cinnamon bread is one of the main reasons why.
Topped with buttercream icing or Dollywood's own apple butter, this is a true treat that you just have to try. But in the event that you can't make it out to Tennessee to visit Dollywood anytime soon, Dolly recently shared the recipe so fans could make it at home. Because I'm a sucker for anything sweet and anything Dolly, I knew I had to give this recipe a try.
Get the recipe: Dolly Parton's Dollywood Famous Cinnamon Bread
Ingredients for Dollywood's Famous Cinnamon Bread
This recipe comes together with just a few ingredients: warm water, active dry yeast, granulated sugar, bread flour, unsalted butter, cooking spray, light brown sugar, ground cinnamon, light corn syrup, confectioners' sugar, milk and salt.
Courtesy of Choya Johnson
How to Make Dollywood's Famous Cinnamon Bread
To start, preheat your oven to 350°F. While your oven is heating up, combine warm water, yeast and a pinch of granulated sugar in a small bowl and whisk together. Allow your mixture to rest until it becomes foamy, about 5 to 8 minutes. In a stand mixer, whisk together the sifted bread flour, more granulated sugar and melted butter, before adding your yeast mixture into the bowl. Using a dough hook, knead the dough on medium speed for about 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth.
Remove the dough ball from the mixer and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place with a temperature of 75 to 80°F until it's doubled in size, which should take about 90 minutes.
Related: Dolly Parton Is Releasing a New Cookie Kit Soon, So Get Ready for a Holly Jolly Holiday Season
Once done, punch down the dough and transfer it to a cutting board or counter where you can knead the dough a few times. Cut the dough in half and gently shape it into two 3 x 6-inch loaves. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes to an hour.
While that's happening, turn your attention to making the cinnamon bread topping, which is as simple as whisking together granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. In another small bowl, whisk together melted butter and corn syrup.
After your loaves have risen, line two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans with parchment, leaving some overhang on both sides. Cut four deep slashes across the top of each loaf. Next, dip each loaf of bread in the butter-corn syrup mixture. Then, dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, making sure that you cover them completely.
Courtesy of Choya Johnson
Place the cinnamon-sugary loaves into the prepared loaf pans and drizzle with any remaining butter-corn syrup and cinnamon sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes, and remove from oven.
Using the overhanging parchment paper, remove the bread from the loaf pans and let them cool for about 15 minutes. While the bread is cooling, make a glaze by whisking together confectioners' sugar, salt, melted butter and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cinnamon bread and/or serve on the side for dipping.
Related: I Made Dolly Parton's Famous Biscuits and They Taste Just Like My Grandma's
What I Thought of Dollywood's Famous Cinnamon Bread
Much like anything she does, Dolly Parton just does not miss! All jokes aside, I really enjoyed this cinnamon bread. It baked perfectly and wasn't that difficult to put together. Of course, I was a bit nervous baking this because—as I’ve expressed previously when making Dolly's baking recipes–I'm not a person who bakes often. This delicious bread is another step in my baking journey and really helped boost my confidence. I would definitely recommend making the bread for the upcoming holidays.
Courtesy of Choya Johnson
Tips for Making Dollywood's Famous Cinnamon Bread
1. Don't over-knead the dough. You want to knead the dough until it's smooth, but no more that than. Overworking the dough can lead to a tough loaf of bread, which is something nobody wants.
2. Don't forget to cut the slits in the top of your bread before baking. The bread will naturally expand as it bakes and cutting slashes into the top of the loaf will make sure the bread has a place to go as it grows in the oven.
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