Dollywood Cinnamon Bread is soft, loaded with buttery cinnamon sugar, and pull-apart tender. Make the iconic amusement park treat at home!
If you love recreating your favorite theme park treats at home, you might also enjoy my Disney Grand Floridian chocolate chip cookies and other Disney-inspired recipes.
If you've ever visited Dollywood, chances are you've purchased a loaf of the famous cinnamon bread sold at the Grist Mill and Spotlight Bakery. This soft, buttery pull-apart bread is coated in cinnamon sugar, baked until golden, and served warm with icing or apple butter.
The Story Behind Dollywood Cinnamon Bread
Dollywood's famous cinnamon bread is made fresh daily and is incredibly popular. Hundreds of loaves are sold daily, with lines often stretching out the door.
I watched a Dollywood chef demonstrate how the park's famous cinnamon bread is made, and it helped me understand some of the techniques that make this bread so special. The demonstration shows prepared bread dough being cut, coated with a buttery mixture and cinnamon sugar, allowed to rise, and baked.
The buttery mixture used in the demonstration appears to be melted butter or margarine-style spread. I tested this recipe several times to get the method just right. For my copycat, I used all butter, and after testing the recipe, I wouldn't change it. The result is soft, buttery bread with plenty of cinnamon sugar tucked into every pull-apart section. The bread is delicious with or without the simple powdered sugar icing.
The best part? You don't need to make bread dough from scratch. This Dollywood Cinnamon Bread copycat starts with a loaf of frozen bread dough, making this recipe surprisingly easy to prepare.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy shortcut: Start with frozen bread dough instead of making yeast dough from scratch. You can, of course, make your own bread dough. If you'd like to, I recommend using my Amish white bread.
- Only a few ingredients: You only need bread dough, butter, sugar, and cinnamon for the bread.
- No corn syrup: Some copycat recipes call for brushing the dough with a mixture of corn syrup and melted butter to help the cinnamon and sugar stick better. I tested the recipe without it and found that adding corn syrup is completely unnecessary.
- Buttery and cinnamon-sweet: Butter and cinnamon sugar get worked deep into the cuts in the dough.
- Soft and pull-apart: The dough rises after it's coated, creating a soft, fluffy loaf.
- Icing is optional: It's delicious with a drizzle of powdered sugar icing, but you don't need it.
Tips for Making Dollywood Cinnamon Bread
- Don't Let the Dough Rise While Thawing: The dough should be completely thawed and soft before you start, but it shouldn't be proofed yet. The 30–40 minute rise happens after the dough has been coated in butter and cinnamon sugar.
- Make the Cuts Deep: The five cuts should be deep enough to allow plenty of butter and cinnamon sugar to get inside the loaf. Just be careful not to cut completely through the dough.
- Coat the Entire Loaf: Don't concentrate only on the top. Brush the bottom and sides with butter, too, and work the cinnamon sugar into every cut. That's what gives the bread its buttery cinnamon flavor throughout.
- Use a Large Plate When Coating the Dough: The butter and cinnamon sugar will drip and fall as you coat the dough. A large dinner plate makes the process much easier and catches everything so you can put it back onto the bread.
- Wait for the Dough to Rise Above the Pan: Don't rely solely on the 30–40 minute time frame. Your kitchen temperature can affect how quickly the dough rises. The best indicator is when the dough has become puffy and risen just above the top of the loaf pan.
Ingredients
For the Cinnamon Bread
- 1 (1-pound) loaf frozen white bread dough, thawed
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the Optional Icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 1 ½–2 tablespoons milk
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Dollywood Cinnamon Bread
Step 1: Thaw the Bread Dough. Place the frozen bread dough on a plate or in a lightly greased 8x4-inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it thaw until it is soft, pliable, and almost room temperature.
Do not let the dough rise yet. The dough will rise after it has been coated with the butter and cinnamon sugar.
Step 2: Make the Cinnamon Sugar. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Step 3: Cut the Dough. Make 5 deep slits across the top of the thawed dough.
Don't cut completely through the loaf. The cuts should be deep enough to allow the melted butter and cinnamon sugar to get well inside the bread.
This is what gives the finished loaf its signature pull-apart sections and helps distribute the cinnamon sugar throughout the bread.
Step 4: Coat the Dough With Butter and Cinnamon Sugar. Place the dough over a large dinner plate. This catches the butter and cinnamon sugar that falls as you work and makes cleanup much easier.
Brush the melted butter generously over all sides of the dough, including the bottom. Make sure to get plenty of butter inside each slit.
Generously cover the dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture, working it down into each cut.
Step 5: Place the Dough in the Loaf Pan. Transfer the coated dough to a lightly greased 8x4-inch loaf pan.
Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon sugar over the top of the loaf, then drizzle with any remaining melted butter.
Step 6: Let the Bread Rise. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 30–40 minutes, or until it has risen above the top of the loaf pan.
The exact amount of time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen. The dough should look noticeably puffy and rise above the pan's edge before baking.
Step 7: Bake. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and baked through.
Step 8: Cool the Bread. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the bread, then carefully transfer it to a cooling rack.
Step 9: Make the Icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, butter, and 1 ½ tablespoons of milk until smooth.
Add the remaining milk a little at a time until the icing is thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle the icing over the warm bread.
Note: You can also dip the bread in icing or apple butter like they do at Dollywood.
Dollywood Cinnamon Bread FAQs
Frozen bread dough is what I recommend for this recipe. I used Rhodes frozen white bread dough when testing this recipe. A version attributed to Dolly's Dixie Fixin's also specifically recommends using a 1-pound loaf of frozen bread dough. However, you can definitely make this recipe with my Amish white bread recipe (which yields two loaves). The loaves are slightly larger than frozen bread dough loaves, so use a 9" loaf pan instead of the 8" pans I used in this recipe.
Absolutely. Dollywood serves its cinnamon bread with a choice of icing or apple butter, but I think the bread is delicious on its own. The warm bread has plenty of buttery cinnamon-sugar flavor, so the icing is just an extra-sweet finish.
Some versions of Dollywood Cinnamon Bread use corn syrup mixed with the melted butter before coating the dough. I tested this recipe without corn syrup and found it unnecessary. The combination of melted butter, granulated sugar, and cinnamon gives the bread plenty of buttery, cinnamon-sugar flavor without adding another ingredient.
Store leftover cinnamon bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 3–5 days. For the best texture, warm individual pieces slightly before serving.
Yes. You can make the bread ahead and store it in an airtight container once it has completely cooled.
For the best experience, I recommend serving it warm. The cinnamon sugar becomes soft and buttery, and the bread is especially delicious when it's still slightly warm.
More Copycat Recipes
If you love recreating your favorite restaurant, bakery, and theme park treats at home, check out my Copycat Recipes for more favorites to make in your own kitchen.
Dollywood Cinnamon Bread Copycat
Ingredients
Cinnamon Bread
- 1 1-pound loaf frozen white bread dough thawed
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Optional Powdered Sugar Icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 1 ½-2 Tbsp. milk
Instructions
- Place frozen bread dough on a plate or in a lightly greased 8x4-inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let thaw until soft, pliable, and almost room temperature. Do not let the dough rise.
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Make 5 deep slits across the top of the dough, being careful not to cut completely through the loaf.
- Place the dough on a large dinner plate to catch drips. Brush melted butter generously over all sides of the dough, between each slit, and on the bottom.
- Generously coat all sides of the dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture, getting plenty into each cut.
- Transfer the coated dough to a lightly greased 8x4-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon sugar over the top and drizzle with any remaining melted butter.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 30–40 minutes, or until the dough has risen just above the top of the loaf pan.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Bake for 35 minutes, until golden brown and baked through.
- Let cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then transfer the bread to a cooling rack.
- If desired, drizzle with powdered sugar icing while the bread is still warm.
- For the icing: Whisk powdered sugar, butter, and 1 ½ tablespoons milk until smooth. Add additional milk as needed to reach a drizzleable consistency.
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