This bread is just like the famous cinnamon bread at Dollywood, but made easy with store-bought frozen dough! Pillowy loaves of sweet bread are coated with melted butter and rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture and then baked until golden. Serve them warm with a drizzle of sweet icing over the top and watch them disappear!
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Why I Love This Easy Cinnamon Bread Recipe
Cinnamon sugar has long been a weakness of mine. I will never turn down a churro, cinnamon rolls, or a serving of monkey bread. It just won’t happen. Here’s the thing, though. I don’t always have time to fry a bunch of churros or whip up cinnamon rolls from scratch. That’s where this pull apart cinnamon bread comes in real handy. The best part? This easy recipe tastes just like the OG at Dollywood! Here’s why it’s always such a hit:
- So easy: It only takes 10 minutes to prep, it has 1 hour of rise time, and then all I have to do is bake it! Plus, we’re using frozen dough to make life even easier.
- Sweet and fluffy: These pull apart bread loaves are so fluffy and soft. They’re slathered with butter, coated with cinnamon and sugar, and then topped off with a simple vanilla icing.
- Great for holidays: If you’re looking for something scrumptious to make on Christmas morning, you’ve found it! My kids only slow down on their present opening when they smell this bread in the oven.
- Budget friendly: You won’t find anything excessive listed here. In fact, I have just about everything I need to make this inexpensive recipe in my kitchen right now!
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this recipe for this easy cinnamon bread recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Frozen Bread: I used Rhodes frozen bake and serve loaves and they work like a charm!
- Milk: You can use cream instead for a richer frosting.
- Butter: It needs to be melted, that way the cinnamon and sugar stick to the loaf.
- Granulated Sugar: You might not need the whole two cups. Just make sure you have enough to roll the loaves in and stuff the cuts with.
- Ground Cinnamon: If you reduce the amount of sugar, also reduce the amount of cinnamon proportionally.
- Powdered Sugar: This will be the base for your vanilla icing. Don’t swap it with any other sugar.
How to Make Dollywood Cinnamon Bread
You’re going to love just how simple this copycat recipe really is! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions and to watch the step-by-step video.
- Thaw the Frozen Bread: Place frozen loaves on a tray and thaw at room temperature. This may take 3 to 4 hours. You can also thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Prepare Bread Pans: Spray 8-inch bread pans with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Slice the Loaves: Cut 4 deep slices into each loaf of bread, nearly all the way through, leaving just a small piece still connected at the bottom.
- Brush the Bread with Butter: Coat bread completely with the melted butter, making sure to coat the inside of each cut very well.
- Coat the Bread with Cinnamon Sugar: Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a wide dish and roll the bread gently in the cinnamon sugar. Make a thick coat and stuff each cut with lots of cinnamon sugar.
- Let the Bread Rise: Place a loaf of bread in each pan and cover with a light tea towel. Allow bread to rise in a warm area, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the Oven to 350°F: Then bake the bread for 20 to 25 minutes. Loaves will be golden brown and, when thumped on the bottom, should sound hollow. Remove bread from oven and allow bread to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Prepare the Icing: While the bread is cooling, mix up the icing. Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of milk and whisk until smooth. Add extra milk as needed, until desired consistency. Drizzle icing on top of warm bread and serve!
Chef’s Tips & Variations
- Making One Loaf: This recipe makes 3-5 loaves, but you can do one loaf at a time if you want to. Just reduce the amount of butter and sugar mixture. The bake time will be the same.
- Make Deep Slices in the Bread: Cut nearly through the bread for best results. This allows the butter and sugar to coat the entire slice, rather than just the top.
- Use Lots of Butter! Coat every slice with lots of butter so that the cinnamon sugar will stick.
- Cinnamon Sugar Tip: Use a lot! It will melt in the bottom and make a delicious syrup that you can save, or pour back over the top of the bread.
- How to See If the Bread is Done: To check for doneness, you can tap on the bottom of the bread pan and if it sounds hollow, it’s done.
- Cool a Bit Before Icing: This will help ensure that the icing sticks to the bread without removing all of the cinnamon sugar.
- For Added Goodness: You can spoon a cup of apple or peach pie filling over the
- bread before adding the icing!
Yield: 3 loaves
Easy Cinnamon Bread
This bread is just like the famous Cinnamon Bread at Dollywood. Pillowy loaves of bread are coated with melted butter and rolled in a sweet cinnamon sugar mixture. And, in case that's not enough sweetness for you, there's a delicious icing to drizzle over the top of the bread at the end, too!
Ingredients
- 3 loaves frozen bread dough, Rhodes Bake – N – Serve
- ¾ cup butter, melted
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup ground cinnamon
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 – 3 tablespoons milk
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Instructions
- Place frozen loaves on a tray and thaw at room temperature. This may take 3 to 4 hours. You can also thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Spray 8-inch bread pans with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Cut 4 deep cuts into each loaf of bread, nearly all the way through, leaving just a small piece still connected at the bottom.
- Coat bread completely with the melted butter, making sure to coat the inside of each cut very well.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a wide dish and roll the bread gently in the cinnamon sugar. Make a thick coat and stuff each cut with lots of cinnamon sugar.
- Place a loaf of bread in each pan and cover with a light tea towel. Allow bread to rise in a warm area, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake bread for 20 to 25 minutes. Loaves will be golden brown and when thumped on the bottom should sound hollow. Remove bread from oven and allow bread to cool for about 10 minutes.
- While the bread is cooling, mix up the icing. Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of milk and whisk until smooth. Add extra milk as needed, until desired consistency. Drizzle icing on top of warm bread and serve!
Notes
For added goodness, you can spoon a cup of apple or peach pie filling over the
bread before adding the icing!
bread before adding the icing!
Nutrition
Serving: 1, Calories: 276kcal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 94mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 42g
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What would happen if you use the sweet bread dough instead of just regular bread dough?
It would just be sweeter!
We just came home from Pigeon Forge last month (our 3rd time there) and went to Dollywood for the first time to see the Christmas lights and get some of their famous cinnamon bread. I have been looking for an easy recipe to make it and oh my gosh! I just got done making this recipe and it taste exactly like Dollywood’s!!
Hello! The only thing I can find in my area the Rhodes White Bread dough. Will that work for this recipe? Thanks so much!
Yes! Will work just fine!
If I made this the night prior, and went to warm up in the morning : would you frost it the night before or wait til after it’s warmed up?? And how would you warm up?
Going to serve for Christmas a.m.
I would wait to frost it until you are ready to serve it! You could heat it in the microwave, or for more even heating, wrap it up in foil and heat it in the oven!
Came out great & delicious! Highly recommend. Very easy too.
Super easy! And very delicious, great for breakfast with a cup of coffee. Enjoy
Can this bread be made and set out over night to rise and the baked in the morning?
Hi Diane, I have not tried that and would be nervous to leave it out for so long on the counter. I would prep it and then place it back into the fridge for overnight. Then bring it out early in the morning to warm and rise before baking.
Can you add raisins or nuts to the cinnamon bread?
Of course you can! Just fold them in the rolls!
I only need to make 1 loaf. How much sugar and cinnamon would you suggest??
Hi Donna! You will need 1/3 of the recipe amounts if you are only making one loaf. If you hit the print button in the recipe card, it will take you to a page where you can adjust the amounts of the recipe to make a smaller batch! Hope this helps!
They don’t sell this frozen bread dough down here.the only dough is a fresh pizza dough and I have made dinner rolls from in the past.
Or
Make fresh dough, how much many gramms would I need.
Your recipe looks incredible in the photos.
Thankyou
Hi Lindi! Each raw loaf of frozen Rhodes dough is about 16 oz. Hope this helps!
Soooo Yummy…… just melts in your mouth
Love the recommendation of cream cheese to the frosting!!!!
Here it goes, I’m going to try making this for my husband tonight. I got rodes bread and lots of sugar & cinnamon ready to go. ! I remember having Dollys cinnamon bread in Tennessee last summer. I hope this turns out good. The pictures look amazing…!
This is a great recipe! I decided I’m going to take it up a notch, by using half white sugar and half brown. I’m also thinking of adding about 1/2 pkg of cream cheese, to the icing. I’ll let you know if they turn out any good.
Thanks for the recipe!!
No one has addressed this, but when you set that bread out to thaw it also starts to rise as it’s thawing?. So how do we handle the bread to slice it, if it’s already trying to rise?.
You can slice it once it’s risen, you will see the step by step photos in the post to see what the dough will look like!
Can I make mini loaves rather than 8” loaf pans and if so would I divide each loaf in half or in thirds?
What size is your mini loaf?
I put all 3 loaves in together in a larger pan and it worked great. It was delicious!
Hi Jessica. I searched but all I see is a reference to ‘pans’.
How many 8” pans? Since you ukase 3 loaves of bread, I’m guessing a 3 loaf yield?
Thanks
Hi! Yes, you will need 3 8-inch pans! 🙂
What size pan did you use..??
8-inch bread loaf pans!
When do you put slices and butter on the bread? When it’s still frozen, semi thawed or totally thawed out?
Once it is thawed. You can see me doing it in the step by step photos in the post and the bread is thawed.
Couldn’t find the rhodes bread found another kind. The instructions say to thaw out bottom side up. Is this correct or thaw regular. Made a loaf and when thawed it was sticky and loose. roll around in the cinnamon mixture was kinda hard to handle cause it being loose and wanted to fall apart instead of staying in form. Any help I can do to improve ? Thanks
Hi Fara! With a different brand, it makes it hard for me to know for sure. With the Rhodes bread, I do thaw it bottom side up, and it holds up well to being rolled in the cinnamon sugar. Even if yours was loose, it should still bake up well and taste good! Hope it turned out well!
Can the bread be frozen after it’s baked
Sure! It is best fresh, but you can freeze it again.