The buttery soft dough for this cinnamon pull-apart bread is drenched with cinnamon and sugar in every nook and cranny. It is out-of-this-world delicious!
The inspiration for this recipe comes from the extremely popular bread mass produced at the Dollywood theme park by way of the Grist Mill eatery. With this knockoff recipe, you can easily make this famous cinnamon bread at home!
How to Make the Easy Cinnamon Bread
The bread dough in this recipe is very basic and simple.
You can use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or you can mix and knead by hand. If mixing by hand, add a few extra minutes to the kneading time.
The dough will be soft and smooth and just slightly sticky. It’s really important not to over flour the dough! Add flour just until the dough clears the sides of the bowl.
An Important Note About Cutting the Dough
At the Dollywood theme park, the loaves of bread aren’t cut all the way through into individual dough pieces. Instead, the top of the loaf is slashed and then the whole thing is dunked into butter and rolled into sugar (yes, I watched multiple videos about the process 😆).
Cutting the dough into individual strips, like we’re doing in this recipe, allows butter and sugar to permeate maximum surface area of the dough which means more ooey gooey cinnamon sugar goodness in every bite.
Can the dough be cut into thinner strips? (I know some of you are wondering that!) That’s up to you, but keep in mind that using thicker strips of dough ensures a super soft, fluffy baked bread. Thinner slices tend to dry out while baking (I know that from testing different variations). This bread is meant to have lusciously thick and soft layers, not papery thin pull-apart layers.
Assembling Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
See the pictures above for a helpful visual ⬆️
- Separate the dough into two equal pieces (the recipe makes two loaves).
- Flatten each piece into a thick rectangle.
- Cut each rectangle into five thick strips.
- Dip each strip into melted butter.
- Roll the butter-coated dough in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Tuck each strip into the bread pan in a single layer.
- Let the bread rise until it noticeably puffy (it’ll reach almost to the top of the pan edge) and then bake.
Immediately out of the oven, brush a butter/cinnamon-sugar mixture over the hot bread. As the bread cools, this extra brushing of butter + cinnamon + sugar creates the most delightful sweet and buttery crust on top of the bread and greatly boosts the cinnamon flavor.
Finally, once the warm bread has been turned out, drizzle with a simple glaze and DIG IN. No, like, really, don’t wait on this. DIG IN NOW.
How is this bread sooo goood??
That’s the question I hear every time someone tries this bread.
The fluffy pieces easily pull apart revealing rivulets of buttery, cinnamon and sugar goodness everywhere. Remember, the slices are thick, so as they are pulled apart, they can be cut or torn by hand into smaller pieces and shared among many.
I mean, or not. 😉 In our house, five slices means FIVE SLICES. And it isn’t unheard of for a loaf of this bread to serve five…or less.
#teenageboys #hollowlegs #amiright
The deliciousness of this buttery cinnamon pull-apart bread is the sole reason to make this bread. No doubt about that.
However, a bonus reason to get this bread into your baking lineup ASAP is because you won’t believe how amazing your house will smell as this bread bakes and after it comes out of the oven.
If you live in a neighborhood where the houses are a split second apart and you make this bread, I can almost guarantee you will have neighbors casually walking over all wide-eyed and innocent trying to get a glimpse (or taste!) of what is GOING ON IN THERE.
I Can’t Believe I’m Saying This, But…
And now. I’d like to end our discussion about this other-worldly bread with a very bold statement: as much as I love and revere a really delicious cinnamon roll, I would take this cinnamon pull-apart bread any day over one. No question about it.
It’s so, so good, and I cannot wait for you to make it!
One Year Ago: Easy Chicken Gyros {New and Improved}
Two Years Ago: Pesto Balsamic Chicken Tortellini Toss
Three Years Ago: Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins
Four Years Ago: The Best Pressure Cooker Mac and Cheese
Five Years Ago: My Mom’s Famous Freezer Beef and Bean Burritos
Six Years Ago: Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake
Seven Years Ago: Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
Eight Years Ago: The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Nine Years Ago: Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice with Chicken Sausage
Ten Years Ago: Soft Batch Iced Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
Buttery Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
Bread:
- 1 ½ cups (350 g) warm water, 105-110 degrees F
- 6 tablespoons (75 g) melted butter
- ¼ cup (53 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons instant or active dry yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 to 4 ¼ cups (604 g) all-purpose flour
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) melted butter, for dipping
Cinnamon Sugar Mix:
- ⅔ cup (141 g) packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (71 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) melted salted butter
Glaze:
- 1 cup (114 g) powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
Prevent your screen from going dark
-
For the dough, in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the water, butter, sugar and yeast. Mix and let rest until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
-
Add the salt and flour and mix until the dough comes together to form a shaggy ball that clears the sides of the bowl. Add additional flour a few tablespoons at a time, if needed (but don’t over flour the dough). The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
-
Knead the dough in the mixer on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Cover the mixer and let the dough rise until doubled (or transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl for rising).
-
In a medium bowl or shallow dish, like a pie plate, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon and mix until well-combined. Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside.
-
Grease two 8 1/2-inch by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans generously with cooking spray and set aside.
-
Gently punch down the dough and divide into two equal pieces. Pat each piece into a thick rectangle, about 9 inches by 5 inches. Cut each rectangle into five thick strips.
-
Working with one set of five strips at a time, dip each strip in the melted butter and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until evenly coated. Place the strip at the top (of the short side) in one of the prepared loaf pans and repeat with the remaining four strips, tucking each strip in to fit in an even, single layer.
-
Repeat with the remaining strips for the second loaf pan. If there is extra cinnamon sugar mixture, sprinkle it evenly over the loaves.
-
Cover the pans and let the bread rise until noticeably puffy and the dough has risen to almost reach the top of the pan.
-
While the bread rises, ensure an oven rack is in the center position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. If you are worried about cinnamon-sugar dripping onto your oven rack/floor, place the bread pans on a sheet pan before baking (the bread doesn’t overflow/leak in my oven, but depending on how high the bread rises and/or your elevation, it may be a helpful word of caution).
-
Bake the bread for 30 to 32 minutes until golden and baked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the bread should register 190 to 200 degrees F.)
-
While the bread bakes, mix the reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture with the 4 tablespoons melted butter until well combined.
-
Remove the bread from the oven, keep it in the bread pan, and immediately brush the tops of each loaf evenly with the cinnamon-sugar/butter mixture.
-
Let the bread cool for 10 to 15 minutes in the pan. Run a sharp, thin knife around the edges and gently turn the bread out onto a plate, serving tray or cutting board (so that it is right side up).
-
For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until no lumps remain. If needed, add additional powdered sugar or milk to achieve a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the warm bread.
-
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Butter: I use salted butter. If using unsalted butter, increase the salt in the recipe as needed (usually about 1/4 teaspoon per stick of butter).
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 424kcal, Carbohydrates: 67g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 516mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 32g
Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe in Cook’s Country magazine that led me down a rabbit hole of research about the Grist Mill Dollywood Cinnamon Bread (changed basically everything to make two loaves, increase quantities for more substantial loaves, etc.)
Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
