If you’ve ever heard people talk about the cinnamon bread at Dollywood, you know it has a bit of a reputation. Warm bread covered in buttery cinnamon sugar and finished with a sweet vanilla glaze is pretty hard to resist, so I wanted to make an easy homemade version inspired by those same flavors.
Using frozen bread dough keeps this one incredibly simple. Deep cuts in the loaf give all that melted butter and cinnamon sugar somewhere to settle while it bakes, then a vanilla glaze goes over the top while it’s still warm. Don’t even worry about cutting perfect slices. Just pull it apart, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy it while it’s warm.
Serves: 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus rising time
Bake Time: 25–30 minutes
Ingredients
For the bread
- 1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- Nonstick cooking spray
For the vanilla glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Lightly coat a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the thawed bread dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, make several deep cuts across the top of the loaf. Cut almost all the way through, but leave the bottom intact.
- Brush the dough generously with melted butter, making sure some gets down into the cuts.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle it generously over the loaf, working some of the cinnamon sugar down into each cut.
- Place the loaf in the prepared pan. Cover loosely and let it rise in a warm place for 30–45 minutes, or until puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and cooked through. If the top starts getting too brown, loosely cover it with foil for the rest of the baking time.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Add a little more milk if needed to reach your preferred consistency.
- Drizzle the vanilla glaze over the warm bread and serve.
Tip: Place a baking sheet underneath the loaf pan while it bakes to catch any buttery cinnamon sugar that bubbles over.
