Dollywood Cinnamon Bread (Easy Copycat Recipe)

By: Jill Mills Posted: Aug 29, 2026

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This Dollywood Cinnamon Bread copycat recipe is soft and fluffy on the inside with a buttery, caramelized cinnamon-sugar coating and sweet glaze drizzled over the top. Made with frozen bread dough, you can easily make this shortcut version at home!

Dollywood cinnamon bread loaf opened to show the soft inside.

If you’ve ever tried the cinnamon bread at Dollywood, you know why everyone loves it so much. I took a weekend trip to Pigeon Forge with my youngest son this past Spring and we had our first Dollywood experience. We had the absolute best time! One of our favorite moments of that day was biting into that warm and buttery cinnamon bread.

Dollywood’s famous cinnamon bread is one of the most recognizable treats from the Tennessee theme park. It’s associated with the park’s historic Grist Mill. The warm bread pulls apart into thick, fluffy pieces covered in butter and cinnamon sugar. We created this homemade shortcut version that’s super simple and makes two loaves, because one definitely isn’t enough!

Why You’ll Love This Dollywood Cinnamon Bread Recipe

Easy shortcut. Frozen bread dough eliminates most of the work of making homemade yeast bread.
Only 6 ingredients. You only need bread dough, butter, cinnamon, sugar, powdered sugar, and lemon juice or water.
Soft and fluffy. The inside bakes up light and pillowy while the outside gets buttery and caramelized.
Pull-apart bread. Unlike our classic cinnamon roll bread, this bread recipe has deep cuts in the dough let all that butter and cinnamon sugar get inside the loaf.
Makes two loaves. Keep one for your family and share the second, or keep them both!
Amazing served warm. This bread is especially good fresh from the oven with the glaze melting into the warm cinnamon-sugar crust. It’s hard not to eat the entire loaf in one sitting.

Ingredients You’ll Need

You only need a handful of ingredients to make this easy Dollywood Cinnamon Bread. See the recipe card below for exact measurements.

Frozen bread dough. You’ll need 1 pound of frozen white bread dough, completely thawed. Using frozen dough is the shortcut that makes this recipe so easy.
Granulated sugar. Mixed with cinnamon to create the sweet coating on the outside and inside of the loaves.
Cinnamon. Two tablespoons give the bread plenty of warm cinnamon flavor.
Salted butter. Melted butter helps the cinnamon sugar stick and gives the outside of the bread that rich, buttery finish. I prefer salted butter here because the bread has plenty of sweetness, but unsalted butter will work too.
Powdered sugar. The base of the easy glaze.
Lemon juice. Thins the powdered sugar into a drizzle while adding a subtle brightness that balances all the sweetness. Water can also be used if you don’t want the lemon flavor.

ingredients for Dollywood cinnamon bread

How To Make Dollywood Cinnamon Bread

This easy Copycat Dollywood Cinnamon Bread starts with frozen white bread dough and should be completely thawed before you begin.

Prepare The Pans. Coat two 9×5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line them with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to make removing the finished bread easier.
Shape The Bread. Cut the thawed bread dough in half lengthwise so you have two pieces. Use your fingers to gently flatten each piece into roughly a 9×4-inch rectangle. Make four deep cuts crosswise along the top of each loaf, being careful not to cut all the way through. These cuts are important because they create the pull-apart sections and give the butter and cinnamon sugar plenty of places to hide.

cutting a line from a thawed frozen loaf of bread

2 halves from a thawed frozen loaf of bread

Coat With Butter and Cinnamon Sugar. Dip each loaf into the melted butter, coating the top, bottom, sides, and inside every slit. This can get a little messy! If you don’t want to handle the buttery dough, use a pastry brush instead. Roll each butter-coated loaf in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Be generous here. Make sure the outside is completely covered and work plenty of cinnamon sugar down inside each slit.

covering bread dough with with a cinnamon sugar mixture

Let The Bread Rise. Set the loaves in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until they’ve doubled in size. I like to let the dough rise in a warm oven. Just be sure to remove the loaves before preheating the oven for baking.
Bake. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes. Once baked, you can brush a little extra melted butter over the tops if you want them even more buttery. Let the bread cool in the pans on a wire rack for about 5 minutes while you prepare the glaze.

bread dough covered in cinnamon sugar and butter ready to be baked

Make The Glaze. Whisk the powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or water until smooth. Add a little more liquid as needed until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle it generously over the warm cinnamon bread and serve! The glaze will slowly melt into all of those cinnamon-sugar crevices, which is exactly what you want.

Tips & Tricks

Thaw the dough overnight. I find it easiest to thaw the frozen bread dough overnight in the refrigerator. Wrap it in parchment and place it inside a zip-top bag so the outside doesn’t dry out.
Don’t cut all the way through. The deep cuts create the pull-apart sections, but the bottom of the loaf needs to stay intact.
Get butter inside the cuts. Don’t just coat the outside. Those buttery pockets are what make the bread so good.
Be generous with the cinnamon sugar. Work it into every slit as well as over the top, bottom, and sides.
Use a pastry brush for less mess. Dipping the bread directly into butter works great, but it gets slippery. A pastry brush is much cleaner.
Give it a warm place to rise. You want the dough noticeably larger and puffy before baking.
Enjoy it warm. This cinnamon bread is at its best while it’s still soft and warm with freshly drizzled glaze.

Pulling up a slice of Dollywood cinnamon bread from the loaf

Frequently Asked Questions:

How Do You Thaw Frozen Bread Dough?

For this recipe, I recommend thawing the frozen bread dough overnight in the refrigerator. One trick that works really well is wrapping the dough in parchment paper and placing it inside a gallon-size zip-top bag. This keeps the dough soft and prevents the exterior from drying out while it thaws. Once thawed, you’re ready to shape, cut, butter, and coat the dough.

Do I Have To Use Frozen Bread Dough?

Frozen bread dough is what makes this version of Dollywood Cinnamon Bread so simple. It gives you the soft texture of yeast bread without measuring flour, proofing yeast, or kneading dough from scratch. If you prefer homemade dough, try using our Japanese Milk Bread recipe and then proceed with the other directions for coating.

Can I Skip The Glaze?

Absolutely. The cinnamon-sugar bread is already quite sweet, so the glaze is completely optional. You can also serve it on the side for dipping.

Baked Dollywood Cinnamon Bread with icing

Storing

Room Temperature: Store leftover bread tightly wrapped or in an airtight container at room temperature. Like most homemade bread, the texture is best within the first couple of days.
Refrigerator: You can refrigerate it for longer storage, but refrigeration can make bread dry out more quickly. Make sure it’s wrapped well.
Freezer: Freeze the cooled loaf tightly wrapped and placed inside a freezer-safe bag or container. I recommend freezing it without the glaze when possible, then adding fresh glaze after thawing and reheating.

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