‘Tis the season for the coziest of recipes!
By now, it’s no secret that Katie Couric Media will take any opportunity to celebrate Dolly Parton. Katie herself has previously written all about the Queen of Country — apparently, seeing Dolly on TV for the first time is seared into Katie’s memory (and meeting Dolly on TODAY was fairly memorable as well). And if you can’t get enough of the Dolly-Katie mashups, you should also watch this semi-recent (circa 2016) chat between them back when Katie worked at Yahoo.
Long story short, we can’t get enough Dolly content. We’ve even previously dove into some of the more salacious gossip that has trailed in her wake (to answer your question, yes, her husband is real). But from a more wholesome perspective, we also really enjoy her homey recipes. We’ve previously championed her walnut pie, which is a simple, classic Southern nut pie with a subtle hint of vanilla.
And since it’s the season for the coziest of recipes, we’re happy to remind you that Dolly has a cinnamon bread recipe that will automatically turn your home into a winter wonderland. This recipe is incredibly approachable, courtesy of a very special ingredient: frozen bread dough. Thanks to modern technology, you no longer have to sift flour and measure teaspoons of baking powder to bake (unless you want to!). Instead, you can pick up a loaf of frozen bread at the store and call it a day. Plus, cutting down on baking time frees you up to knock out more holiday cooking (or you could spend some quality time with Netflix — it’s up to you). And we love that the simple steps (the main event is rolling the premade dough in a cinnamon sugar mixture) make this recipe easy for all ages. If you’ve got kids or grandkids who love to help in the kitchen, Dolly has your back. Oh, and if you’re planning on preparing this bread on a snow day, we’ve compiled some additional essentials you’ll need to stay cartoonishly cozy.
Dolly Parton’s Cinnamon Bread Recipe
Serves 8; makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 1-lb loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp water or fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
Directions
Coat two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2–inch loaf pans with vegetable oil cooking spray. In a shallow dish, combine the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
Cut the dough lengthwise into two pieces. Make four shallow, crosswise slits in each piece. Brush the loaves all over with butter. Roll each loaf in the cinnamon mixture, packing it into the creases. Place loaves in the prepared pans and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
As the bread rises, preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Bake the bread, turning the pans around once, for 35 minutes or until the top is golden and a tap on the bottom of the pan yields a hollow sound.
Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a small bowl, vigorously stir together the powdered sugar and water (or lemon juice), adding more liquid as needed, until the mixture is smooth. Turn the bread out onto a rack while they’re still warm; drizzle with the glaze.
