Tips for Perfecting Dollywood's Cinnamon Bread Recipe

[Samesam21]

This (Link at end of post) is supposed to be the recipe for Dollywood’s Cinnamon Bread. There are other copycat recipes that call for a frozen loaf of bread, I've used that, but I wanted a recipes that didn’t use pre-made dough.

When I saw this recipe I was excited because it included dough! However... ive tried this recipe 4 times, with different yeast, different proofing conditions... and it still does not come out the way it should. The second rise just doesnt get high enough, I've tried it in the actual loaf pan, not on the baking sheet like the recipe calls for. I’ve coated the bread before the second rise as well, and still doesn't rise enough, and deflates even more when baked.

Has anyone tried this recipe? any tips or tricks? The only other yeast things I’ve made before are focaccia and cinnamon rolls, so I do not have much experience working with yeast.

I have instant and active dry yeast, I've tried both for this recipe.

Thank you all!!

Pictures are of the most recent outcome.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/food-drink/official-dollywood-cinnamon-bread-recipe

 

[Norcalbaker59]

This (Link at end of post) is supposed to be the recipe for Dollywood’s Cinnamon Bread. There are other copycat recipes that call for a frozen loaf of bread, I've used that, but I wanted a recipes that didn’t use pre-made dough.

When I saw this recipe I was excited because it included dough! However... ive tried this recipe 4 times, with different yeast, different proofing conditions... and it still does not come out the way it should. The second rise just doesnt get high enough, I've tried it in the actual loaf pan, not on the baking sheet like the recipe calls for. I’ve coated the bread before the second rise as well, and still doesn't rise enough, and deflates even more when baked.

Has anyone tried this recipe? any tips or tricks? The only other yeast things I’ve made before are focaccia and cinnamon rolls, so I do not have much experience working with yeast.

I have instant and active dry yeast, I've tried both for this recipe.

Thank you all!!

Pictures are of the most recent outcome.View attachment 2968View attachment 2965View attachment 2966View attachment 2967https://www.travelandleisure.com/food-drink/official-dollywood-cinnamon-bread-recipe

oh I love Dolly Parton! I met her in the ladies room at the Oakland airport. She’s as sweet as can be!

OK let me troubleshoot this for you I’ve got some things I’ve got to do today but I’ll get back to in a day or so.

 

[Samesam21]

oh I love Dolly Parton! I met her in the ladies room at the Oakland airport. She’s as sweet as can be!

OK let me troubleshoot this for you I’ve got some things I’ve got to do today but I’ll get back to in a day or so.

Thank you so much!!! That would be awesome!!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thank you so much!!! That would be awesome!!

i’ve got two different projects going right now one of which I’ve been avoiding like the plague!!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

So I converted the recipe to metric. I think the first problem is there isn’t enough dough here for two loaves of bread. Depending how you fill your measuring cup, you could have between 180 g to 215g flour. For a loaf of bread you would need about 215g to of flour. For two loaves of bread you need 530g. I would try to make one loaf out of this recipe.

to measure your flower use the DIP AND LEVEL method. stir the flour. Dip your measuring cup at least midway into the bag. Scoop out flour to fill above the rim. Level with a knife. This method for give you approximately 140g - 145g flour per cup. If you use the spoon and level method you will only have 120g - 125g of flour per cup. So it’s really important how you measure the flour. Baking by volume is the absolute worst way to bake because it is so inaccurate. But the other thing is the method you use depends on what the recipe developer used. So you can’t use this method with every recipe. That’s the other crappy thing about volume, you have to know what method the recipe developer used. And in this case we don’t know what method they used, I’m taking an educated guess here.

It doesn’t specify a temperature for the water. Do not exceed 95°F.

Dissolve the pinch of sugar in the water before you add the yeast. Yeast is living organism; it feeds on the sugar, but too much sugar can actually kill it. It can cause reverse osmosis in which the plasma is drawn out of the cell wall. So you want to make sure that the sugar is dissolved and dispersed well into the water.

Add the yeast water to the flour and mix it in well before you add the butter. Fat inhibits yeast development, so you don’t want to add the butter straight into the yeast.

Eight minutes is an long time in the mixer for that small amount of dough. Bread flour is pretty high in protein. I have a feeling you may be developing too much gluten in the dough. Salt also tightens the gluten. Run the mixer for about five minutes. Scrape it into a ball into the center of the bowl. Is it smooth? Touch the dough. Does it feel a bit springy? Press down on it; if it springs back, stop.


Put your oven rack down in the lower 2/3 of the oven. Turn on your oven light and put the bowl in your oven to prove. Keep the bowl though away from the light. The light will provide enough heat to proof the dough.

You can also use the off oven for your second proofing. Check to make sure your dough is proved enough before you bake. When you put the dough in the loaf pan take note of how high it is in the pan. But that visual is not your only cue. You need to touch the dough. Underproofed dough will spring back. Properly proofed dough will hold an indentation of you fingerprint. Over proofed dough will be very soft and collapses under your finger or even totally deflate.



The converted base dough.

• (118 ml) 1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
• (3g) 3/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• (16g) 1 tbsp. plus a pinch of granulated sugar
• (180g - 220g) 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• (3g) 1/2 tsp. salt
• (30g) 2 tbsps. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• Cooking spray

 

[Samesam21]

So I converted the recipe to metric. I think the first problem is there isn’t enough dough here for two loaves of bread. Depending how you fill your measuring cup, you could have between 180 g to 215g flour. For a loaf of bread you would need about 215g to of flour. For two loaves of bread you need 530g. I would try to make one loaf out of this recipe.

to measure your flower use the DIP AND LEVEL method. stir the flour. Dip your measuring cup at least midway into the bag. Scoop out flour to fill above the rim. Level with a knife. This method for give you approximately 140g - 145g flour per cup. If you use the spoon and level method you will only have 120g - 125g of flour per cup. So it’s really important how you measure the flour. Baking by volume is the absolute worst way to bake because it is so inaccurate. But the other thing is the method you use depends on what the recipe developer used. So you can’t use this method with every recipe. That’s the other crappy thing about volume, you have to know what method the recipe developer used. And in this case we don’t know what method they used, I’m taking an educated guess here.

It doesn’t specify a temperature for the water. Do not exceed 95°F.

Dissolve the pinch of sugar in the water before you add the yeast. Yeast is living organism; it feeds on the sugar, but too much sugar can actually kill it. It can cause reverse osmosis in which the plasma is drawn out of the cell wall. So you want to make sure that the sugar is dissolved and dispersed well into the water.

Add the yeast water to the flour and mix it in well before you add the butter. Fat inhibits yeast development, so you don’t want to add the butter straight into the yeast.

Eight minutes is an long time in the mixer for that small amount of dough. Bread flour is pretty high in protein. I have a feeling you may be developing too much gluten in the dough. Salt also tightens the gluten. Run the mixer for about five minutes. Scrape it into a ball into the center of the bowl. Is it smooth? Touch the dough. Does it feel a bit springy? Press down on it; if it springs back, stop.


Put your oven rack down in the lower 2/3 of the oven. Turn on your oven light and put the bowl in your oven to prove. Keep the bowl though away from the light. The light will provide enough heat to proof the dough.

You can also use the off oven for your second proofing. Check to make sure your dough is proved enough before you bake. When you put the dough in the loaf pan take note of how high it is in the pan. But that visual is not your only cue. You need to touch the dough. Underproofed dough will spring back. Properly proofed dough will hold an indentation of you fingerprint. Over proofed dough will be very soft and collapses under your finger or even totally deflate.



The converted base dough.

• (118 ml) 1/2 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
• (3g) 3/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• (16g) 1 tbsp. plus a pinch of granulated sugar
• (180g - 220g) 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• (3g) 1/2 tsp. salt
• (30g) 2 tbsps. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• Cooking spray

Thank you sooooo much!!! I am going to try in tomorrow or Saturday!!! I appreciate your time and help! I will post the outcome!! Thanks again!!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thank you sooooo much!!! I am going to try in tomorrow or Saturday!!! I appreciate your time and help! I will post the outcome!! Thanks again!!

you’re welcome. TBH I don’t think it’s going to produce a great loaf because the dough is lean (no milk and very little butter).

but let me know how it turns out. If it’s still crappy, I’ll rework one of my recipes for you. What brand of flour do you use?

 

[Samesam21]

you’re welcome. TBH I don’t think it’s going to produce a great loaf because the dough is lean (no milk and very little butter).

but let me know how it turns out. If it’s still crappy, I’ll rework one of my recipes for you. What brand of flour do you use?

You’re awesome!!

I have King Arthur Flour.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Ok great, I have two sacks of King Arthur All purpose flour. I can’t believe the shelves are wiped clean of flour. I stocked up from the bakery supplier before lockdown. So I took flour to my SIL when she ran out. I gave her my KA bread flour because she bakes a lot of bread. But I still have a lot of AP flours of various protein contents. The shelves up here are still empty. Sugar is just starting to reappear in small quantities.

 

[Samesam21]

Ok great, I have two sacks of King Arthur All purpose flour. I can’t believe the shelves are wiped clean of flour. I stocked up from the bakery supplier before lockdown. So I took flour to my SIL when she ran out. I gave her my KA bread flour because she bakes a lot of bread. But I still have a lot of AP flours of various protein contents. The shelves up here are still empty. Sugar is just starting to reappear in small quantities.

yes, flour is still a little scarce where I’m at. I was able to find flour bread flour at smart and final! Also Sams Club has 25lb bags of AP and bread flour for less than $7 of their members Mark brand, so I got some of that just in case, and have been giving it out to family and friends who can’t find any. Sugar has been okay, over here lately... but I am running out and knowing my luck when I got to buy more I won’t find it! Haha!

 

[Samesam21]

It worked!!!! Thank you so much!! I made one loaf only and I used 215g of flour. I proved it for 30mins for the second time, dipped it and coated it with the topping and then put it in the loaf pan and proved it another 30mins. I also removed the corn syrup from the recipe... looks and tastes very similar to the one at Dollywood! Thank you so much for taking the time to help, I really appreciate it!!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

It worked!!!! Thank you so much!! I made one loaf only and I used 215g of flour. I proved it for 30mins for the second time, dipped it and coated it with the topping and then put it in the loaf pan and proved it another 30mins. I also removed the corn syrup from the recipe... looks and tastes very similar to the one at Dollywood! Thank you so much for taking the time to help, I really appreciate it!!View attachment 2981

Yay! That looks really good too! That topping especially looks good. I’m going to have to try that on my cinnamon rolls. I’m so happy it worked. You have a really nice mixer there too!!! You go girl!!

 

[Samesam21]

Yay! That looks really good too! That topping especially looks good. I’m going to have to try that on my cinnamon rolls. I’m so happy it worked. You have a really nice mixer there too!!! You go girl!!

Hehe! Thank you! You gave me the idea and I used the brown sugar, white sugar mixture for cinnamon rolls and they were yum! You should try it! Thanks again for the help!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hehe! Thank you! You gave me the idea and I used the brown sugar, white sugar mixture for cinnamon rolls and they were yum! You should try it! Thanks again for the help!

oh I’m definitely gonna have to give it a go then. happy baking.