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Dollywood Cinnamon Bread

✇My Diverse Kitchen
By: Aparna Balasubramanian
17 April 2025 at 08:43

The Bread Baking Babes are baking again. We used to bake a bread every month but in the past year or so, we’ve been finding life increasingly taking priority over baking bread. So we’ve decided to bake one bread every two months. And this month, Karen picked Dollywood Cinnamon Bread for us to make.

I had never heard of a Dollywood Cinnamon Bread before! So it turns out that Dollywood is a theme park in Tennessee in the US, and owned by Dolly Parton. Their famous cinnamon bread is known as Dollywood Cinnamon Bread. I spent a large part of my college years listening to her songs, many of which are still my favourites. I didn’t know of Dollywood though it’s been around for 40 years or so, I understand.

The original version of this bread is baked daily in century old The Grist Mill (which is over 100 years old/plus they mill their own flour) in Dollywood. It’s served with either vanilla icing or apple butter, and they apparently sell over 350 loaves an hour! You can find Dolly Parton’s Dollywood Cinnamon Bread recipe all over the net.

The recipe below is adapted from Baking in the American South by Anne Byrne    This buttery cinnamon loaf is shaped, sliced, and drenched in a cinnamon, sugar, and butter mixture before baking. What’s not to like about this combination? Naturally, the resulting loaf is so good! Do watch the top to see it doesn’t get burned. My loaf came pretty close to it, as you can see from the images.

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Dollywood Cinnamon Bread

A version of the famous Dollywood Cinnamon Bread that's a soft loaf drenched in a butter-sugar-cinnamon mixture and crust.
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

For the Dough:

  • 1 cup milk
  • 50 gm unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp instant yeast
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

For the Topping:

  • 50 gm unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Make the Dough:

  • Scald the milk over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes (bubbles on the edges but not boiling). Take it off the heat, add the butter and stir to melt. Let it cool to slightly warmer than room temperature. Stir in the yeast.
  • Knead using a stand mixer or by hand. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the milk mixture and knead into a soft, smooth and elastic dough. If the dough seems dry, add milk, one tablespoon at a time till dough is of desired consistency.
  • Place the dough into a bowl, cover loosely and let it rise for about 1 1/2 hours or so till doubled in volume. You can also let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. The rise will not be as much as regular dough because of the butter in the dough which will harden the dough. If refrigerating the dough, take it out next morning, lightly knead it, and then let it rise till double in volume.
  • Line a 9 x 5 -inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Remove the parchment and set aside on a baking sheet.

Make the topping:

  • Melt the butter in a mall pan or bowl. Stir in the sugars and cinnamon.
  • Deflate the risen dough and press it out or roll out into an 8 x 7 -inch rectangle. Roll the dough into a loaf, starting from the 8-inch edge side. Place it, seam side down, onto the parchment.
  • Slit the loaf 6 to 8 times with a serrated knife, cutting about 2/3rds into the dough. Stuff the slits generously with the cinnamon-sugar-butter.
  • Using the parchment, lift the loaf into the pan. Spread the remaining mixture over the top of the dough uniformly. Let it rise till almost double, for about 45 minutes.
  • Bake at 180C (350F) for about 30 minutes or so until the bread is done. Do watch the top to see it doesn’t get burned. My loaf came pretty close to it, as you can see from the images. Cool on a wire rack.

 

The Bread Baking Babes are –

Bake My Day – Karen

Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire – Katie

Blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth

Feeding my enthusiasms – Elle

Girlichef – Heather

A Messy Kitchen – Kelly

My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna

Bread Experience – Cathy

Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen

The post Dollywood Cinnamon Bread appeared first on My Diverse Kitchen - A Vegetarian Blog.

Easy Almond Croissants

✇My Diverse Kitchen
By: Aparna Balasubramanian
17 July 2024 at 00:26

cerenIt is no secret in my home that I love most things Croissant. What’s not to love about layers of buttery, flaky and light rolls? So it’s no surprise that I like Croissants aux Amandes or Almond Croissants too. Some more butter on top of butter laden plain Croissants can seem over the top. Perhaps they are, but to me, they’re worth eating as an occasional treat. They’re easily made at home with this Easy Almond Croissant recipe. As a plus, these are egg free.

If you’re new to these Croissants, they’re nothing but plain butter Croissants with a soft almond frangipane filling, crunchy almonds on top and dusting of powdered sugar.These come together and are ready to eat in under an hour. Since we’re making Easy Almond Croissants, we start with readymade day old plain Croissants.

Almond Croissants or Croissants Aux Amandes can be found in most French boulangeries, and also in non-French bakeries that make them.  Croissants don’t stay fresh beyond the day they’re made. In fact, they’re not the best even by the evening of the morning they’re baked. So French boulangeries came up with Croissants Aux Amandes to use up day old stale Croissants.

I don’t make Croissants at home very often. When I do, I rarely have left over Croissants. These days with just two of us at home, I buy them whenever I find really good Croissants locally. When the craving for these almond ones hit, I just but a few extra and make them. Given how loaded they’re with butter and calories, they’re a rare treat.

Some recipes call for brushing the halved croissants with a flavoured sugar syrup. I find this makes the Almond Croissants too sweet for my taste. My preference is mildly sweet Almond Croissants. I would suggest buying smaller Croissants, if you can find them, so these don’t become a guilt heavy treat! Butter Croissants are also always the best, in terms of taste. Don’t forget to use day old Croissants. You can even refrigerate fresh Croissants for a couple of days to make these.

For the almond filling, I use regular almonds which I blend into an almost fine powder, skin and all. I find its too much work for this recipe. You can blanch and remove the skin of you prefer. You could also use either almond flour or almond meal, if you choose. They all work. Using almond extract is optional because not everyone has it at home. Use it if you have it.

You can dust your baked Easy Almond Croissants with powdered sugar, if you like. I generally don’t because I don’t like these Croissants too sweet. If you want to get a little more adventurous and want to make a different kind of Almond Croissant, take a look at these, some of which might tempt you.

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Easy Almond Croissants

Easy bakery style egg free Croissants aux Amandes or Almond Croissants made from day old butter croissants.
Course breads
Cuisine French
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 Almond Croissants

Ingredients

  • 4 croissants
  • 75 gm unsalted butter soft and spreadable at room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered almonds
  • 1/4 cup finely powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract optional
  • 1/2 cup flaked almonds

Instructions

  • Start by making the almond- butter spreading mixture. Using hand held beaters or even a fork, mix together the soft butter, powdered sugar, powdered almonds, vanilla and almond extracts till smooth.
  • Cut each croissant into half lengthways. Spread approximately one tablespoon of the almond-butter mixture in each. Close the sandwich. Spread 1/4 the remaining almond-butter mixture along the length of each closed croissant. Sprinkle the flaked almonds equally on the four croissants, pressing them down gently so they stick.
  • Place on a parchment lined baking tray and bake at 180C (350F) for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are golden brown in colour. Let them cool on a wire rack. Dust lightly with powdered sugar, if preferred, before serving.

The post Easy Almond Croissants appeared first on My Diverse Kitchen - A Vegetarian Blog.

Shio Pan

✇My Diverse Kitchen
By: Aparna Balasubramanian
24 November 2023 at 06:12

For November, Karen picked Shio Pan, or Japanese Salt Bread for the Bread Baking Babes to make. She first came across Shio Pan served with whipped cream cheese at a Japanese bakery in Anaheim. Shio is salt in Japanese and Pan means bread. Hence the Shio Pan, but this bread is so much more than just a slated bread. Shio Pan is a very soft and buttery flaked salt topped Japanese crescent roll that’s very crisp on the bottom.

This bread is said to have been first in late 2014 made by Pain Maison, a bakery in the Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It has been described as a marriage between the classic Japanese soft butter roll and French crusty bread roll. When the shaped dough is baked, the butter melts and creates a crisp bottom to the roll. You might think the rolls would get greasy but there’s no butter to be seen anywhere. All you get is the delightful flavour of butter in every bite. Of course, it goes without saying that the best butter makes the best Shio Pan.

These rolls are traditionally topped with flaked sea salt, hence the name Japanese Salt Bread. However you can find Shio Pan variations including an Everything version, a pesto and sundried tomato version, filled with red bean paste,egg-mayo and with a cookie crust topping like Pineapple Buns. The rolls can be filled after slitting them sideways. These buttery crescent rolls are also very popular in Taiwan.

Karen’s recipe below makes 6 rolls and was adapted from Vanillyn Bakery, Food 52 and others. These rolls are best eaten fresh, just a bit after they come out of the oven. They will be soft with buttery crisp bottom to the rolls. Leftovers freeze very well stored in zip lock bags. So you can make a double batch. Serve warm after reheating frozen butter rolls and they’re almost as good as freshly baked.

I made mine somewhat more-ish by brushing the dough with garlic flavoured melted butter with chopped fresh coriander/ cilantro. Otherwise I kept to the recipe. This Shio Pan is a keeper!

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Shio Pan

Buttery and very soft Japanese salted crescent rolls stuffed with strips of butter and are crisp on the bottom.
Course breads
Cuisine Japanese
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings 6 Rolls

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups bread flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp instant yeast
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 10 gm soft unsalted butter
  • 15 gm butter melted, for brushing
  • 60 grams butter cut lengthwise into 6 x 10 gm strips
  • Flaked sea salt for topping

Instructions

  • You can knead using a machine as well. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the milk and water and mix by hand or dough whisk until just combined. Add the soft butter and knead it in by hand.
  • Knead the dough by hand (using pressing, stretching, and folding constantly) or mixer for about five minutes, until smooth and elastic. The dough will be a bit sticky but don't add more flour unless you fell the dough really needs it.
  • Let the dough rise until doubled in volume. This can take from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on your room temp.
  • Turn the dough out onto your unfloured work surface and form it into a 1/2 inch thick round disk. Cut the dough into 6 wedges with a bench scraper. Roll each piece of dough into a cone, from long side to long side, pinching the seam. Let the dough cones, covered, for 10 minutes.
  • With your hands, press each into a triangle. Then, using a rolling pin, shape each into a very long, thin triangle, like for croissants. If brushing with melted fresh coriander-garlic butter, do it now. Then place a 10 gram butter stick on the wide end and roll up the dough and form it into a crescent. Place it on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover loosely and allow to rise until puffy, about 45 minutes to an hour, in a warm spot.
  • Heat your oven to 200C (400F). When ready to bake, spray the shaped rolls with water until they are shiny. Sprinkle each with a pinch or so of flaked sea salt. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until lightly golden on top and crispy and browned on the bottom.
  • Transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm from the oven or within two hours. You can rewarm leftovers the same day to refresh them. Wrap and freeze additional leftovers for reheating in the oven the next day.

 

The Bread Baking Babes are –

Bake My Day – Karen

Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire – Katie

Blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth

Feeding my enthusiasms – Elle

Girlichef – Heather

A Messy Kitchen – Kelly

My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna

Bread Experience – Cathy

Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen

The post Shio Pan appeared first on My Diverse Kitchen - A Vegetarian Blog.

Basler Läckerli

✇My Diverse Kitchen
By: Aparna Balasubramanian
20 December 2022 at 03:07

It’s Christmas time and the end of the year once again. We don’t celebrate Christmas but I usually bake a selection of cookies at this time. They make perfect gifts to share with family and friends. Basler Läckerli/ Leckerli  is a traditional spiced chewy fruit and nut bar/ biscuit native to Swiss locality of Basel, close to Germany. Läckerli roughly translates from German as delicious or a treat.

Basler Läckerli is made from flour, honey, chopped nuts, candied citrus peel, dried fruit, a bunch of spices and cherry brandy called Kirsch. The resulting dough is baked as a tray bake, brushed with a sugar glaze while still hot, and cut into rectangular pieces.

It is said that Läckerli was invented to serve church dignitaries who attended the Basel Council (1431 to 1449). One account says otherwise as the required ingredients were supposedly unavailable in 15th century Basel. The first mention of a Swiss Läckerli recipe is in the 1621 handbook of one Abraham Schneuwly of Bern.

What is special about Läckerli from Basel? I’m honestly not sure, but I will tell you that it is something very good. First, these bars are best eaten the day after they’re made, even a week after. The spice flavours develop fully and the bars soften a bit with time. They keep for a more than a month if stored properly. The thin and dry crystallize sugar layer just adds to the overall flavour.

The recipe below is adapted from the numerous recipes I saw on the internet. Most of these are egg free like mine. This tray bake is very easy to make. Mix all the ingredients to a slightly cookie dough like consistency. Using damp or lightly oiled palms and fingers, press the dough out into a parchment lined baking tray. Bake till golden brown but do not over bake. This tray baked confection doesn’t rise much.

Brush a sugar glaze over the top while it is still quite hot. The glaze will dry out when cool. It is important to cut the baked dough into rectangular (or square) pieces while still warm. It is difficult to do once it has cooled.

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Basler Läckerli

Traditional Swiss Christmas time spiced and chewy candied fruit and nut bars topped with a thin sugar glaze.
Course cookies
Cuisine Swiss
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Servings 20 Bars

Ingredients

For the Dough :

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup chopped almonds
  • 1/3 cup chopped candied orange peel
  • 1/3 cup chopped candied lemon peel
  • 3 tsp freshly grated orange zest
  • 50 gm unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup apple juice

For the Sugar Glaze:

  • 2/3 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp water

Instructions

  • Line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 12 –inch rimmed baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Lightly whisk together in a large bowl, the flour, chopped almonds, candied peels, fresh zest, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, cloves, and nutmeg.
  • In a small sauce pan warm together over medium heat, the butter, honey and sugar. Stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the apple juice.
  • Pour the hot butter- honey mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir together with a wooden spoon to mix well. The mixture will be thick and sticky, much like cookie dough.
  • Scrape the dough onto the prepared baking sheet and press out with a spatula. Dampen your palm and fingers with water and spread the dough out to fit the tray. Also smoothen the top of the dough. Neatly dock the top of the dough with the tines of a fork. Work quickly while the dough is still warm. It becomes difficult to work with cooled down dough. Let the dough rest for an hour or two.
  • Bake the dough at 220C (425F) for 15 to 20 minutes till firm and the top is golden brown.
  • In the meantime, make the glaze by mixing together the icing sugar, water and lemon juice till smooth and thick. Brush this glaze generously and evenly on the surface of the baked dough.
  • Holding the edge of the parchment paper, slide the baked dough from the hot pan onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife. Remove the edges (if necessary) and then cut into small rectangular or square bars while the slab is still warm. IT will be difficult to cut once cooled.
  • Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. These bars are best at least a day to a week after baking when bars soften a bit and the flavour of the spices comes through well. They will keep well for over a month if stored well. If they do dry out a bit, add a couple apple wedges to the sealed container (swapping out for fresh ones weekly) to re-soften the cookies.

The post Basler Läckerli appeared first on My Diverse Kitchen - A Vegetarian Blog.

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