Dolly Parton's Duncan Hines Baking Mixes Review: There Were Both Hits And Misses

Most recognize Dolly Parton as a global music and film icon and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Her talents extend beyond the entertainment realm and into the culinary one. She recently entered into a multi-year, multi-category partnership with Conagra Brands to produce a new retail product line of Southern comfort-inspired foods.

One category of products included in this partnership is a rockin' new baking collection developed in conjunction with Duncan Hines, with which she's previously released several cake mixes and frostings. The new baking mixes include chocolate and yellow cakes, blueberry muffins, cinnamon crumb cake, banana nut muffins, and buttermilk pancake varieties. These mixes come together quickly with just a few supplemental ingredients for delicious desserts, snacks, and breakfasts that will have the whole family exclaiming, "Yee-haw."

I had the opportunity to test out five of the new Duncan Hines & Dolly Parton baking mixes. In evaluating them, I baked each one according to the packaging directions. I then assessed their aroma, texture, and flavor based on my experience as a professional chef and baker. Read on for my full review of Dolly Parton's latest lineup of baking mixes.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer/distributor/etc.

Pancakes for brunch on a Sunday are always a special treat, and a box mix that requires nothing but water to whip up a batch is convenient and economical. I love buttermilk pancakes as a general rule because the buttermilk tends to make them light and fluffy and give them a distinctive tang. For this reason, I enthusiastically jumped into making these pancakes.

While they are easy to assemble, I was somewhat disappointed by the pancakes. Their aroma smells like a Johnny Cake sans cornmeal, and the batter is thick. You can thin it out with more water, but I wanted to follow the instructions. I found the final pancakes to have a relatively dense, doughy mouthfeel rather than a light, fluffy one.

The taste was unremarkable. These are basic pancakes that are not all that exciting. The box does suggest ideas for add-ins and toppings that might help elevate these. I recommend using these suggestions when making the pancakes. I'd also suggest adding dried spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg to the dry mix. A dash of vanilla extract would also enhance the flavor. Overall, these are average and somewhat underwhelming, which leads me to give them a C grade.

This crumb cake mix was easy to make and has instructions for baking it in multiple iterations, from muffins to a rectangular baking dish. I opted to bake it like a cake. I will confess that despite reading the instructions numerous times, I somehow missed the part suggesting using half of the cinnamon crumb topping in the center of the batter before adding the rest. I put it all over the cake, which did not impact the final results.

From its aroma to its texture and flavor, this cake is dynamite. The scent is predominantly that of cinnamon. The texture is delightfully fluffy and moist. The taste is well-balanced and not overly sweet despite the crumb topping, allowing the cinnamon to be the star.

The aftertaste of this cake is buttery and not the slightest bit artificial, which is perhaps its greatest attribute — it tastes homemade. That is no small feat, as boxed cake mixes can have a distinctive synthetic quality. This crumb cake feels like the finest down-home cooking, and I give it an enthusiastic A grade.

Banana bread is a recipe I consider one of my specialties, so I entered this tasting with a slightly more critical eye. A good banana bread should showcase the fruit without letting the banana dominate. It should also be moist yet hold its shape and be sweet but not cloying.

You can bake this mix into muffins or bread. I opted for the bread, and I did add chocolate chips as per the optional instructions. The mix took just over an hour to finish. Once cooled, I sliced into the bread but found the crumb topping with walnuts challenging to cut through, tearing the bread slightly. I also think the chocolate chips caused the bread to fall apart somewhat. This fact did not distract from the texture of the bread itself, which was moist and light.

The flavor of this mix is where I was left somewhat disappointed. The bread itself is bland. It is not sweet at all, and it is sorely lacking in flavorings. It could benefit from adding apple, pumpkin pie, or Chinese five spices. A hint of vanilla or almond extract would also improve it. That said, I appreciated the prominence of the banana in both aroma and taste. Overall, I give this mix a B grade.

If there is one thing Duncan Hines and Dolly Parton do better than most, it is cake. This chocolate-flavored cake mix is everything you could ask for in a cake. The mix has options for using different-sized pans. I used a rectangular 9- by 13-inch glass baking dish, and the cake took 30 minutes to bake.

Once it cooled, I frosted the cake with Dolly Parton's Creamy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and Creamy Buttercream Frosting for comparison. The aroma of the cake is that of rich, dark, bittersweet cocoa powder. Its texture is where it's superior. The cake is delicate, moist, fluffy, and melts in your mouth. The flavor is also marvelous, not overly sweet, chocolatey, and without a hint of artificiality.

While this cake shone with both frosting flavors, the chocolate frosting accentuated the inherent cake flavor most effectively. It was also not overly sweet or dense. It had a light creaminess that complemented the cake perfectly. This cake knocked it out of the park, tasting as close to homemade as you can get from a box. I give it and the frostings a solid A grade.

As noted, the boxed cake mixes were notably superior in quality, which was no less the case for the yellow cake mix. Though I had a slight preference for the chocolate cake, that is more a matter of personal taste than anything reflecting the quality of the cake itself. Again, I opted to bake this cake in a rectangular baking pan rather than a round one.

Once the cake cooled, I again frosted it using both frosting flavors. The aroma of the cake is slightly buttery but not distinct. Like the chocolate cake, its texture is incredibly moist, light, and fluffy. The flavor, though less potent than the chocolate cake, is quite lovely. It is not overly sweet, with a hint of nutty vanilla and tangy buttermilk shining through.

Unlike the chocolate cake, both the frostings worked equally well on this cake, and neither overpowered it. The chocolate was a nice contrast in color and flavor, and the plain buttercream was pleasantly luscious and had a notable rich vanilla undertone. Again, this is a superior boxed cake mix with a made-from-scratch flavor and texture, garnering an A grade from me.

You may want to get your Dolly Parton on and pick up a box of Chocolate, Yellow, or Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake & Muffin Mix to whip up for your loved ones if you're ready to tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen to do some baking. These mixes are comfort food at its finest and easy to whip up. I will note that the cakes seem very tender when they come out of the oven, even though a toothpick inserted into them comes out clean. Don't let this fool you into thinking they aren't ready, as this is the key to their fluffy, moist texture.

I was somewhat less impressed with the pancake and banana nut muffin mixes. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for these mixes, they would still be worthwhile to keep on hand. I recommend enhancing them with add-ins and toppings to help give them a bit more flavor and oomph. I would also suggest using milk to whip up the pancakes rather than water. I think this would improve the overall taste and texture somewhat.

These new Duncan Hines & Dolly Parton baking mixes are available now at retailers nationwide. Prices vary by product, retailer, and location.