Dolly Parton, Conagra expand Southern comfort food partnership

For the third consecutive year, Country Music and Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer and chart-topping "Rockstar" Dolly Parton has returned to the kitchen via an expanded partnership with Conagra Foods.

2024 finds Parton is expanding her line of baked goods via six comfort food recipes. In addition to cake Duncan Hines branded chocolate and yellow cakes, cinnamon swirl crumb cakes and banana nut and blueberry muffins, the "Jolene" vocalist is pairing with Conagra, Duncan Hines' parent company, for a new buttermilk pancake mix.

"I loved co-creating my Duncan Hines line with Conagra and I'm thrilled we're going well beyond the baking aisle with new items across the store," said Parton. "We're looking to continue to inspire special moments in the kitchen, with some of my family's favorite recipes."

Also, a new merchandise bundle, the "Bake Like a Rockstar" Baking Collection, which costs $40.00 (plus shipping and handling), is available while supplies last. Early access to the kit will be unlocked on Jan. 24 at 11:00 a.m. ET, with the sale, in its entirety, going live later that day at 3:00 p.m. ET at http://bakingwithdolly.com.

It includes the following:

• Dolly Parton's Blueberry Muffin Mix, Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake Mix, Favorite Chocolate Cake Mix and Creamy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• An exclusive magnet featuring the popular illustration of Dolly from Duncan Hines' packaging

• A Dolly-inspired, collectible oven mitt

• Recipe cards feature some of Dolly's favorite recipes, such as lemon-glazed blueberry crumb cake and coffee cake muffins.

"This unprecedented partnership with Dolly Parton gives us an incredible opportunity to further cement Conagra Brands in our established categories while authentically positioning us for tremendous growth in new ones, including Southern cooking and comfort food," said Tom McGough, Chief Operating Officer at Conagra Brands.

The new, multi-year, multi-category agreement between Conagra and Parton facilitated by licensing agency IMG will also include frozen, refrigerated, grocery and snack items.

Those offerings, in total, are expected to launch later in 2024.

Parton's love of the kitchen has been a part of her branding, in various formats, since the 1986 opening of her Dollywood amusement park, including her beloved banana pudding on the menu at Aunt Granny's Dixie Fixins' Restaurant and creamy vegetable soup as a part of the dinner accompanying the nightly "Dixie Stampede" variety show.

Two decades later, those -- among many -- recipes were included in her first cookbook of over 100 recipes (following Lynn and Yearwood), "Dolly's Dixie Fixin's: Love, Laughter, and Lots of Good Food" from Penguin Group's Viking Studio imprint.

In 2021 and 2022, Parton also released a popular, limited-run line of Strawberry Pretzel Pie ice cream via boutique brand Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.

With Duncan Hines, she released her Southern Style Coconut Cake Mix in 2022, four new flavors in 2023 and a limited-edition run of tea towels and spatulas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dolly Parton, Conagra expand Southern comfort food partnership