Ever since starting a sourdough starter I’ve wanted to come up with a cinnamon roll recipe. I tried a couple times with tough and not so yummy results in the past so I just thought I wasn’t going to be able to figure them out…
Then, on a whim, I decided to try again and I’m so glad I did. Guys, these cinnamon rolls are one of my greatest creations! I may have been asked to promise that this be the only cinnamon roll recipe I ever make in the future.
In the past I tried to make these healthy and while I’m not against tweaking this recipe and seeing if I can come up with anything a little less full of refined sugar, for now I am just gonna have these in moderation and call it good. 🙂
You start off by mixing up your sourdough starter, milk, vanilla, sugar, butter, salt, and flour. Then knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. I usually knead the dough in the bowl I mixed it in to avoid having to clean the counter off at this point but you could turn it out onto the counter and adding flour if necessary to keep it from sticking.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise for about 8 hours or until doubled in size. I like to start this process mid morning and then the rolls are ready to be put together in the evening so we can have freshly baked cinnamon rolls the next morning.
After the dough has risen turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it out into a 12×19 rectangle.
Spread the softened butter over the dough. I just use my fingers.
In a small bowl mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together. Spread it evenly over the buttered dough.
Roll up the dough to make a long log. Pinch the end to close the seam.
Slice the log into 12 cinnamon rolls and place them in a greased 9×13 pan.
Cover with plastic wrap and then put them in the fridge overnight to rest/rise.
The next morning remove the rolls from the fridge a couple of hours before you will be baking them to warm up to room temp and rise a little more.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
While the rolls are baking mix up the frosting. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
Spread over the cinnamon rolls as soon as they come out of the oven.
Use as much or as little as you’d like. In the pictures I used all of the frosting I mixed up but it does turn out to be pretty frosting heavy so just use what you prefer and then save the rest for spreading on something else!
Enjoy!
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbspn sugar
- 2 Tbspn softened butter
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 1/2-3 cups flour
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tbspn cinnamon
- 1/3 cup softened butter
Frosting
- 1 8 oz package softened cream cheese
- 1 stick softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
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Mix all of the dough ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Knead it in the bowl or on the counter until smooth and elastic, adding flour as necessary to keep it from sticking. ~7 minutes.
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Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size ~ 8 hours.
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After the dough has risen punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into a 12×19 rectangle.
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Spread over the 1/3 cup of softened butter evenly on the dough.
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In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir and then spread evenly over the buttered dough.
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Roll up the dough to make a log and then pinch the seam shut.
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Slice the dough log into 12 cinnamon rolls and place in a greased 9×13 pan.
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Cover with plastic wrap and let the rolls rest/rise in the fridge overnight. Remove them from the fridge 1-2 hours before baking to bring them to room temp.
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Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until light golden brown.
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While the rolls bake make the frosting. In a medium size bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until you have a smooth thick frosting. Set aside.
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Once the rolls are out of the oven immediately frost them with as much of the frosting as you'd like. If you use all of it the layer of frosting will be pretty thick but that's what we normally do. Store at room temp for up to 2 days. After that they need to be refrigerated or frozen.
Looks delicious
Thank you! This is definitely one of the favorites in our house. 🙂
Hi Haley, I have four questions about your Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Recipe.
1. What type of flour do you use? All purpose flour, bread flour, or pastry flour?
2. Do you use unsalted or salted butter?
3. Do you use fed or unfed sourdough starter?
4. For your frosting ingredients, you list 1 stick of softened butter. How much is in 1 stick of butter?
Thanks for answering all of my questions. Your Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls look delicious! I look forward to making them 🙂
Hi Monika! Thanks for stopping by the blog!
1. Unbleached all purpose flour
2. Salted butter
3. Fed sourdough starter
4. 1 stick of salted butter is 1/2 cup or 8 Tablespoons.
If you have any other questions let me know. Hope you enjoy the cinnamon rolls!
Can u use sour cream or milk instead of the starter?
Hello Karen! Thanks for stopping by the blog. No, you can’t replace the starter with sour cream or milk. The starter is the only ingredient that will make the rolls rise so if you don’t have a starter I would recommend using a regular cinnamon roll recipe with flour and active dry yeast. Here is a link to a recipe that I have made in the past and we really enjoyed https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a11914/cinammon-rolls/#
I absolutely love this recipe. I use Vegan butter and almond milk in place of the dairy. I am wondering if I could freeze these at any point before baking? If so, would you recommend freezing after the first prove-so instead of putting them in the fridge, they would go straight to the freezer. What are your thoughts? TYIA!
Karen
Oh I am so glad you like it! And that is good to know about the vegan butter and almond milk because we have some family members that are dairy free. I haven’t tried freezing these rolls but I did a quick Google search and it looks like the best time to freeze cinnamon rolls is after you have shaped them into rolls, let them rise slightly and then stick them in the freezer. Once you are ready to bake them, take them out of the freezer the night before to rise on the counter overnight then bake as usual. If you try freezing them let me know how it goes! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Thank you so much for your prompt response! Yes, the Vegan butter works very well. I use Miyokos. Also, I have found myself short on starter. So, I used 1 cup of starter and 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast, and they turned out perfectly. Just another helpful tip!!
I froze them baked, unfrosted. Worked great. We were headed to beach and knew I wouldn’t have time to fresh bake. Packed them frozen, next morning just popped them in oven for a warm-up, made the icing and they were perfect!
Thanks for sharing the recipe, we love it! However, the bottom of the rolls get harder because of the leaking sugar filling, is that mean I put too much or did I bake too long?
Thank you so much for the comment! As long as you followed the recipe for the filling it shouldn’t be too much. I’d say it’s probably over baking. Maybe try baking just a tad less next time and see if that does the trick! Also, is your heating element on the bottom or top of your oven? Mine is at the top of the oven so that also might make a difference. Keep me posted!
Great post!
Couple of questions:
1. Can you use bread flour?
2. After feeding the starter, should I wait for it to rise double in bulk and be active?
Hi Gail! I haven’t used bread flour in this recipe before but I imagine it would work just fine and yes you’ll want to use active starter for the best results. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Delicious! I want to make them again to take to our family time at the beach. My schedule is crazy and I will be out of town and won’t have the needed time to feed my starter and go through the overnight steps. Can these be baked and frozen, then warmed up and iced?
Hello! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment! Yes, getting them baked and cooled and then freezing them would be the best option. Then I’d thaw them, warm them in the oven, and ice like normal.
These cinnamon rolls are delicious!! I started making them every weekend for the family, I just have to remember to start them the day before lol. You’re right, it is a lot of frosting so I only use half of it and then save the rest for the next time I make them. The rolls are the perfect amount of sour, we all love them!