Fill your house with the smell of freshly baked Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls, full of lots of cinnamon flavor and topped with a homemade whipped cream cheese frosting. Made with my sourdough starter, these rolls will melt in your mouth and you will want to make another batch immediately! For another delicious breakfast (or anytime) roll, try my Raspberry Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls.
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls have to be one of my favorite sweet rolls of all time. With just the right amount of cinnamon flavor and the perfect amount of frosting, I can’t pass them up anytime they are around or at my local cafe. The rolls are the perfect lazy morning treat to have with your coffee or tea. Adding the sourdough starter to these cinnamon rolls gives each bite just a little extra ‘zip’, or tangy flavor that I love with sourdough bread.
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls Dough
It all starts with the dough for these Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls. So, get out your stand mixer with the hook attachment, and mix all the dough ingredients together for about 5 minutes. Make sure the dough is moist and sticky, but not too sticky. You can always add a little flour to the dough, but you don’t want it to be dry. Place the dough into a greased medium-sized bowl, cover it with a towel, and let it sit in a warm spot for 3-5 hours.
After the 3 hours, place the dough onto a floured work surface. Flatten out the dough into a rectangle. (You shouldn’t even need a rolling pin for this step.) If you want 9 cinnamon rolls, roll the dough a little thinner. For thicker cinnamon rolls, keep the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness.
Can I Freeze Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls?
Yes! You can freeze them before they rise and bake by covering them with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Just take them out of the freezer when you are ready to bake them and let them thaw and rise before completing the rest of the steps. You can also freeze them after baking the rolls, but before adding the frosting. In addition, you can freeze them with no problem after you have frosted the baked rolls. Again, cover them with plastic and aluminum foil. But, be sure to let them cool before freezing them.
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
DOUGH
- ½ cup (123g) whole milk, room temperature
- 1¾ cup (219g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup sourdough starter, discard or fed
- 1 pinch salt
FILLING
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- ⅓ cup (67g) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
WHIPPED CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup (57g or 1/2 stick) butter, softened
- 1½ cup (188g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
DOUGH
- Add all the dough ingredients to stand mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, knead ingredients for about 5 minutes. The dough should be moist and sticky, not dry and in a ball. If it is too sticky, you can add up to 1/4 cup more flour so that you can easily move it to the bowl.
- After all the ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth, place into a medium-sized bowl that has been greased. Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot for about 3 hours. (Can sit for up to 5 hours.)
- After the dough has risen, prepare a solid surface countertop with a light dusting of flour.
- Pour dough out onto the counter and press it flat. This dough is so soft and pliable you should not even need a rolling pin. Press the dough out (being sure it is not sticking to the counter) into a rectangle shape. If you want 9 rolls, make the rectangle thinner and larger, if you want 6 rolls it can be a bit thicker, like 1/2 inch thick.
FILLING
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon with a fork.
- Pour 3 tablespoons butter over the dough so that it covers the entire surface.
- Spread brown sugar and spice mixture over dough making sure it covers the entire surface.
ROLLING & CUTTING
- Roll the dough up, pinching with your fingers to keep it tightly rolled. Press the seam to seal before positioning the log seam side down.
- Using a very sharp knife, cut the dough into 6 or 9 pieces (depending on the thickness of dough). Place in a greased 8×8-inch baking pan.
- Place the rolls in a warm dry space and allow them to rise for about 2 hours.
BAKING
- Bake at 350°F for about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
WHIPPED CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- When rolls are almost done baking, put cream cheese, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Mix on low to just combine. Once ingredients are all incorporated turn mixer on high and leave it for 4-5 minutes. Frosting should be light and fluffy.
- Place cream cheese frosting on rolls right in the pan OR invert rolls onto serving plate and then top with frosting.
Did you make this recipe?
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My starter is very active but for some reason this dough is not rising for me 🙁
So sorry! You can try turning your oven on to the lowest setting. Turning it off, wait about 5 minutes, then place the dough in the oven to proof. (Or if you have a proofer that works great too.)
Re-made these with a fed starter instead of just discard and the dough turned out perfect! We’ve since made them 3 more times!
My starter is very active and these cinnamon rolls were as light as air! The recipe is easy and I can see this becoming a regular part of the sourdough cycle at our house.
These cinnamon rolls are delicious!
Icing too. Can’t wait to make again when my daughter and her husband visit next week.
Hello, Amanda! Thanks for the great recipe. It turned out perfect. I had started making sourdough starter this year for bread and are always looking for good uses for the discard. I shared some rolls with the neighbor who was very impressed and thought they were delicious. I did add a small squeeze of lemon juice to the frosting. I think it balanced well. Cheers!
Hi Amanda
I am wondering what the weight you use for fed or discard. Once measured into a cup,they weight totally different (fed is more bubbles therefore takes more space in the cup). Does it matter the weight or is it for taste?
Hi, Jane! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. Go by weight for the sourdough starter; 1 cup of sourdough starter = about 227 grams. I hope this helps, and have a great day!
I have tried this recipe twice. Both times the dough was so wet and difficult to work with it was virtually impossible to roll without sticking to my (liberally floured) worktop and equally difficult to slice. I am making it again today and I have managed to roll it, but I’m not going to attempt slicing ot into scrolls. I’ve just coiled the roll up into one giant scroll.
What am I doing wrong?!
Hi Sam! So sorry there has been any issues. You may have a starter with a hydration ratio that is high. You could use a bit more flour to reach the desired consistency.
Loved the result I had using your recipe for the starter, so easy! Other ones I tried always used milk. I am now going to try to use the discard for other things than pancakes. This bread doesn’t bring my blood sugars up like other breads do.
Hi! I was so excited to find this recipe. I’ve been wanting a straightforward sourdough cinnamon roll recipe. However, I’m having some issues. I’ve had to throw out two batches in one day. 🙁 Neither batch rose…just flattened out and sort of…melted into the bottom of the bowl. At first, I thought it was because I used the bowl’s lid instead of a towel and perhaps it trapped too much moisture. I still followed through and cut them and let them sit uncovered for two hours…nothing happened. But I baked them anyhow. They were…unpleasant. LOL Not airy and light but doughy and thin. Threw them out. Second round, used a towel and they still didn’t rise even a little in over 4 hours. The dough “melted” into the bottom of the bowl again. I’m not sure I want to waste the filling ingredients and try to bake the second batch since it looks the same as the first round. The first round, I used discard, the second round was with fed and doubled starter. My starter is the consistency of a thick pancake batter. The house is 80F. Just can’t figure out why it isn’t rising. Any suggestions? I’d welcome them! (I really want this recipe to work out–they look gorgeous…and my mouth is watering. LOL) Thank you!
P.S. In reference to my first comment. I ended up throwing the second batch out before baking. With only a towel covering the dough, it formed a very dry “skin” that I couldn’t incorporate into the dough. Argh. So, Raine 0, dough 2. LOL I’m definitely riding the struggle bus with this one–and my tastebuds remain unfulfilled. 🙂