These sourdough cinnamon rolls are light and fluffy, with just the right amount of cinnamon filling yummyness and icing that is not too sweet.
“Oh. Em. Gee! These are amazing!”
That is what my daughter said when she tested this batch of sourdough cinnamon rolls.
Pinkie promise.
And I must say, I have to agree with her. We LOVE these cinnamon rolls!
They aren’t too sweet, and the cream cheese icing is, well, cream cheesey…These are perfect for a Saturday brunch or a special breakfast like Christmas morning.
This sourdough cinnamon roll recipe is a great way to use up discarded starter, but not a true sourdough as written.
And you don’t need to worry about having a sour flavor. These taste just like the non-sourdough cinnamon rolls you love!
If you leave out the added yeast and let it go for 6-8 hours after mixing and again after shaping for the wild yeast to work it will be a true sourdough.
If you aren’t familiar with sourdough, or don’t have a starter, learn how to make your own sourdough starter here.
And now, drum roll please! Let’s go make us some Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls!
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup active sourdough starter or un-fed sourdough discard
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 pound of unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup instant potato flakes
- melted butter for brushing on rolls after baking (optional)
Instructions
Start off by heating the milk and butter just until the butter is melted. Then sprinkle the yeast over the milk mixture and stir to dissolve.
Next, put the flour, sugar, sea salt, and potato flakes in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and stir to mix.
Then measure out the starter and add it to the dry ingredients. Add the eggs and milk/butter mixture and mix until combined.
The dough should be fairly stiff.
If it’s too dry add milk 1 Tablespoon at a time; if too wet, add flour 1 Tablespoon at a time. It might look a little dry, but kneading will evenly distribute the ingredients. It should look like this picture.
If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and knead for 5 to 8 minutes.
If kneading by hand, turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
Knead for 5 to 8 minutes without adding too much extra flour. The dough should be slightly sticky.
Form the dough into a ball and cover with the bowl or a piece of plastic wrap.
Now let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
While the dough is resting, butter two 9 x 13 baking pans, and prepare the filling.
Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 4 Tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cinnamon
Grab a small sauce pan heat and heat the butter over medium heat just until it’s melted.
Remove from heat and add the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix it up well. Make sure to there aren’t any brown sugar clumps left.
I have found that when you mix it into a paste like this, it stays put better when you are rolling the dough up.
After the dough has rested, cut into 2 equal pieces. Or, if you have room you can roll it all out at one time.
Using your favorite rolling pin, roll out 1/2 the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15″ x 24″ (ish) rectangle.
Spread the surface of the dough with half of the filling mixture, making sure to spread to the edges on the shorter sides and one of the long edges. That is so the end pieces have plenty of filling in them.
Cuz, ya know, we don’t want the end pieces to feel left out… 🙂
Roll up the dough starting on the long side that has the filling all the way to the edge.
Pinch the seam to seal it.
Now grab a sharp knife and cut the dough into 12 equal pieces for normal sized rolls, or 9 pieces for really BIG ones.
Put the rolls in the buttered baking dish and flatten them slightly.
Then cover them with a damp cloth.
Rinse and repeat with the second piece of dough.
Let the rolls rise for 45 minutes to an hour, or until doubled.
When the rolls have doubled in size, bake in a 350°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
Brush the rolls with melted butter. This keeps the rolls from getting hard.
Place pans on cooling rack and let cool slightly before spreading with icing.
While rolls are cooling, prepare icing.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 oz homemade cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons whole milk
- 2 teaspoon homemade vanilla extract
- dash of sea salt
- cinnamon to sprinkle over top
Grab a small bowl and put the cream cheese in it. With a whisk or fork, stir the cream cheese until smooth.
Add milk, vanilla, and salt and mix well.
Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.
Spread icing over the cooled rolls.
If the rolls are too hot, the icing will just melt and run off.
Sprinkle with cinnamon.
This recipe makes 2 dozen rolls that are light and fluffy, with just the right amount of cinnamon filling yummyness and icing that is not too sweet.
You can even make the rolls ahead and refrigerate overnight before baking if you want to. Just take them out of the fridge, let them come to room temperature and make sure they have doubled in size before putting them in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
To keep your sourdough cinnamon rolls soft as the cool, brush them with melted butter right out of the oven. Once the frosting is on them, that will help keep them soft.
These can sit on the counter. Make sure they are tightly covered with plastic wrap, or keep them in an airtight container.
They will keep for about 3 to 5 days tightly covered on the counter before starting to get hard.
Yes you can! Tightly wrap with plastic wrap and place in a zip top freezer bag. They will keep 3 to 5 months in the freezer.
When you are ready to eat them, allow them to thaw on the kitchen counter.
PRO TIP: If you are making these ahead, freeze them without the icing. Make the icing fresh the day you are going to serve them. That way you don’t lose half the icing when it sticks to the plastic wrap.
More sourdough recipes you’ll love:
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 pound of butter 1 stick
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp yeast
- 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup dehydrated sugar cane juice
- 1/2 cup instant potato flakes
- melted butter for brushing on rolls after baking optional
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 4 Tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 cup dehydrated sugar cane juice
- 1/2 cup sucanat or packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Roll Icing
- 6 oz homemade cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar *
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 tsp homemade vanilla extract
- dash sea salt
- ground cinnamon to sprinkle over top
Instructions
- Heat the milk and butter just until the butter is melted. Then sprinkle the yeast over the milk mixture and stir to dissolve.
- Put the flour, sugar, salt, and potato flakes in a large mixing bowl and stir to mix.
- Add the starter, eggs, and milk mixture and mix until combined.
- The dough should be fairly stiff. If it’s too dry add milk 1 Tbsp at a time; if too wet, add flour 1 Tbsp at a time.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 to 8 minutes without adding too much extra flour. The dough should be slightly sticky. Form the dough into a ball and cover with the bowl.
- Now let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, butter two 9 x 13 baking pans, and prepare the filling.
Filling Instructions
- In a small pan heat the butter just until melted. Remove from heat.
- Add sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix well. I have found that when you mix it into a paste like this, it stays put better when you are rolling the dough up.
- After the dough has rested, cut into 2 equal pieces. Or, if you have room you can roll it all out at one time.
- Roll out 1/2 the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15″ x 24″ (ish) rectangle.
- Spread with half of the filling mixture, making sure to spread to the edges on the shorter sides and one of the long edges.
- Roll up the dough starting on the long side that has the filling all the way to the edge.
- Pinch the edge to seal it. Now cut the dough into 12 equal pieces for normal sized rolls, or 9 pieces for really BIG ones.
- Put the rolls in the buttered pan and flatten them slightly. Then cover them with a damp cloth.
- Repeat with the second piece of dough.
- Let the rolls rise for 45 minutes to an hour, or until doubled.
- When the rolls have doubled in size, bake in a 350°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
- Remove from oven and brush with melted butter. This keeps the rolls from getting hard. Place pans on cooling rack and let cool slightly before spreading with icing.
- While rolls are cooling, prepare icing.
Icing
- With a whisk or fork, stir the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add milk, vanilla, and salt and mix well.
- Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.
- Spread icing over the cooled rolls. If the rolls are too hot, the icing will just melt and run off.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Oh my goodness, what a delightful and delicious looking recipe! I love cinnamon rolls.
These looks so delicious! Have you ever tried them with a sweet potato added? That’s what I use usually but it would be handy to have the flakes since they’re shelf stable and easy to add. Thanks for the great recipe!
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls! What’s not to love? I can’t wait to try this recipe!
OMG!!! These look delicious! I love that it can be frozen too! I try to get all my baking done on one day and then freeze. Thank you so much!
These look awesome! Never thought of making sourdough cinnamon rolls
This looks heavenly! Definitely adding this my list to make.
I’ve gotta be honest, here… I have a MAJOR weakness for cinnamon rolls. Never tried sourdough ones, so that weakness could turn into an addiction. lol