Description
To make sourdough cinnamon rolls, you need a sourdough starter and a few readily available baking staples. We’re making everything from scratch - the dough, the filling, and the icing. The result? The most flavorful cinnamon rolls you’ve tried! This recipe was inspired by a similar recipe from the King Arthur Baking Company.
If you like this recipe, join our newsletter to know about future ones.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Dough
- 227g (1 cup) fed sourdough starter or sourdough discard from the same day already fed.
- 3/4 cup room temperature milk
- 4 Tablespoons room temperature butter
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
Filling
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon melted butter
Icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 2 Tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
- Make the dough: Mix all the dough ingredients, except the salt, together - 2 to 3 minutes on the low speed of your stand mixer - until there is no dry flour remaining and the dough is sticky and sticks together.
- Add the salt on top of the dough, without mixing it in. Then cover and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
- Mix in and fully incorporate the salt - about 1 minute on mixer speed low. Turn the mixer up one notch and knead the dough for about 2 to 3 minutes until it’s smooth but still slightly sticky.
- Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm (room temperature) place for 4 hours, stretching and folding it in the bowl each hour.
- Make the filling by combining all the filling ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased or floured work surface and gently deflate it, patting or rolling it into a 14” x 20” rectangle.
- Spread the filling evenly over the top of the dough, leaving about 1/2” of exposed dough along one short edge.
- Roll the dough in a log, starting with the filling-coated short edge. As you roll, the log will lengthen to around 18".
- Cut the log into twelve 1+1/2” slices and place them in a lightly oil sprayed 9” x 13” pan.
- Cover the pan and let the cinnamon roll dough rise for about 2-3 hours until they are puffy.
- Bake the buns in a preheated 400°F oven for 20 minutes, or until golden. A digital thermometer inserted into the center of a middle bun should read 190°F.
- Make the icing: While the buns are baking, stir together all the icing ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Remove the buns from the oven and cool for about 10 minutes. Then spread the icing over each cinnamon bun, and enjoy!
Notes
Wrap the buns in plastic and store them at room temperature for a day or two - if they aren't eaten before then. You can freeze unfrosted buns for longer storage.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American / Northern Europe
