Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

My love for cinnamon rolls was started early in my childhood.

It was one of the rare things my mother would make from scratch. I remember she would buy instant yeast, a large bag of the off brand flour, copious amounts of the cheapest (but real!) butter she could find and go to town baking.

She would only do this 1-2 times a year. Specifically I remember it was almost always around the holidays. And every time she did it, friends would line up to make sure they got some.

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Sometimes she would get fancy and make caramel cinnamon rolls but most of the time it was just plain old cinnamon rolls with a cream cheese icing.

I loved helping with the cutting of the cinnamon rolls because my mom had this trick she used that felt mind blowing to my young, impressionable mind. She would use unflavored dental floss to slice the cinnamon rolls. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. You slide the floss under the log of dough and wrap it up and around then pinch the dough with it making a perfect, clean cut.

Nowadays my cinnamon rolls look different than hers. In fact they are a whole different food, really.

What they have in common is that familiar warm, cinnamon and sweet taste. The aroma is similar; filling and wafting through the house, just making it feel like home.

However they differ more than they are the same. Mine use sourdough starter in place of yeast, resulting in a longer fermentation and easier digestibility. Mine are less sweet than my mothers because I don’t like overly sweet things now. I also use the best quality ingredients including organic flour, grass fed butter and homegrown, pasture raised eggs.

These Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls are everything a cinnamon roll should be; fluffy, soft and tender, just sweet enough and full of warm cinnamon.

We typically eat them plain but you can definitely add icing if you’d like.

As always notes about this recipe to ensure success:

• Knead, knead, knead. These need to pass windowpane to achieve that soft fluffy texture! If you are unsure of what windowpane is head here.
• The dough will be scary looking at first, do NOT add more flour. Just keep kneading. When the gluten is fully developed (i.e passing the windowpane test) it will be a slightly sticky, cohesive ball that cleans the sides of the bowl and doesn’t stick to the bottom. After the full fermentation it will be a floofy joy to work with.
• Don’t skimp on the rise times. With enriched (a dough with added butter and eggs) sourdough it takes time. The dough is heavier and richer than a lean sourdough and thus takes more time to rise. But it SO worth it. These need a full 6-8 hours to rise to double then another 4-6 hours for the second proof to again double.
• You can also retard these overnight in the fridge so you can bake in the morning. To do so, shape the rolls and place in the pan then cover so they don’t dry out (clean garbage bags come in handy for this) and let proof at room temp 2-3 hour then place in the fridge until morning (8-10 hours). In the morning get them out first thing and let them sit at room temp while the oven preheats. When the oven is preheated bake as normal.
• The way this recipe is written will make 8 LARGE cinnamon rolls if you’d like more, smaller ones cut the log into rolls at 1-2″ intervals instead of 2-3″ intervals and increase the pan size.

These are always a favorite for my girls. I hope they bring your family as much joy!

Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

For the Dough

• 600g flour
• 287g milk, (I use raw milk but I think a dairy free alternative would work too)
• 100g refreshed starter
• 85g cane sugar
• 5g salt
• 2 large eggs
• 55g butter, room temp

For the Filling

• 2/3 cup butter, room temp
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 2 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients except for the butter to a stand mixer. Start the mixer slowly with the dough hook attached to stir everything together so that flour doesn’t fly everywhere. When most of the flour is absorbed turn the mixer to level 2 and keep kneading.
2. While the mixer is running add walnut sized chunks of the room temp butter, one at a time to the dough. Only add another chunk once the previous chunk of butter is fully incorporated into the dough. Keep doing this until the butter is all added to the dough.
3. Once all the butter is in the dough continue to knead for 7-10 minutes or until window pane is achieved, the dough is smooth, and cleaning the sides of the bowl. It will be slightly sticky to the touch still. It may take your mixer longer than 10 minutes to knead (mine takes like 15 minutes) just be sure to watch the mixer so it doesn’t get hot. If you mixer is getting hot feel free to stop the mixer, cover the dough and let rest for 10-15 minutes then resume kneading.
4. Once windowpane has been achieved and kneading is done, place the dough in a bowl and cover so that it is air tight. Leave at room temp to rise until double, about 6-8 hours.
5. When the dough has risen double turn it out onto a floured counter. Roll it 1/4-1/2 inch thick in a large rectangle roughly 18″x 12″ or so.
6. Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl so that you have a pasty spread then spread over the rectangle of dough keeping about a 1/2″ away from all the edges.
7. After spreading the filling, roll the dough into a log starting with the top edge that is furthest away from you. Roll it down to the bottom edge that is closest to you and pinch the edge to the dough log to seal it.
8. You should have a long log of dough roughly 18″ long. Now cut the dough log at 2-3″ intervals and place these chunks (cinnamon rolls) into a 12″ cast iron skillet or a 9″ cake pan (the 9″ cake pan will be a tight fit but will work).
9. Place the pan inside a clean garbage bag and fold the opening over so that no air gets inside. Leave at room temp to proof for 4-6 hours or until double in size. Alternatively you can place them in the fridge for 8-10 hours after 2 hours of room temp proofing.
10. When the rolls are done proofing preheat oven to 375*f. When the oven is preheated bake rolls for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown at the edges, set in the middles and smelling done.

5 from 7 votes

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Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

Extra fluffy and soft Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls are warm and inviting with melt in your mouth tenderness, sweet sugary goodness, and spicy cinnamon.

Servings 8 rolls

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 600 g flour
• 287 g milk
• 100 g starter
• 85 g sugar
• 5 g salt
• 2 eggs
• 55 g butter room temp

For the Filling

• 2/3 cup butter room temp
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients except for the butter to a stand mixer. Start the mixer slowly with the dough hook attached to stir everything together so that flour doesn’t fly everywhere. When most of the flour is absorbed turn the mixer to level 2 and keep kneading.
2. While the mixer is running add walnut sized chunks of the room temp butter, one at a time to the dough. Only add another chunk once the previous chunk of butter is fully incorporated into the dough. Keep doing this until the butter is all added to the dough.
3. Once all the butter is in the dough continue to knead for 7-10 minutes or until window pane is achieved, the dough is smooth and cleaning the sides of the bowl. It will be slightly sticky to the touch still. It may take your mixer longer to than 10 minutes to knead (mine takes like 15 minutes) just be sure to watch the mixer so it doesn’t get hot. If you mixer is getting hot feel free to stop the mixer, cover the dough and let rest for 10-15 minutes then resume kneading.
4. Once windowpane has been achieved and kneading is done, place the dough in a bowl and cover so that it is air tight. Leave at room temp to rise until double, about 6-8 hours.
5. When the dough has risen double turn it out onto a floured counter. Roll it 1/4-1/2 inch thick in a large rectangle roughly 18″x 12″ or so.
6. Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl then spread over the rectangle of dough keeping about a 1/2″ away from all the edges.
7. After spreading the filling, roll the dough into a log starting with the top edge that is furthest away from you. Roll it down to the bottom edge that is closest to you and pinch the edge to the dough log to seal.
8. You should have a long log of dough roughly 18″ long. Now cut the dough log at 2-3″ intervals and place these chunks (cinnamon rolls) into a 12″ cast iron skillet or a 9″ cake pan (the 9″ cake pan will be a tight fit but will work).
9. Place the pan inside a clean garbage bag and fold the opening over so that no air gets inside. Leave at room temp to proof for 4-6 hours or until double in size. Alternatively you can place them in the fridge for 8-10 hours after 2 hours of room temp proofing.
10. When the rolls are done proofing preheat oven to 375*f. When the oven is preheated bake rolls for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown at the edges, set in the middles and smelling done.

I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to my cinnamon rolls but I am thinking of branching out. What would you fill these with other than cinnamon sugar?? Let me know in the comments!