These Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls are classically rolled in cinnamon sugar and dripping in warm delicious cinnamon vanilla cream cheese frosting. My hubby compares them to Cinnabon except better because the grains are long fermented gaining the most benefit from the fluffy breading.
I don’t know why Cinnamon Rolls have become so popular to eat over Christmas but I’m thankful for that delicious tradition. Every year we make a big pan of cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and it’s my sons favorite tradition. So cinnamon rolls are rooted in tradition here at our house and I love that my kids look forward to eating this special treat.
These Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls are so tasty. They are made with a simple dough that ferments overnight. After the dough has doubled by morning it’s placed into a mixer where baking powder and baking soda are added. This helps with that fluffy breading I keep raving about.
Then the dough is rolled out flat, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and rolled up again into a long log. Simply cut the rolls, proof for an hour and bake. BOOM. So easy!
This recipe has been under construction for quite some time. But I’ve perfected them and believe them to be foolproof.
And I’m so excited to share them with you!
Don’t have a Sourdough Starter Yet?
Before we get started you will need a sourdough starter. If you do not have one yet, here is a Day by Day Guide to help you make your own Sourdough Starter. If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of sourdough, check out my “Why Sourdough?“
Ingredients to make Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Overnight Sponge:
- Active Sourdough Starter
- Bread Flour (I always recommend Organic)
- Milk (slightly warmed, not straight out of fridge)
- Butter
- Egg
- Sugar (or honey)
- Unrefined Salt
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
Cinnamon Sugar Filling:
- Butter
- Brown Sugar (or coconut sugar)
- Cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Sugar (or Maple Syrup)
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
How to make Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
- Overnight Sponge: Mix together active sourdough starter, bread flour, milk, melted butter, egg, sugar and salt into a stand mixer for 10 minutes. Dough should pull away from the walls of your mixer. If it doesn’t then add 1 Tbsp more flour until the dough no longer sticks to the walls. Once mixed add dough to a large greased bowl and cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap. Ferment 8-12 hours until doubled in size.
The Next Morning
- After the dough has doubled, add dough back to stand mixer and add baking soda and baking powder. Mix dough for another 3-5 minutes to ensure leavening agents are mixed through.
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees F but turn off once it’s preheated. *this is a low oven for proofing rolls.
- Cinnamon Sugar Filling: In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Form Cinnamon Rolls
- Spread a little flour or a small drizzle of oil to your surface before adding the dough. Roll dough out to an 11 x 16 inch rectangle until dough is 1/4 inch thick. *if dough is fighting you and doesn’t want to spread out, leave the dough as is and rest it for 5 minutes. The gluten needs to rest and should handle better after a short break.
- Spread 3 Tbsp softened butter evenly over dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over butter layer being sure to get the sugar all the way to the ends of the dough.
- Roll the dough up tightly into a log keeping the seam side down to seal in that cinnamon sugar. For larger cinnamon rolls, roll your log from the short end of the rectangle. For smaller cinnamon rolls roll your dough from the longer end of the rectangle as shown above. (Below is a picture of baked cinnamon rolls rolled from the shorter end of the rectangle. This is solely preference and I switch it up depending if I want to yield more or less cinnamon rolls.
- With a serrated knife cut into 1 inch sections. Place rolls 1 inch apart into greased 9×13 pan or 12 inch greased skillet.
- Add rolls to warm oven (oven should be warm but not on anymore) and proof for 30 minutes to an hour. They will get nice and puffy.
- Remove rolls from warm oven and Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Once preheated add rolls back into the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting: Melt butter in small sauce pan over low heat. Add softened cream cheese and break up cream cheese into small sections. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Then using an immersion blender, blend everything together until smooth.
- Cool cinnamon rolls 5-10 minutes before frosting.
- Sprinkle more cinnamon on top for garnish and Enjoy!
Make Dough Ahead of time
- Follow the recipe and ferment the dough on the counter for 8-12 hours until doubled in size.
- Place dough into greased bowl or container and cover tightly so it’s not exposed to the air. Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days before baking.
- Remove dough and bring to room temperature! Then add dough to mixer with baking soda and baking powder as directed in the recipe.
- Continue to follow recipe as directed.
I love this option because I can make the dough mid week and pull it out when I want to bake. This makes it easier to bake the cinnamon rolls mid day for a fun afternoon snack snack too.
How to freeze and bake fresh:
Want to prepare your cinnamon rolls ahead of time so you can have fresh cinnamon rolls to bake in the morning? I have a great option for you.
Follow the recipe through step 8 where you cut the cinnamon roll dough and place it onto a greased pan. A 9×13 pan works great for this since the recipe yields about a dozen cinnamon rolls.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and then tinfoil. And place the whole pan into the freezer before the second proof.
The night before you want to bake your cinnamon rolls fresh in the morning, simple take out the entire frozen pan and leave it on the counter still covered.
Throughout the night your cinnamon rolls will thaw and go through their second proof.
When you wake up in the morning simply remove the tinfoil and plastic wrap and bake them fresh according to the recipe directions.
This is a great option for special occasions like Christmas morning. It’s so nice to prepare the cinnamon rolls ahead of time and then bake fresh when you need.
I do this hack often and it has been so helpful!
Give it a try!
Looking for other fun Sourdough breakfast ideas?
One of my most requested and favorited recipes is The Best Sourdough Pancakes or Waffles. But if you’re looking for something to switch things up from the norm, try Sourdough Monkey Bread or Sourdough Donuts or Sourdough Coffee Cake.
As much as I love my sweets I love my morning carbs to be simple with an egg and some kind of bread. Like my Soft Sourdough English Muffins or simply just eating toast and fresh eggs on my Sourdough Bread.
Give these any of these a try, I promise you will love them!
Pin for Later:
Let’s make Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls!
Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
These Fluffy Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls are classically rolled in cinnamon sugar and dripping in warm delicious cinnamon vanilla cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Overnight Sponge
- 100g Active Sourdough Starter
- 325g Bread Flour
- 125g Milk (slightly warmed)
- 1/4 cup Melted Butter
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- (add after ferment) 1 tsp Baking Soda
- (add after ferment) 1 tsp Baking Powder
- (optional, add after 2nd proof) 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 3 Tbsp Softened Butter
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8oz Softened Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 1/2 cup Sugar or Maple Syrup
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Overnight Sponge: Mix together active sourdough starter, bread flour, milk, melted butter, egg, sugar and salt into a stand mixer for 10 minutes. Dough should pull away from the walls of your mixer. If it doesn't then add 1 Tbsp more flour until the dough no longer sticks to the walls. Once mixed add dough to a large greased bowl and cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap. Ferment 8-12 hours until doubled in size.
- The next morning, or after the dough has doubled, add dough back to stand mixer and add 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder. Mix dough for another 3-5 minutes to ensure leavening agents are mixed through.
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees F but turn off once it's preheated. *this is a low oven for proofing rolls
- Cinnamon Sugar Filling: In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Spread a little flour or a small drizzle of oil to your surface before adding the dough. Roll dough out to an 11 x 16 inch rectangle until dough is 1/4 inch thick. *if dough is fighting you and doesn't want to spread out, leave the dough as is and rest it for 5 minutes. The gluten needs to rest and should handle better after a short break.
- Spread 3 Tbsp softened butter evenly over dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over butter layer being sure to get the sugar all the way to the ends of the dough.
- Starting from the long (16 inch) side, roll the dough up tightly into a long log keeping the seam side down to seal in that cinnamon sugar. (for larger cinnamon rolls, roll your log from the short end of the rectangle)Roll the dough up tightly into a log keeping the seam side down to seal in that cinnamon sugar. For larger cinnamon rolls, roll your log from the short end of the rectangle. For smaller cinnamon rolls roll the dough from the longer end of the rectangle. This is solely preference and I switch it up depending if I want to yield more or less cinnamon rolls.
- With a serrated knife cut into 1 inch sections. Place rolls 1 inch apart into greased 9x13 pan or 12 inch greased skillet.
- Add rolls to warm oven (oven should be warm but not on anymore) and proof for 30 minutes to an hour. They will get nice and puffy.
- Remove rolls from warm oven and Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Add optional 1/2 cup heavy cream overtop rolls. Once preheated add rolls back into the oven and cook for 15 minutes (add 8-10 minutes if adding cream) or until golden brown.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: Melt butter in small sauce pan over low heat. Add softened cream cheese and break up cream cheese into small sections. Remove from heat. Add sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Then using an immersion blender, blend everything together until smooth.
- Cool cinnamon rolls 5-10 minutes before frosting.
- Sprinkle more cinnamon on top for garnish and Enjoy!
Morgan
So excited to try these once they’re out of the oven! Do you make your own cream cheese or do you have a brand you like the ingredients on?
Kristen
These were yummy! I swapped out my white sugar with coconut sugar, they turned out wonderful.
Megan
Is it ok for these to ferment longer than 12 hours?
simpleisgourmet
Yes, it’s okay 🙂
simpleisgourmet
Yes, but you may want to add to the fridge so they don’t overproof at room temperature.
Brenda
Has anyone made these using the heavy cream?
Dolly
Can you freeze them without the frosting of course?
simpleisgourmet
Yes you can. Also check out my post above with directions for freezing the dough and baking them fresh in the morning. Another great option.