Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

This Sourdough Cinnamon Roll recipe will become a cherished favorite with a dough that is lightly sweet, fluffy, and easy to work with, wrapped around just the right amount of spice and sugar. It says “yum” in every mouthful.

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A Search for THE Recipe

I love making cinnamon rolls. There is just something cozy about spices mixed together with butter and rolled around sweet bread. I mean… yum!

Several years, as our growing family went from three to four, I determined that we needed to create traditions. Among my list of yearly to-dos that I hope will someday become cherished traditions in our home is to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast each Christmas morning.

As the most treasured day of the year – equal only to Easter – I feel like the cinnamon roll recipe chosen would be quite the honor.

And so began my journey of cinnamon roll recipe searching.

Not what you would call the most inconvenient task ever imagined, but a task nonetheless. I tried so many different cinnamon roll recipes that first year, our family got tired of eating cinnamon rolls. So much so that when Christmas finally came, it was out of determination that we sat down to eat cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast, not enjoyment. Nonetheless, our first annual cinnamon roll breakfast occurred, and has each year since.

But the cinnamon roll recipe quest continued.

The search to find THE Cinnamon roll recipe.

And folks, I think I may have found it.

And double points because it’s even made using a wild yeast sourdough start!

The Perfect Dough

The key to perfect cinnamon rolls in not the cinnamon-sugar filling – that stays more or less the same across recipes.

The key is in the dough.

A perfect cinnamon roll recipe needs to have the perfect dough.

The dough for these Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls is just that. The milk and eggs help the dough be light and sweet, the wild yeast gives it just the right airiness, and to top it off, this dough is so forgiving and easy to work with.

And then to bring it home with your filling of choice – see my related posts for Sourdough Orange Rolls and Sourdough Cinnamon-Orange Rolls.

Dress up any Breakfast

I might have chosen this recipe for the ultimate special occasion breakfast, but it is so easy to make that having fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon for breakfast any ol’ Thursday is totally doable.

The dough for these cinnamon rolls is perfect for mixing in the morning, leaving to rest throughout the day, forming into rolls that night, and then baking first thing in the morning.

They are seriously so easy to make, you have no excuse not to treat yourself in the middle of the week.

The Ultimate Test

Before I get into the process of making these Cinnamon Rolls, I just have to note how perfectly tasty these are as a stand-alone treat.

I am not a frosting lover, and neither is my husband. If I do make frosting, well, it’s rare. That said, these cinnamon rolls taste downright delicious on their own, without frosting.

True, you can certainly add frosting if you want. But I’m telling you, you don’t need to.

No frosting needed to cover up for unsweetened dough, no frosting needed give moisture to an otherwise dry roll – these can hold their own on the dessert plate without the added sugar and fluff of frosting.

So without further ado, let’s get into making them:

Making the Dough

Start with mixing your sourdough starter, milk*, sugar, and 2 cups of flour. Then add butter, sugar, eggs, and salt.

Add the remaining two cups of flour a little at a time until the dough is soft, but still pulls away from the bowl as you knead it. You may use the full additional 2 cups of flour, or you might only need 1 ¾ cups.

*I have used cold milk and warm milk for this recipe. Both starting temperatures of milk have returned the same result in the end; however, as you would expect, the cold milk (straight out of my refrigerator) took a lot longer to rise, pushing my baking back a couple of hours.

Warm water also works as a substitute for milk if you find yourself out of milk or perhaps you prefer the convenience of warm water over warming milk. Do keep in mind that milk helps sweeten and soften your dough. I have tried this recipe with warm water instead of milk, and the resulting cinnamon rolls were good … but they do taste better with milk, in my opinion.

Aside: My husband and I recently moved to an elevation about 3,000 feet higher than our previous home (moving from about 3,500 feet to 6,400 feet). Since moving to this higher elevation, I find that most of my baked goods come out better if I add a little less flour that the recipe calls for (which I realize is contrary to what most people claim, but, hey, that has been my experience in the kitchen).

Allow the dough to rest 30-60 minutes. Then knead your dough. At this point, the dough is going to feel quite dense and stiff, and will likely not flex much in your kneading. That is okay. Knead it a few times, then cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or a lid, and allow to rest on the counter at room temperature until nearly doubled in size.

I put that phrase in italics because the timeframe on this will likely be different kitchen to kitchen and season to season.

On a warmer day when my kitchen temperature is in the mid-70s or slightly warmer, my dough has reached this point after 3-4 hours. But I have had cold days (or if I mix my dough in the evening to rise overnight) when my kitchen hovers around 50-55 degrees and my dough takes around 12 hours to nearly double in size.

Rolling the Dough

I love using my Canvas Bread Mat for rolling out dough. It just makes cleanup that much easier. But a lightly floured counter space works great too.

Roll the dough into a rectangular shape about 1/4 – 3/8 inch thick.

As you can see in my picture above, your rectangle doesn’t have to look perfect. But keeping the shape as “squared” as you can corner to corner will help uniform your end pieces.

Spreading the Good Stuff

For the filling, I list in the recipe below to 2 Tablespoons of Cinnamon and 1 full cup of sugar (1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 brown sugar). This proportion results in your standard cinnamon to bread ratio usually found in a cinnamon roll.

My kids love them, and I am sure you will too!

Myself, and my husband … we’re both fans of “light on the cinnamon” cinnamon rolls. Which I realize sounds contrary to the dessert (or breakfast), but that’s just how it is.

For my own satisfaction, I would cut the sugar down to 3/4 cup (1/4 white sugar, 1/2 brown sugar), and cut the cinnamon back to a generous single tablespoon. Not quite 1 ½ Tablespoons, but thereabouts.

This gives these rolls plenty of cinnamon flavor without being too strong. That is just my personal preference. Try them both ways and comment down below to let me know which way you like your cinnamon rolls best!

Spread your softened butter evenly across the rolled out dough. Then sprinkle your cinnamon-sugar mixture onto the buttery surface.

Roll, then slice into 1 inch rolls. I personally prefer to use a serrated bread knife to slice through my dough. I find it much less messy than the string method.

Let it Rise

I find when it comes to cinnamon rolls, there are actually a lot of tid-bits that people show preference over.

For example, I don’t mind my cinnamon rolls touching in the pan. In fact, I kind of like it since the condensed space helps the rolls to rise up rather than out, and it also keeps the dough soft and tender.

On the other side of the aisle, my husband does not like his cinnamon rolls touching. He prefers them spread out on a large pan to bake free and uncrowded. And he likes the more-browned exterior.

Where ever you fall in the “which tastes better” battle, cook them how you like – either on a greased cookie sheet or a 9×13 dish.

When cooking in a 9×13, I usually cover with plastic wrap or the lid that goes to the pan.

When using a cookie sheet (or sheet pan), I usually try to cover it with another pan. Trying to piece together multiple strips of plastic wrap is not my favorite past time, plus plastic wrap never seems to want to stick to metal.

I love using these half sheets. The lips on the edges of the pan provide the perfect amount of space for these cinnamon rolls to rise.

Let them rise on the counter over night for quick into-the-oven baking the next morning.

Or, if you are not making these for breakfast, you can also put the rolls into the refrigerator for a slower rise. Just remember to get them out of the over a couple of hours prior to baking so that dough can wake up.

Bake

Bake 20-25 mins at 375 degrees.

(Notice that caramelized cinnamon and sugar still bubbling in the pan? You know these babies were still steaming hot out of the oven in this picture. Oh, they look delicious!! I think I’ll slip over to the kitchen and start another batch …)

Enjoy

You can enjoy these delicious Cinnamon Rolls fresh out of the oven (just be careful you don’t try to eat them too hot), or wait for them cool.

You will notice I do not include a frosting recipe within, or linked to, this Cinnamon Roll recipe. I am not really a frosting person. The only frostings I really like are Coconut-Pecan Frosting and a fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting. The first would really not pair well with cinnamon rolls, I don’t think. The second – Cream Cheese Frosting – is the perfect fitting for Cinnamon Rolls, I know. But if I’m being honest … I really don’t like the added step of putting a whole pan of cinnamon rolls in my fridge after frosting them (because I always make plenty so there are leftovers), and my go-to Cream Cheese Frosting recipe really does need refrigerated.

That said, I rarely, rarely (like bordering on edge of “never”) put frosting on my cinnamon rolls.

And these rolls don’t need it. These Cinnamon Rolls taste delicious all on their own.

But, if you are someone who loves frosting sprinkled on your breakfast or dessert, feel free to top these off with your frosting of choice.

In the end, it’s just about enjoying Every. Single. Bite. So enjoy.