Sourdough cinnamon rolls: the new every-weekend tradition? I began work on this recipe with the intention that these would be a wonderful Christmas morning indulgence, the birth of a new holiday baking custom. But after making them several times for testing, I’m convinced they should perilously be a weekend indulgence. Why limit ourselves and declare these only for special events and holidays? Seriously, let’s make them every weekend.
Cinnamon rolls fit so perfectly with the cold weather. They’re like that warm blanket you left on the radiator, that puffy wool sweater you wear around the house, or that cup of hot chocolate that breaks through the cold. Layers of tender dough segregated by ribbons of gooey cinnamon sugar and topped with a creamy, white sugar glaze—it’s enough to make you completely forget it’s cold outside or perhaps stop caring about winter altogether.
Brioche dough is the base for these sourdough cinnamon rolls, which is dough enriched with butter, sugar, and eggs. These ingredients make for an incredibly tender and mouth-melting crumb when added to a deep yellow dough. When pulled, these rolls shred apart almost like cotton candy, the only resistance provided by the melted brown sugar cinnamon near the bottom—they’re like a warm, gooey cloud of pure enjoyment. When presented with the opportunity, there’s nary a chance anyone will decline one of these on a plate.
These sourdough cinnamon rolls require a little extra effort, but once you get the hang of the process, it’s pretty straightforward—and, of course, totally worth it. The dough is also very versatile: you can adjust the mixing and baking schedule so they’re finished in a single day or spread out over three. The dough can be retarded in the refrigerator after bulk fermentation, shaping, and cutting, or both. I prefer a two-day process where I place the dough in the fridge after bulk fermentation. The next day I wake and get to work on the rolls, and I bake them fresh for breakfast (or brunch if late to rise).
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Spread
This spread has the right level of delicate sweetness and a comforting bite from the cinnamon. The mixture is more crunchy and thick than it is spreadable, which is my preference. When baked, swaths of the spread caramelize and other smaller areas stay crunchy, providing a subtle contrast of textures.
- 215g light brown sugar
- 40g all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix or whisk everything together in a bowl, so there are only a few clumps remaining. Keep covered until used (brown sugar dries out very fast).
Cream Cheese Glaze
The cream cheese added not only makes this glaze extremely velvety, but it also pairs wonderfully with vanilla. I’ve also tested various iterations, swapping out the cream cheese for maple syrup, adding orange blossom water, a dash or two of Angostura bitters… The options are endless.
- 114g cream cheese softened to room temp (4 oz, half a standard block)
- 62g (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
- 37g (3 tablespoons) whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add everything to a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk until creamy and soft. It’s best and easiest to use a mixer or handheld beater for this, but a handheld whisk will work if you want a workout. The mixer will ensure there are no stray clumps of cream cheese lingering about.
Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Recipe
It’s best to make this brioche-style dough in a stand mixer (like the one I have) due to the dough’s soft nature and relatively long mix time required. Most of the strength in this dough will be developed upfront at mix time with just a few more stretch and folds during the bulk to finish it off.
This recipe yields 12 sourdough cinnamon rolls but you can halve all the ingredients to make half a dozen (in this case, you’ll want to use a smaller pan). I’m using a USA Pan 9” x 13” rectangular pan to hold these 12 buns and because the pan is coated in silicone there’s no need for any parchment paper (it’s magic, really). If you don’t have this pan I’d recommend using parchment under the buns for easy removal.
You will need a rolling pin for this recipe (in a pinch, you could use an empty wine bottle). I am very partial to my rolling pin: it’s a non-tapered solid block of maple wood that’s functional, used in countless tasks around my kitchen, and just a beautiful tool (and made in the U.S.A.).
Sourdough Starter Notes
I know when some read this recipe title and see the word “sourdough,” thoughts of sharp sourdough cinnamon rolls might enter the mind, but this is definitely not the case. I maintain my sourdough starter with frequent refreshments to ensure acidity is kept low. Additionally, when I call for a mature starter in the ingredient list, “mature” means when my starter is just about to its peak height and has not yet fallen. If the starter is used at a state that is overly ripe (perhaps it’s fallen and has been that way for an hour or more) then the resulting rolls might be a touch sourer.
If you’re interested in how I maintain my sourdough starter head over to my Sourdough Starter Maintenance Routine post for in-depth details.
Dough Formula
The target final dough temperature (FDT) for this dough is 70-73°F (21-22°C).
| Total Dough Weight | 1,250 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 42.00% |
| Yield | One dozen rolls |
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 477g | All-purpose or bread flour (King Arthur All-Purpose Flour) | 100.00% |
| 133g | Whole milk, cold from the fridge | 28.00% |
| 191g | Unsalted butter (Kerrygold) | 40.00% |
| 191g | Whole eggs (about 4 large) | 40.00% |
| 48g | Fine white sugar (caster sugar) | 10.00% |
| 11g | Salt | 2.3% |
| 200g | Ripe, 100% hydration liquid sourdough starter | 42.00% |
Method
1. Mix – 9:00 a.m.
First, take out the butter and cut it into 1/4” to 1/2” squares; let them sit in a bowl to warm to room temperature while gathering and mixing other ingredients.
Mixing will occur in three stages (clockwise starting in the upper-left in the image above, the last image is the final dough). The first stage involves the initial incorporation of all the ingredients, followed by a 10-minute rest. The second stage will be strengthening the gluten in the dough before adding butter. The third and final stage will be adding the room-temperature butter blocks to the strengthened dough.
Initial Incorporation
In a medium bowl, add the cold eggs, cold whole milk, sugar, and mature sourdough starter. Whisk together until incorporated.
Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Set the mixer to low (level “1” on my machine, one notch above “STIR”), and slowly start to pour the liquid into the mixer bowl. Add a little at a time over the course of 3 minutes. Once finished the dough will look very wet and have clumps, let it rest for 10 minutes before further strengthening.
Strengthen Dough
After the 10-minute rest, turn the mixer to medium speed (number “4” on my machine) and mix for about 5-6 minutes until the dough starts to come together and all clumps have disappeared. The dough should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl, but it will not completely detach from the bottom. If the dough doesn’t want to come together and it’s overly wet, add a little flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it comes together.
Incorporate Butter
Butter temperature is important. It should be slightly cold to the touch but easily pliable. If the butter is too cold, it won’t incorporate easily into the dough; if it’s too warm (almost melted), it will result in a greasy dough. Don’t fret if the temperature is off. Pop the bowl with butter in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm slowly, or place it into the freezer for a minute or two to firm up. Adjust as necessary.
Add the butter to the dough one square at a time, waiting until the previous block is absorbed before adding the next. It is easiest to place it right where the hook meets the dough. Continue until all the butter is added and there are no visible butter patches; this may take 8-10 minutes at a low to medium mix speed.
2. Bulk Fermentation – 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Transfer the mixed dough to a bulk container and let it ferment for 2 hours at 75ºF (23°C). Just as when baking sourdough bread, perform 3 to 4 sets of stretch and folds during the bulk fermentation stage, spaced 30 minutes apart. To perform a set, grab one side of the dough, stretch it upward, and fold it over to the other side. Fold once at each side, North, South, East, and West. If the dough is firm after the third set, skip the last set but let the dough rest for a full 2 hours.
3. Chill Dough – 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Place the covered bulk container into the fridge for at least 2 hours (I like 3-4 hours).
Overnight option: The timing is very flexible at this point. Once the dough is covered and refrigerated, it can rest overnight, and the rest of the process can be completed in the morning for fresh rolls early in the day or for brunch.
Roll the dough out to a rectangle only when it’s completely chilled.
The dough needs to be completely cold and firm to the touch before rolling out; do not skip this step.
4. Shape Rolls – 2:00 p.m.
Before rolling out the dough, make the Brown Sugar Cinnamon mixture (see recipe, above).
Flour your work surface. Then, remove the chilled dough from the fridge and turn it out onto the floured surface. Flour the top of the dough and the rolling pin, and begin rolling the dough. Roll it out to an 11” x 21” rectangle that is oriented so one of the long sides is near your body and the squat ends are to the sides. Use a bench knife and dust the surface with flour wherever the dough sticks.
Try to keep your warm hands off the dough as much as possible to avoid heating it. Sprinkle the dry Brown Sugar Cinnamon mixture evenly over the dough, but leave a small margin at the very top bare. When the dough is rolled up, that small margin will help seal the roll.
Starting at the long end nearest you, fold up a small portion of the dough all the way across. Then, roll the dough one revolution at a time, starting at the left side and moving to the right. During the first few rolls, it’s important to roll things up sufficiently tight to make cutting and transferring easier later.
Continue rolling from left to right, one revolution at a time, until the dough is completely rolled up into a “log.” Lay a ruler and using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough every 1 3/4” inches. You can go smaller if you want squatter rolls or up to 2” for taller rolls (if you cut smaller, you’ll have more rolls and taller you’ll have fewer).
Transfer the cut discs to a baking pan with some space around each one.
A few tips to help with this step:
- Place the rolling pin in the freezer while the dough is chilling to help keep it cold
- If the dough warms up excessively while rolling out, transfer to a baking sheet and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool
- If the dough is very pliable and warm after it’s completely rolled up, place the entire rolled “log” into the fridge on a baking sheet before cutting
7. Proof – 2:30 p.m.
Place the baking pan with cut dough somewhere warm, around 77°F (25°C), to let proof for 2 hours. During proof, the rolls will relax out and start to puff up, eventually, they may touch each other but it depends on how much space you have between rolls.
Don’t be alarmed if you see any sugary liquid leaking out of the rolls, it’s totally normal. Additionally, if any of the layers develop gaps between them it only means when they rise in the oven they’ll be a little more interesting with pieces jutting up and out—beautiful.
8. Bake – Preheat oven at 4:00 p.m., Bake at 4:40 p.m.
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) during the last 30 minutes of proof. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the rolls are well colored.
Spread the glaze over the rolls once cooled. These sourdough cinnamon rolls stay great for a few days in the fridge, and I always reheat them (without glaze) in the oven or microwave to warm back up before eating. They fill the kitchen with that intoxicating aroma once again and always seem to come out as if they were freshly baked.
Conclusion
Whatever the distraction, whatever the work being done—even if a bath is drawn—the kitchen’s aroma when these are baked is sure to draw out all. It reminds me of those old cartoons where they put out a piece of cheese, and you see everyone floating toward it in a trance—just like that.
These sourdough cinnamon rolls are addicting. The brioche interior is extremely tender and silky, interrupted only by warm, gooey brown sugar cinnamon. As I alluded to earlier, the cream cheese glaze is tremendous, but the possibilities here are endless, each change bringing on a whole new dimension to these sourdough cinnamon rolls.
Well, I know I’ll be making these sourdough cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning! But now that the word is out and everyone knows what I’m baking every other weekend after that I might be expecting a few more surprise visits from friends and family. I’m completely fine with it, though, because I’m happy to share with any and all who stop by—it may just mean I sneak off with one or two before they do. Buon appetito!
Now that you have experience working with enriched dough, the next step is my naturally leavened bomboloni (doughnut) recipe! They’re based on a similar dough with just a few changes—they’re absolutely incredible. Or, if you’re looking for more rolls, have a look at my ultra-tender sourdough cardamom rolls for a different take.
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Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
- Prep Time: 7 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 cinnamon rolls
- Cuisine: American
Description
These sourdough cinnamon rolls are addicting. The brioche dough is extremely tender and silky, interrupted only by warm, gooey brown sugar cinnamon. If you’re looking for the perfect weekend treat, these cinnamon rolls are the ticket.
Ingredients
Dough
- 477g all-purpose or bread flour
- 133g milk, whole
- 191g butter, unsalted
- 191g eggs (about 4 large)
- 48g sugar, caster
- 11g salt
- 200g sourdough starter
Filling
- 215g light brown sugar
- 40g all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted and melted
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 114g (4oz, half a block) cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 62g powdered sugar
- 37g milk, whole
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix (9:00 a.m.)
Cut the butter into 1/4″ pats and let warm to room temperature while mixing the rest of the ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the eggs, milk, sugar, and sourdough starter. Whisk together until incorporated. Add the flour and salt and mix on speed 1 for 3 minutes until incorporated. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. After the 10-minute rest turn the mixer to speed 2 and mix for about 5-6 minutes until the dough starts to come together and all clumps have disappeared. The dough should start to pull from the sides of the bowl but it will not completely remove from the bottom. If the dough just doesn’t want to come together and it’s overly wet add a little flour, a tablespoon at a time until it comes together. With the mixer set to speed 1, add the butter one pat at a time, waiting to add each until the previous is absorbed. Continue until all the butter is added and the dough is shiny and smooth, this could take around 8-10 minutes. - Bulk fermentation (9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.)
Transfer the mixed dough to a bulk container and let ferment for 2 hours at 75ºF (23°C). Perform 3 to 4 sets of stretch and folds at 30-minute intervals. - Chill dough (11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.)
Place the covered bulk fermentation container into the fridge for at least 2 hours to thoroughly chill. - Shape rolls (2:00 p.m.)
First, make the filling. In a bowl mix together the filling ingredients and set aside. Next, take out your dough from the fridge, lightly flour your work surface and the dough, and roll out to an 11×21″ rectangle with a long side closest to your body. Spread the filling evenly over the dough. roll the dough up away from you into a tight log. Cut the log into pieces every 1 3/4″. Transfer the cut pieces to a baking pan with space around each one. - Proof (2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
Cover the pan and proof somewhere warm, around 77°F (25°C), for 2 to 3 hours. The dough will relax and puff up during this time. They’re ready to bake when the dough feels very soft and light—give the dough additional time to proof if necessary. - Bake (4:30 p.m.)
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Slide the rolls into the oven once preheated and bake for 20-25 minutes. Spread the glaze over the rolls once cooled.
Notes
These sourdough cinnamon rolls are best the day they’re made, but can be reheated the next day (without glaze) and then topped with freshly mixed glaze.
If you use this recipe, tag @maurizio on Instagram and use the hashtag #theperfectloaf so I can take a look! Thanks so much to USA Pan for sponsoring this sourdough post! As always, all opinions and thoughts here are my own.
673 Comments
Hi! Thanks for the recipe and the comprehensive guide. I made 3/4 of a batch and got 10 massive rolls! I think I’ll have to reduce the amout of liquid next time. I live in South East Asia where it’s really humid so the dough was too soft and it spread a litle too much while proofing. But I still got great results! Love this recipe!
You’re welcome! Yes, adjustments will have to be made especially if you’re at a very humid location. No worries, though, simple changes. Hope the next batch turns out even better — happy baking!
Thank you for a fabulous recipe! This will be my “go to” recipe when we want cinnamon rolls. I baked these this morning after starting the process about mid day yesterday. Once the rolls were sliced and in the baking pan, I did a “partial proof” for about an hour, then covered and refrigerated them. I pulled them out of the refrigerator this morning (they continued to proof in the refrigerator) one hour before putting them in the oven. They baked to perfection in thirty minutes. (I wish I could post a picture so you all could see how perfect they are.) While they baked I made the cream cheese topping. My family and neighbors were eating them just an hour and forty five minutes after taking them out of the refrigerator. Thank you again. Your recipe made ten people very happy this morning.
I’ve been baking with my own wild yeasts for just over seven years and I bake two or three (or four) times a week. I tend and bake with two different sourdoughs. The oldest is seven and the younger is four years old. I’m always looking for great recipes and so glad to have found your site. Pizza tomorrow night – can’t wait to try your recipe!
You’re very welcome! That’s awesome to hear about the partial proof method, very nice technique. Adjustments like that can be done throughout the process, it’s a pretty forgiving dough! Timing is key with these, too, hungry people will only wait for so long in the morning 🙂
Super glad to have you along and I hope the pizza recipe turned out well for ya!
Rita, what a great idea you had. I am just getting ready to make the dough for tomorrow (my mom always made cinnamon rolls for Easter when growing up and now the tradition has fallen upon me) and your process fits perfectly into my schedule for the day of shopping, baking and cleaning up!
Wishing you and your family a joyful Easter … and great cinnamon rolls!
Have a wonderful Resurrection Day Rita! Thanks! And they were so good! Maurizio, the crumb is as tender as you said!
I made cinnamon rolls a few weeks ago with another wild yeast of just Einkorn flour for my friends and they were quite sour and it was too rich with the cream cheese icing in my opinion. So, I decided to use sour cream for the icing instead. What a nice, delicate creamy taste!
Wish I could take a picture of them, the Einkorn loaf (for family later today) and the 2 loaves of M’s sourdough whole wheat sandwhich bread for us this week all that got baked this morning. I’m rockin it!
Sounds like being a guest at your house is a GREAT thing!! Glad to hear this 🙂
Lol! If I ever get to build a house around the kitchen I have in mind, it will be made for guests and you are welcome ANY time if you ever want to venture to Ohio!
Hello M! I’m making a batch as we speak and while I’m sure they’re going to turn out tasting great, they have chosen to more or less…melt. Rather than having a nice 2×2″ish bun, I have fairly flat looking cinnamon roll cookies. I wonder what happened! Any ideas? PS: I used about half the ammount of Levain partly because I didn’t have enough and partly because I needed to leave my dough in the fridge overnight; Is this a possible cause?
Hey there, Sarah! So sorry for the late reply. Some “melting” is ok, as the dough proofs the filling will kind of ooze out (and it’s incredibly delicious when baked). It’s possible you proofed for a bit too long or at too high of a temperature OR you might not have rolled everything up tight enough so it all stays inside. Those are my guesses! I hope they turned out great.
Hi Maurizio would it be ok to use the excess sourdough starter(discard) that has been stored in the fridge to use for the buns?
You could try but there are a lot of variables there. You want your starter to be strong enough to leaven the dough, if it’s been in there for a long time without refreshment I’d be hesitant to use it. You could use that discard to try and make a specific levain for these buns and therefore use all the discard plus a little extra to ramp it back up — that’s another option!
Thank you for this recipe. I am making it for the second time today. I wonder if your baking time is correct, though? Mine came our rock hard and dry. I found a similar recipe on another website and they only bake for 20 to 25 minutes. I am going to bake it for the shorter time as I loved the taste anyway.
Please, adjust as necessary for your environment and oven. I live at a very high altitude so I tend to have to bake things a little longer than most! Pull back the bake time until they look “done” to you 🙂 Happy baking!
Hello Maurizio, I am so thankful for your sourdough obsession and truly feel it is an Art of baking! I have been baking with sourdough for 6 months now and I’m thoroughly enjoying the entire process. Especially seeing as we have had one cold winter here in Canada. I recently made your pizza and my husband and I both agree it’s the BEST pizza we ever had! Now I need to try more of your recipe’s and wondering if there’s another timeline I can follow so that I can wake up and bake your cinnamon rolls? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for all your efforts! Jojo Tosh
That’s really great to hear! Happy to hear the pizza went over so well also, it’s a staple over here and gets lots and lots of use!
You can use the refrigerator at most points in the process to “pause” the dough. One thing you could do is shape the cinnamon rolls and place them in the pan, the next morning (very early) get up, take them out and put them somewhere really warm to speed up the proof time. Then could be ready in a few hours if warm enough. Play with the times and temps for that final proof to suit. You could also try proofing partway the night before, toss them into the fridge, then finish the proof in the morning (maybe half time the night before and half in the morning). I’ve not tried this but it should be possible…
Hope that helps and happy baking!
Thanks, I will try your suggestions!
And yes, your pizza recipe will be added to our Saturday nights!!!
Another quick question, I’ve read somewhere that to test if the starter is active enough to use you drop a little bit of it in a glass of water and if it floats, it’s ready. Do you believe this to be true?
The “float test” works pretty well in some circumstances. It works if you have a liquid starter, a “stiff” starter (one that’s like 65% hydration) doesn’t really float so it’s not very reliable in that case. But yes, as a general rule once your starter floats it usually has enough activity to leaven your dough.
I really want to try making some cinnamon rolls like these but i don’t have a stand mixer. Do you think that i can successfully make these by hand and a danish dough whisk?
You can certainly make this without a stand mixer! The dough might be a bit challenging as you’ll have to mix for more time than I list here but keep at it until it comes together, incorporates all the butter, and looks like I have in my pictures above. I’ve had reports from other readers who have made these successfully without a mixer!
I am so glad I found your blog and looking forward to starting very first starter, so thank you for devoting so much of your free time to developing and maintaining this site; it is wonderful. This cinnamon roll and the waffle recipes are the first two my husband and I are looking forward to trying. To that end can you please confirm the oven temperature and time for this recipe? Under step number 8 it states to preheat the oven to 400 degrees but right underneath that it says 350 degrees and to bake for 40 – 50 minutes which seems like it might be a long time for a fully-risened roll.
Again, thanks again!
Joyce
You’re very welcome, glad to have you along! The title of that section says to “Preheat oven at 4:00 p.m.” but I can see how it does look like “preheat to 400”! Preheat your oven to 350ºF and bake for about 40 minutes. It takes that long here but I’m also at 5280 ft. elevation (things take longer to bake), keep an eye on your rolls near that time to cut the bake earlier if you notice they are coloring too fast.
Happy baking, Joyce!
I am ready to try to make the cinnamon rolls but am having a hard time converting the measurements. (Please people, don’t judge me.) Can you please list the flour, milk, butter, sugar, salt and sourdough in tablespoons, cups or whatever is equivalent? Thank you.
No worries, Gloria, no judgement shall happen! Unfortunately I’ll have to go back and convert these to be 100% accurate. There are calculators online, though, that should get you in the ballpark!
Thank you for the suggestion. I will keep snooping around to see what I can figure out. I thought King Arthur Flour had posted your recipe with the conversion but had no success on finding it. I will continue to look. Thanks again. Enjoy your site with all your information.
I wrote an article for King Arthur Flour for a naturally leavened kugelhopf (which also uses brioche dough as the base). They did the conversion for me to Imperial units! They do have a really nice conversion table at their website and it works very well with their flour. If you search for it at their site you’ll find it.
Thanks and glad you’re enjoying my site!
Must have figured something out correctly cause the rolls turned out fantastic!! I’m not even kidding. They were huge, tender and oh so delicious. Thank you so much for doing all the work figuring it out for us. Also I challenged myself to try your pizza crust and that was just to die for. It turned out as you described it. Thanks again for the step by step success.
Ahh that’s so, so great to hear! Glad these turned out so well for you 🙂 I love that pizza dough recipe, like I’ve said here a bunch, I make it just about every other week and it’s a huge hit with my family (and guests)!
You’re welcome, happy baking!
Hi Maurizio! I mixed this cinnamon roll dough last night. Planned on baking this morning. Unfortunately while baking sourdough bread last night, the heating coil in my oven broke! Was wondering if I could freeze these once in my pan before proofing? Thanks for any advice!
Hey Ashley! Super sorry to hear about your oven, that’s a real bummer (I have nightmares of this happening to me!). I have not tried freezing the dough but I have high hopes it will work well; I seem to remember reading other bakers freezing their dough. Please give it a try and let me know how it works out for you! I could see myself doing this in the future to always have these rolls on hand 🙂
Will do, thanks so much!
Hey Maurizio – do you have any experience using other flours in enriched doughs like brioche? I’d like to try replacing some of the bread flour with spelt or whole wheat, both for flavor and nutrition. Any suggestions? Thanks for another great post 🙂
Hey, Kat! I have not used any other flour types when working with enriched dough but this definitely something I’ll be working on soon. I think using these other flours would be fantastic, spelt in particular. Just be careful when hydrating the dough, spelt can quickly go over… Hope that helps and be sure there will be something here when I get to playing with this! Thanks 🙂
Awesome thanks so much! I am proofing some rolls now that are 30% wholemeal spelt hybrid sourdough/yeast brioche… I increased the milk and eggs a bit… seemed pretty thirsty compared to past bakes with just bread flour. Fingers crossed! Will let ya know how it turns out 🙂
Oooh that sounds awesome!!
Maurizio, it’s one mouthwatering article with beautiful narration. The recipe is on point, the cinnamon rolls turned out really nice and fluffy. YES, NOT SOUR at all, very delicious. They were well received by friends and family. Thank you!
Thanks so much for the feedback Jinal, really happy to hear they worked out so well for you and your friends/family! The only problem with this recipe is it seems once people have them they keep requesting them 🙂 Ciao!
Oh mannnn, these look so good! I always make cinnamon rolls for xmas morning but I’ve always made the straightforward yeasted variety. With this recipe, could you form the rolls, refrigerate overnight, and then proof + bake the next morning?
Thank you! Yes, you could definitely do that — this dough is very flexible. Happy baking!
Looks like an awesome recipe, Maurizio – can’t wait to try it ( hmmm maybe tomorrow? 🙂 )
One comment though – in the “Method” section you refer back to using a mature starter, but unlike for the levain in your bread recipes, the timings here don’t include the time needed for building the starter. I don’t usually have more than about 150-180 g starter on hand and you do specify mature – i.e at or just past peak – starter so it should be built right before starting the dough build. Seems like it would add at least 2-4 hours to the process.
One more question/suggestion – I’m wondering if you’ve tried, or would consider trying, the Japanese Tangzhong method for making doughs more moist, fluffy, and stale-resistant http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/39723/my-tangzhong-roux-faq. I just learned about it and it seems like it would be a great thing to try here. It’s used in Hokkaido Milk Bread and often for the pain de mie style breads they like so much in Japan.
Wow, thank you so much for sending this over! I’ve actually never heard of this method but you have my curiosity so piqued I want to try it ASAP. I could see this method working very, very well for these rolls… I need to give it a try!
Thanks, Jeff! The weekend is the perfect time 🙂
So for this recipe I don’t build a specific levain, I just use some of my starter when it’s mature. Really, your levain and starter are the same thing but when I refer to my “starter” I mean my on-going culture that I always feed and never completely use up in a single bake. To make this recipe easy I just call for snatching a bit of that on-going starter and use it to make this dough. You can do this however you want: build up your starter a bit the night before so there’s enough to cover the requirement in this recipe; OR you could even make a specific levain for this recipe and use it in total in the dough mix. Either way works.
Hope that helps!
looks soooo good! I will be trying this on Saturday! Any plans for posting a sourdough baguette recipe or for sourdough croissants??
Thanks, Kevin! I do have plans for both sourdough baguettes and croissants but I’m not quite there yet. Those two things definitely are a challenge and will require some proper testing and development. I’ll get there soon!
Can’t wait to try this recipe, might have to wait a while after all my holiday indulgences! Just wanted to share – I have made a very similar recipe, but a savoury version (cut back to 14g sugar). After rolling out the dough I sprinkle on a mixture of white pepper, smoked paprika and dry mustard, then lay some thin slices of black forest ham and shredded sharp cheddar. Roll up and brush the tops with some melted butter.
I haven’t commented on your other recipes but your help with my starter was invaluable, and I have make many successful loaves because of you. I just got the Tartine book for Christmas but I think your blog is the best!
Yes, it’s time to take a (short) break from sweets 🙂 Or maybe take your idea and just make these savory! That sounds fantastic, I haven’t tried these savory-style but I’ll add it to my to-bake list.
Really glad to hear my site has helped so much, thank you for the kind words and happy baking!
I just revived my starter that I had neglected for 6 months. I also just started following your blog (beautiful!) Just wondering if you’ve tried making these up to step 7 the day before, and then refrigerate overnight (doing the final proof and bake) in the morning? If not, thoughts on the viability of that? Thank you!
Thank you! Yes, I’ve refrigerated them in shape (after rolling) and then proofed and baked the next day — they came out great! Just make sure you bake them after sufficient proof time, you’ll have to keep in mind they are cold from the fridge and will take a little extra time to warm up.
These look AMAZING! I’ve only ever tried instant yeasted cinnamon rolls, so this will be happening in my kitchen soon. This is also the simplest sd cinnamon roll recipe I’ve ever seen; others call for ingredients like mashed potatoes???
Side question: you keep calling the dough “brioche.” Is this a legit brioche dough I could shape into other purposes (buns, loaf, etc)?
Thank you, really appreciate that! I’ve never used mashed potatoes 🙂
This is definitely “brioche” dough but I slightly reduced the percentage of sugar and butter from what you’ll sometimes see in other brioche recipes. I didn’t want this dough to be overly sweet and rich because it was intended to have a sweet icing on top — too much sweet can be a bad thing. That said, I’d definitely try using this recipe for hamburger buns or the like, it would be delicious! Once the weather warms up I’ll do just that 🙂 I could also see this making a really great babka…
Hey, you actually made this dough (more or less) into hamburger buns! How exciting, I think I might have inspired someone. 🙂
Yup, you did! Really though, this brioche base is so adaptable, like you said, it’s just perfect for buns — and a future loaf or two 🙂
Happy holiday weekend!
Perfection!! So sooooo good.
Thank you!!
Hi Maurizio!!
Thank you SO MUCH for your post. We made these today and I think we may have made a mistake. When the rolls were done, there was a cinnamon gooey paste at the bottom on the parchment paper that was like camelized/candied cinnamon sugar. Although tasty, it made the bottoms gummy and hard to cut through. Any ideas what could have gone awry? A couple of notes. We were not able to place all of the rolls in our 9×13 pan so we used a 9×13 and a 8×8 and spread them out a little more. Is it possible that there was too much room and caused the filling to ooze out and get scorched?
You’re very welcome! That does happen sometimes, usually it’s not a problem as I think it tastes pretty good but I could see it being an issue if the rolls were hard to cut through. I’ve found this happens when I don’t roll them up quite as tight, the spread does seem to leak out a bit. You could try to roll them up a bit tighter next time and pack them in a little closer to see if that helps — I have a feeling that will.
Not sure I can think of anything else to remedy, I think this is a common thing with cinnamon rolls. Let me know if you discover a way to keep them more contained other than my suggestions.
Thanks again and happy baking!
Thank you again for the lovely recipe ???? I mad it with 200g of white whole wheat and the rest all purpose flour.
Absolutely Delicious!
Come over and see my blog. .
http://maggiggie55.blogspot.ca/2016/12/sourdough-white-whole-wheat-cinnamon.html?m=1
Perfect! They really do look delicious, love the mods 🙂
Hi Maurizio , what does (love the mods) mean?? lol…Oh , did you see my Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls ?????
Yes, saw the rolls and like the “mods” (modifications)!
Oh! I see, you don’t leave me a comment. .
Excellent post. These look so amazing.
Turns out the first bread I ever made (when I was 8 or so) was brioche dough – just never knew it because it was simply the way my grandmother made rolls and cinnamon rolls. Of course, she used yeast and so have I for her recipe. I have been thinking for months now to try her recipe using starter instead of yeast and this gives me the push I needed. Thanks!!
One little tip for the cutting: using a piece of thread or (unflavoured) dental floss makes the cleanest fastest cuts. Just slip the thread under the rolled log and bring it up around the dough, cross at the top and pull. Presto beautiful clean cut.
Finally – speaking from experience, it is totally possible to make this by hand. It is actually very therapeutic 🙂
Thanks again for the beautiful work you do. I always look forward to a new post. And I always make it ????
Thank you! I love how I bake/cook things from my childhood later in life and then finally realize exactly what it was my mom/dad/grandma were doing 🙂 Glad this is giving you that push you need, I know you’ll do really well with it!
The thread idea for cutting is brilliant! I am very careful when cutting these but no matter what knife is used some amount of snagging will occur. Will give this a try next time!
I’m lucky to have my stand mixer but I honestly don’t really use it much. It’s pretty much tasked with cookies and brioche, that’s about it — well maybe now it will get even more use with these rolls popping up!
You’re very welcome, thanks so much and I hope you enjoy them! Hope you had a great holiday!
To clarify quickly, does the above recipe call for 200g of starter? It says 200gg and I wanted to make sure I was adding the correct amount. Many thanks! Great blog by the way!
Yes, just 200 grams — I’ve fixed the typo, thanks for catching that! Thanks for the kind words and enjoy!
Thank you! Yes, I’m working on a print function… I like to insert photos as the steps progress but I’m working on a way to print just the text from each of these. I’ll start doing it very soon!
I’ve made the Tartine brioche in the past using a poolish and it comes out great but I find this recipe produces some excellent results. Happy baking!
Buon Natale Marisa! No worries, the recipe is always here waiting for you 🙂 I’m making another batch of these as I type this, perfect for tomorrow morning. Sounds like you guys have the dinner rolls for a weeks worth of meals! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday and here’s to next year’s sourdough adventures!
This might sound crazy, but I don’t have a stand up mixer. Is it possible to hand-mix or maybe use a blendtec?
Same question here! I have a Vitamix, although I’ve never done any dough mixing with it.( I only have the ‘wet’ blade). I’ve being seeing your beautiful Insta posts of these rolls and have been anxiously awaiting this post! Any tips for us non-stand mixer folks would be much appreciated!! Thank you!
Hello, Brook! I just replied to @Jacqueline, above, take a look at my reply. Unfortunately I don’t have too much advice for those without a mixer… Luckily I’ve had this KitchenAid one for a long, long time.
Here is a video that might provide some help, I’ve not done this personally but it looks like it could work!
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough.html
Hope this helps 🙂
That’s not crazy at all, not everyone has one! I honestly don’t know how the blentec would do with this but I worry it wouldn’t work too well since it would essentially cut the dough (the gluten network we’re trying to build). I think blenders work ok for things like pie crust but this dough is different.
You can also mix this by hand but it’s going to be a bit of a workout! I’ve never done brioche dough by hand and I think it would require quite a bit of work to get the butter into the dough, you’d probably have to use a spoon and bowl to take on that task.
So sorry I can’t be of more help, you’re venturing down unexplored territory for me 🙂
I just replied to @brookmoniger:disqus below with a link to a video of Bertinet mixing some brioche dough by hand, this could work!
Thanks–I’ve been waiting for this–it will be my holiday baking task!
Super glad to hear that! I’m on the task right now as well, can’t wait to have another one 😀 Happy holidays!
Fantastic Post as always! This is the first thing I want to bake upon returning.
Thank you Jinal! Looking forward to hearing how you like them. Happy holidays!
You read my mind!! I make cinnamon buns every Christmas morning, but never with sourdough! Trying this recipe this year!
Super glad to hear that! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. As usual your post is so welcoming and so wonderfully written in details that it is so very easy to understand. And the pictures!!!!! It is so wonderfully done that I can almost smell the cinnamon rolls in my own kitchen. Thanks. Mantana
Thanks so much Mantana, I really appreciate the kind words! These really are hypnotic when they’re baking — so dangerous 🙂 Happy holidays!
Yay!!! thank you and happy holidays!!!
You’re very welcome, happy holidays!
Hi Maurizio, what do you mean by roll one revolution at a time? I’m not clear on that….
I just mean one turn, one physical roll of the dough. Sorry for the confusion!
thank you for sharing this lovely recipe Maurizio, and have a wonderful Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2017 .P.S. this is not the whole wheat one , is it?
This is not whole wheat, but I’ve been playing with that as well. I’ll probably do a future update to this with more whole grains 🙂
Merry Christmas Rosa!
Oh I see, I probably could minus about 200 grams maybe of white flour and use whole wheat or red winter hard wheat, which one do you think I should use please let me know.????
You can definitely! If you have white whole wheat I’d go with that for the more mild flavor but red will work just as well 🙂
Thank you Maurizio
Happy Holidays…
You’re very welcome — happy holidays!
Merry Christmas to you, Maurizio and thank you for this nice recipe
You’re very welcome! Thanks so much Guy, happy holidays!
Thank you for posting this just in time for Christmas breakfast.
You’re very welcome and this is exactly what I’m going to be making as well 🙂 Happy holidays Christie!