Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

These sourdough cinnamon rolls are soft, tender, cinnamon sugar perfection. Look no further for the actual best cinnamon rolls of your life, where each bite is like the center roll!

I spent years testing these sourdough cinnamon rolls. Sometimes, I can take my experience and produce a dessert or bread that is close to the best, like this carrot cake roll! Other times, I have to really work at it. I tested this bergamot molten chocolate cake close to 30 times to get it perfect; these cinnamon rolls come in a close second.

Thus it is with all the confidence I give you, THE BEST sourdough cinnamon roll recipe. They are tender and soft with the perfect amount of cinnamon sugar filling. The dough is pillowy and so soft.

But If you’re craving all the flavor for cinnamon rolls but want half the work, I give you cinnamon scones, or maybe you are ready to take your cinnamon roll game up a notch, then check out these apple cinnamon rolls or cereal milk cinnamon rolls!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Whole Milk: I use whole milk in yeasted breads for the added flavor and fat. It has a lower water content, and the extra fat helps keep the rolls tender and moist. You can substitute any milk alternative. 
• Active Dry Yeast: Active dry yeast gives this dough a little boost, like with my sourdough raisin bread. If you don’t have dry active yeast, you can substitute double the weight of fresh yeast.The commercial yeast can be omitted; the dough will just take a little longer to proof. 
• Large Egg
• Unsalted Butter
• All-Purpose Flour: I use all-purpose flour in the majority of my bread recipes because it has the perfect amount of gluten for developing a strong network while remaining tender and soft. You can use bread flour, but I would not recommend using pastry or cake flour, as they lack sufficient protein for proper gluten development. 
• Active Sourdough Starter: 100% active starter is the standard feeding for my sourdough starter recipe. Meaning the percentage of water is equal to the amount of flour.  
• Salt
• Granulated Sugar: The sugar is here for flavor and to aid in the caramelization of the crust. It also acts as a readily accessible food source for the yeast.
• Dark Brown Sugar: I use dark brown sugar for the filling, but you can also use light brown sugar to achieve an equally delightful effect.
• Ground Cinnamon 
• Heavy Cream 
• Confectioner’s Sugar
• Vanilla Extract

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations for Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

• Caramel cinnamon rolls! You can create a fun hybrid between these cinnamon rolls and this pecan sticky buns recipe by adding a layer of salted caramel sauce to the bottom of the baking pan before adding the rolls. Consider adding a drizzle on top for caramel in every bite.  
• Add some fruits or nuts. Take inspiration from these strawberry cinnamon rolls and add your favorite jam or pie filling! You can swirl in cherry pie filling or this easy peach preserves recipe! Or roll in your favorite toasted nuts for a crunchy surprise.
• Cream cheese frosting! Top the cinnamon rolls with this easy cream cheese buttercream frosting or the glaze from these overnight cinnamon rolls! 
• Individual cinnamon buns. Place each cinnamon roll in a greased muffin tin for an individual serving!

Professional Tips

• Pay attention to my measurements! This is key to achieving the perfect filling-to-dough ratio. Trust me. Everything is measured down to the gram to create the perfect cinnamon roll. For the best results, use a kitchen scale.
• Have the patience to make your butter the perfect level of softness. Melted butter and temped butter do not have the same properties. Your filling will not stay where it is supposed to or have the right texture if you are lazy and melt your butter. From one impatient person to another, it’s worth it!
• Use your ruler! If you want equal rolls, use your ruler! I have a clear ruler that I keep in my kitchen just for baking. When rolling out the dough, you want to try to keep those sharp corners. And when dividing the dough, a ruler will come in handy to slice the rolls the same size. 

How to Make Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

Use these instructions to make these soft and easy sourdough cinnamon rolls! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Make the Dough:

Step 1: Activate the yeast. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm milk, then sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Whisk to break up any clumps. Allow to bloom (sit unperturbed) for 10 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly.

Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients for the dough to the bowl. All at once! Just dump it in there!

Step 3: Mix until smooth. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and mix until all the flour is incorporated and no lumps remain.

Step 4: Switch to the dough hook attachment. Mix on medium low speed for 3-4 minutes. The dough will not pull away from the sides of the bowl or climb the hook. It is a wet dough, and this is not in its nature. That is OK!

Bulk Fermentation: 

Step 5: Let the dough rise. Turn out into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and bulk proof in a warm place for 30-45 minutes. When it has doubled, it is done!

My oven has a proof setting that I use at 85°F. You can also proof the dough in the refrigerator. This is called “retarding” the dough. It will make it proof slower, but the cold dough will be easier to work with.

Make the Filling:

Step 6: While the dough proofs, make the filling. In a bowl, mix the soft butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix until a paste forms. Set aside.

Assemble and second rise: 

Step 7: On a lightly floured work surface turn out your dough onto the counter. A bowl scraper or rubber spatula helps here because the dough is sticky. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on top of the dough and flour a rolling pin.

Step 8: Roll the dough out into a 12-inch-long by 10-inch-high rectangle. (Try to keep those sharp corners! It’s harder than it looks, but it’s good to have goals, right?)

Step 9: Once you have your rectangle, spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture with an offset spatula. Sometimes it is necessary to let your fingers join the party to help spread/hold the dough. I purposefully keep a border on the top and the bottom edge.

Step 10: Shape the rolls. Starting at the bottom edge (12 inches across), start to roll away from you. Seal the top edge seams. Cut approximately 2 ½ inch pieces with a sharp knife (or your bench scraper). This makes 8 rolls.

I prefer a very sharp knife when cutting cinnamon rolls. This helps keep the filling from pushing out of the dough. A sharp serrated knife will also do the trick. If you like the dental floss method, just be sure to use unflavored dental floss. We don’t want added mint flavor to our rolls. 

Step 11: Spray a 9“x 11” baking dish with cooking spray, and then place the cinnamon rolls about 2 inches apart. I offset them so that I have a row with two, followed by one in the center, and then another row of two, and so on. This gives them space to proof and grow without crowding.

Step 12: Proof the rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and return to your warm spot to ferment the rolls for an additional 20-40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F 

I proof 20 minutes and then remove the dish to another spot, preheating my oven to 350°F convection.

Baking:

Step 13: Add the cream. Right before baking, remove the plastic wrap and pour the heavy cream over the tops of the rolls.

Step 14: Bake at 350°F for approximately 15-20 minutes. Mine baked 18. They will be golden brown around the edges and a bit on top, and the centers will no longer look or feel doughy.

Make the Icing:

Step 15: Allow to cool before icing.

Step 16: Whisk the icing. Whisk all the ingredients for the icing together in a small bowl. I kept mine a bit thicker so that I could spread it on the still-warm cinnamon rolls from the oven. A little bit of heaven on earth to be sure!

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this sourdough brunch recipe. Check out our other sourdough bread recipes, such as these sourdough rolls or this cherry sourdough bread.