Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve been pretty obsessed with making sourdough lately and had a craving for cinnamon rolls. It seemed obvious that I combine the two and make these sourdough cinnamon rolls!

Autolyse
You will first begin by mixing your ingredients for the dough and letting them rest for 30 minutes. This is called an autolyse. It will not only assist in the rise your bread gets, but also the texture and flavor.

Kneading Your Dough
Kneading your dough is extremely important in bread making as it is what forms the gluten. Too much gluten and your bread will be dense, not enough and your bread will not hold its shape. While I do love the action of kneading my dough by hand, you are welcome to also do so using a mixer. You’ll see in this recipe I call for a specific amount of flour to be used in the kneading process. This will prevent you from over flouring your surface and creating a dryer texture. It typically takes about 10 minutes of kneading to get the right amount of gluten formed, but I always recommend performing a window pane test.

Window Pane Test
To check if your dough has formed enough gluten, you’ll want to perform a window pane test by pulling a small ball of dough away and gently stretching it so that it creates a thin layer of dough that allows light to pass through. If you are unable to do this without it immediately breaking, you’ll want to keeping kneading until it passes the test.

Bulk Fermentation
This stage is what is also referred to by home bakers as the first rise – the term bulk is used because if you are making something like rolls, you will divide the dough into pieces to rise individually for the second round. Ideally you’ll want to let your dough rest in a warm environment until it has doubled in size. If you have a cooler house, you can place it in your oven with the light on. (My house is usually about 70F so I’ll actually turn my oven on for a couple minutes and then turn it off just before putting my dough in. Just make sure that it’s not so hot that you can’t comfortably touch the rack.)

Half way through this process, you’ll fold the dough over onto itself. This process redistributes the gluten and allows for a better texture of the final product.

Shaping Your Cinnamon Rolls
This is by far the least technical part of this process (if we aren’t counting the frosting). Once you get your dough filled and rolled up, you’ll just need to do your best to slice them in equal pieces. I like to do this by first dividing it in half, then dividing the two halves in half, and so on.

Chilling Overnight
I make my cinnamon rolls the day before I want to eat them so that it’s basically all reward and zero work on the day of consumption. Don’t wrap your dough too tightly as they will expand overnight. If you want to bake them the same day, you’ll want to proof them for 1-2 hours in a warm area (like we did during the bulk fermentation) until they have nearly doubled in size.

Baking
It can be difficult to determine doneness of cinnamon rolls sense there is a filling involved, but for me the best way is to insert a thermometer into the center of a couple rolls and test them that way. You’re looking for around 190F.

What you’ll need for the dough:
– 1 cup active sourdough starter (227g)
– 3 cups flour (360g), plus ¼ cup (40g)
– ¼ cup sugar (50g)
– 1 cup water, luke warm (about 100F)
– 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

What you’ll need for the filling:
– 1 stick butter, melted
– 1 cup brown sugar
– 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

What you’ll need for the frosting:
– 4 ounces cream cheese, room temp
– 2 cups powdered sugar
– 1 Tablespoon milk
– 1 teaspoon vanilla
– ¼ teaspoon salt

What you’ll do:
– Combine your starter, 3 cups flour, sugar and water in a large bowl until just combined. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
– Pulling from your ¼ cup remaining flour, sprinkle some on a clean surface. Add the salt to your dough and transfer to the floured area. The dough will initially be quite sticky, gradually sprinkle with the remaining flour as needed.
– Knead your dough for 10 minutes until it can pass the window pane test.
– Spray your original mixing bowl with cooking spray and transfer your dough back to the bowl. Cover and place in a warm area for 1 hour.
– After 1 hour, gently scoop both hands under the dough and lift up so that the top and bottom folds under itself. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Recover and place back in a warm area for another hour.
– After 2 hours, your dough should be almost doubled in size and slowly spring back when poked.
– Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to make it easier for rolling out.
– While your dough chills, combine the ingredients for the filling.
– Roll out your dough on a silpat or lightly floured surface so that it is a rectangle that is about 12×18 inches. Spread out your filling, leaving about ¼ inch clean on one of the longer sides.
– Roll up your dough, beginning with the clean edge. Using a sharp knife, cut into 8 equal pieces.
– Transfer your rolls into a baking dish (I used a large cast iron) and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
– In the morning, preheat your oven to 400F. Bake your rolls for about 40 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the center roll is 190F in the center.
– While your rolls cool, combine the ingredients for the frosting in a small bowl until smooth. Spread over your rolls and ENJOY!