Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
There’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls baking—and when you add sourdough to the mix, it takes things to a whole new level. These sourdough cinnamon rolls are soft, tender, and swirled with warm cinnamon sugar. They’re made with sourdough starter (no commercial yeast!) and perfect for a weekend brunch, holiday breakfast, or cozy afternoon treat.
The sourdough gives these rolls a gentle tang that balances beautifully with the sweet filling and creamy frosting. And even better?
This is a great beginner-friendly recipe that uses either your starter and doesn’t require any complicated techniques. If you’re looking for a way to move beyond pancakes and try your first real enriched dough, this is the perfect recipe to try.
(Also make sure you check out my soft and pillowy high hydration cinnamon rolls if you are looking for a challenge, or my sourdough discard cinnamon rolls if you need a quicker version).
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Perfectly soft and fluffy – The dough bakes into tender, pillowy rolls that stay soft for days.
- No yeast required – This recipe uses only sourdough starter—no commercial yeast needed!
- Great for beginners – Simple, clear steps make this recipe approachable even if you’re new to baking with sourdough.
Once you’ve fallen in love with these sourdough cinnamon rolls, there are even more ways to bring sourdough into your morning routine. Try my overnight sourdough waffles for a quick morning breakfast with a hint of tang, or some sourdough monkey bread for a cozy weekend brunch.
How to make sourdough cinnamon rolls
These cinnamon rolls are made over two days with lots of hands-off time, so you can enjoy a slow, relaxed baking process. Here’s a quick overview to help you plan:
Day One
- Mix the dough: Start by mixing your sourdough starter with milk, maple syrup, and flour. Let it rest for 30 minutes, then mix in the remaining dough ingredients. Knead until the dough is soft and smooth.
- Bulk fermentation: Let the dough rise overnight at room temperature (8–10 hours), performing one set of stretch and folds after the first 30 minutes.
Day Two
- Shape the rolls: Roll out the dough, spread with melted butter and cinnamon sugar, then roll into a log and slice into 12 rolls.
- Final proof: Let the rolls rise until puffy, about 1–2 hours.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 30–40 minutes until golden.
- Frost: Mix a simple cream cheese frosting and spread it over the warm rolls. Serve and enjoy!
Sourdough is better when shared
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and rating below.
Love and links are always appreciated! If you’d like to share this recipe, please link to the post directly for the recipe, please do not copy and paste or screenshot. Thank you so much for supporting me. XOXO – Jenni
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Method
- This step is also known as an “autolyse” and helps the flour to fully hydrate, and will help to shorten the kneading time.
- In the large bowl of your stand mixer, combine the starter, warmed milk, maple syrup, and flour.
- Cover and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- To the bowl of your stand mixer with your sponge, add the butter, egg, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
- Using the paddle attachment of your mixer, combine the ingredients about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the flour 1/2 cup at a time, until you form a super soft dough.
- Switch to the dough hook attachment on your mixer and knead on low speed for about 5 minutes. The dough should be soft and smooth and feel slightly bouncy and tacky to the touch. If the dough is still too sticky, add a tiny bit more flour.
- Lightly oil your bowl, turn the dough over to coat, and cover it with a damp towel.
- Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
- Perform 1 set of stretch and folds. Grab one side of the dough and pull and stretch it up and out of the bowl, and then fold it over to the center of the bowl.
- Turn the bowl 90 degrees to the right and repeat the stretch.
- Repeat turning the bowl and stretching until you have stretched it a total of 4 times. This helps to add air to the dough and to help develop its gluten structure. The dough should fee more soft and supple now.
- Cover the dough again, and allow the dough to rest, at room temperature, for 8-10 hours. It should be doubled in size. (This time is for a kitchen kept at 70 F).
- Butter a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix the sugars and spices for the filling.
- Lightly flour a clean counter.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough into a large rectangle about 12″ x 18″. Work gently so you don’t push out all the air from your dough. If at any point your dough starts to show resistance and isn’t easy to roll, cover it with a cloth and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before trying again.
- Spread the melted butter over the dough. Take it all the way to the sides. It will seem like too much, but it will work, trust me!
- Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the melted butter, going almost all the way to the edges of the dough.
- Starting with a long edge of the dough closest to you, roll the dough up, tightening it with your hands as you go. Work slowly, and roll the dough as tightly into a coil as you can.
- Use a serrated knife to cut the coil into 12 equal rolls.
- Place the rolls in the bottom of the 9×13 baking pan 1″ apart.
- Cover the pan and allow it to rest at room temperature, for about 1-2 hours, or until the dough on the rolls are nice and puffed and have almost doubled in size. (This time is based on a 70 F degree kitchen).
- In the morning, bring the rolls back to room temperature on the counter as you preheat your oven to 350F.
- Bake the rolls for 30-40 minutes, or until the rolls are just starting to turn golden brown.
- Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool for about 15 minutes before frosting and enjoying.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the softened butter, softened cream cheese, and powdered sugar until smooth.
- Add in the vanilla and a little of the milk. Mix to incorporate.
- Continue adding the milk in a small amounts until you get the desired consistency.