Description
Sourdough discard cinnamon rolls are the biggest, fluffy, and tastiest Cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made. The cinnamon sugar coating swirling in the sweet and soft dough is mouthwatering and a hit at every family gathering!
Ingredients
Scale
For Dough:
- 150g (3/4 cups) sourdough discard
- 100g (1/2 cup) cold plain cream cheese
- 100g (3.5 ounces) cold whole milk
- 390g (3 cups) bread flour
- 80g (2/3 cups) sugar
- 5g fine salt
- 2 large eggs, cold
For Cinnamon Sugar Filling:
- 230g brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tablespoons cinnamon powder
To Garnish the Dough:
- 25g melted butter at room temperature
- 60g heavy cream, lukewarm
For Cinnamon Rolls, Frosting (optional):
- ½ cup icing sugar
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine the Dough: Add the sourdough discard, plain cold cream cheese, whole milk, bread flour, white granulated sugar, and fine salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and knead it in a stand mixer. Gradually add the eggs while kneading the cinnamon roll dough with a dough hook. Knead for approximately 15 minutes.
- Resting Time: Transfer the dough to a lightly greased container or bowl. Grease your hands with vegetable oil because the dough is still sticky. Air-fold the dough and shape it. The dough has not reached the gluten development; therefore, fold and stretch the dough several times to strengthen it. Cover and rest the dough for 1 hour at room temperature. After 1 hour, stretch and fold the dough with greased hands and rest it for 1 hour for the second time. Repeat the fold and stretch for the third time. Fold the dough for the third time, then cover it and rest for 1 hour for the fourth time. Grease your hands and air-fold the dough for the fourth time. Cover and rest for 1 hour again. (You must rest the dough for approximately 5 hours, folding and stretching it between each hour with greased hands).
- Cinnamon Sugar Filling: Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon powder, and salt.
- Flatten the Dough to Rectangular Shape: Remove the dough from the container and place it on your work surface, which is dusted with flour. Gently flatten the dough with a rolling pin until it is large and rectangular. Be gentle while rolling because you want the dough to still have some fluff.
- Assemble the Filling: Brush the dough with melted butter at room temperature on the flattened dough. Brush the edges as well. Sprinkle the sugar cinnamon filling on the entire dough and spread evenly. Lightly pat the filling on the dough to let the filling stick to the dough.
- Roll the Dough with Hands: Roll the dough downwards toward the long log (48cm). Pull the dough slightly as you roll to create tighter and thinner layers, resulting in rolling with more coils. Make sure to roll the cinnamon tightly and seal the seam.
- Cut the Cinnamon Roll: Cut the dough into 4cm (1.5 inch) parts. I marked the sections to make equal parts. Now, use clean dental floss to cut the cinnamon rolls. You can also cut them with a sharp knife.
- Arrange the Cinnamon Roll Pieces: Place the rolls into the lined pan so that the cut surface faces up (spiral cinnamon roll section is up). Leave space around each of them because they become fluff and occupy extra space when baking. I am taking a pan of 38cmx28cm. Cover the pan with plastic wraps and place the pan in the fridge for 8 hours for a better flavor. After that, take the cinnamon rolls tray out of the fridge (don’t be stressed when you see the sugary liquid leaking out of the rolls at the bottom. It’s totally normal, yeah). Let the cinnamon rolls ferment for 3 hours at 25-27°C until the roll’s size doubles.
- Bake the Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls: Preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F). Once the dough is ready to bake, pour lukewarm 60g heavy cream over the cinnamon rolls. Place the baking pan in the bottom third of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once they are done, remove them from the oven and frost while warm or frost individually as you eat them if you plan to save them later.
Notes
- Resting time (see Step 2) is the key to success. Make them a day or night before serving them at the main event.
- Leave the space between the individual cinnamon rolls because they will rise during baking.
- If you flatten the dough more thinly, it will result in more swirls. However, do not flatten too thin, as it will not give the dough a nice soft texture.
- Use a silicone scraper while rolling the dough if it sticks to the work surface.
- The larger pieces of the cinnamon rolls will take more baking time than the smaller ones. I prefer to cut the rolls into equal 4cm pieces. However, check the oven often and get them out once they are nice, fluffy and brown.
- The dough is sticky, so I recommend using cooking oil to stretch and fold.
- The recipe is so perfect that it tastes heavenly, even without the frosting. Make the vanilla frosting with 1/2 cup of icing sugar mixed with 4 tablespoons of milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Spread it over the baked sourdough cinnamon rolls, and it will absorb into the rolls, making a heavenly combination that compliments well.
- You can also use the active starter. I have not tested the recipe with this, but I am sure it will be delicious.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Rest Time: 16 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: American