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Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

These sourdough cinnamon rolls are filled with yummy cinnamon sugar and have a delicious cream cheese icing on top!

A sourdough cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing on a small plate.

I’m betting we all have a cinnamon roll story. 

For me, I experienced them in various ways growing up.

One of my older sisters would make cinnamon rolls from a tube for breakfast. I despised those.

Another sister once made “death by caramel rolls” (christened so by my dad) that had a deadly amount of sticky caramel. I loved those.

My mom would make cinnamon orange rolls, much to the chagrin of my citrus-hating dad. I cautiously liked them in spite of my dad’s aversion to them.

My grandma and aunts had their versions as well. They’ve been a staple breakfast treat throughout my life. Maybe it’s a Minnesota thing?

In any case, I think that sourdough cinnamon rolls bring something to the table that none of my previous cinnamon roll experiences had. The depth of flavor and softness that I can achieve from sourdough is different than fast-risen dough. Sure, they take more time and effort than “regular” yeast-risen cinnamon rolls. But it’s totally worth it in my opinion.

Okay, enough talk! Now let me show you how to make them:

Mixing the Dough for Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls:

All of the ingredients for the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer.

First, place all of the dough ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.

If you’re uncertain about what a sourdough starter is, make sure to check out my How to Make a Sourdough Starter From Scratch post.

Mixing up the dough for sourdough cinnamon rolls.

Then knead on medium-low with the dough hook for 10 minutes.

As you can see, the dough is quite soft and cleans the sides of the bowl, but not the bottom. This makes for soft sourdough cinnamon rolls. However, it does make the dough harder to work with. If ease of handling the dough is more important than texture, you can add just enough flour so that the dough cleans the bottom of the bowl.

Place the dough in a greased large bowl, cover, and allow to rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours. The amount of time it takes for your dough to rise will vary greatly depending on the temperature of your kitchen. In a very warm, summer kitchen in might only take 4 hours. In a very cool, winter kitchen it might take 12+ hours to achieve a doubling in bulk.

Forming the Rolls:

Spreading the dough with soft butter.

First of all, generously grease your work surface with butter. Because the dough is so soft, it can stick to the surface easily.

Now roll the dough out to a 16×12 inch rectangle with a buttered rolling pin.

Next, spread 4 tablespoons of soft butter over the surface of the dough, leaving about one inch of dough unbuttered on the far long end.

Cinnamon a sugar in a bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of cane sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

Sprinkling the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter on the dough.

Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the buttered dough.

Rolling up the sourdough cinnamon rolls.

Carefully roll up the dough jelly-roll style.

This is where the soft dough becomes difficult to work with. Again, if you don’t like fiddling with a soft dough, you can add more flour at the start. Just be aware of the texture difference!

Slicing the rolls.

Finally, slice into 14-16 rolls.

All of the rolls in a pan partially covered with a tea towel.

Place in a buttered 13×9-inch baking dish and cover with a tea towel.

The risen sourdough cinnamon rolls in the pan with a tea towel partially covering them.

Allow to rise until quite puffy, about 4-8 hours (again, depending on how warm your kitchen is).

Baking the Rolls:

The baked pan.

After the rolls have risen a second time, bake them in a 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 F and continue to bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes more.

The challenge with sourdough cinnamon rolls is to get them done in the center. So it’s really helpful to use an instant read thermometer to check for doneness. Insert it into the doughy park of a cinnamon roll. It should register between 195 and 200 degrees F.

Remove pan from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 20-30 minutes.

Making the Cream Cheese Icing for the Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls:

Mixing together the cream cheese and butter.

While the buns are cooling, make the cream cheese icing:

First, in a medium bowl, beat together 1 stick of softened grass-fed butter and 8 ounces of organic cream cheese.

Sifting the powdered sugar over the cream cheese/butter mixture.

Next, sift 1/2 cup of organic powdered sugar over the bowl and beat until smooth.

Dabbing the cream cheese icing onto the sourdough cinnamon rolls.

Then dab the cream cheese icing all over the sourdough cinnamon rolls.

Spreading the cream cheese icing out.

Spread it out evenly.

A pan of sourdough cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing.

The reason you want to wait to ice these until they’re cool is because the icing is made with butter and cream cheese. It will melt if you rush things. But of course if you’re impatient, you could make a powdered sugar-based icing instead. However, the cream cheese goes really well with the sourdough.

 

Pulling apart a sourdough cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing on top.

NOTES:

  • Butter fanatic that I am, you know I serve these spread with cold salted butter.
  • If you prefer a less-sweet sourdough cinnamon roll, you can reduce the amount of sugar in the filling to 1/3 cup.
  • Also, you could reduce the amount of powdered sugar in the icing according to taste.

Here’s a Video Tutorial:

What’s YOUR Cinnamon Roll Story?

More Sourdough Recipes:


Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

These cinnamon rolls are made with wild yeast and a cream cheese frosting!

Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Cinnamon Rolls, Cream Cheese, Sourdough
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Fermenting Time 14 hours
Total Time 15 hours 5 minutes
Servings 16 rolls
Calories 330 kcal
Author Erica Kastner

Ingredients

For the Dough:

  • 3/4 cup warm grass-fed milk (181 grams)
  • 1 cup active sourdough starter (220 grams)
  • 3 1/2 cups organic all-purpose flour (465 grams)
  • 1/4 cup grass-fed butter, melted (1/2 stick)
  • 1/4 cup organic cane sugar (48 grams)
  • 1 1/4 tsp unrefined sea salt (6 grams)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

  • 4 tbsp butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup organic cane sugar (96 grams)
  • 2 tsp organic ground cinnamon

For the Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup grass-fed butter, softened (1 stick)
  • 8 ounces organic cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup organic powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Dough:

  1. Place all of the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead on medium-low speed for 10 minutes.

  2. Place in a large buttered bowl. Cover and allow to ferment for 8-12 hours at room temperature.

For the Filling:

  1. Generously grease your work surface. Gently roll the dough out with a buttered rolling pin to a 16x12-inch rectangle. Spread with the soft butter, leaving an inch of the far long edge unbuttered.

  2. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over the butter on the dough.

  3. Carefully roll up the dough, starting at the long edge nearest to you. Slice the dough into 14-16 rolls. Place in a buttered 13x9-inch baking dish. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise until quite puffy and the rolls almost fill the pan, about 4-8 hours.

  4. 30 minutes before the rolls are done rising, preheat your oven to 400°F. Bake the risen rolls for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the rolls are done all the way through. You can check for doneness with an instant-read thermometer: insert it into the doughy part of a roll. It should register between 195° and 200°F.

  5. Remove from oven and allow the rolls to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, or until no longer hot to the touch.

For the Icing:

  1. Place the butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Sift the powdered sugar over the mixture. Beat again until smooth.

  2. Spread the icing all over the cinnamon rolls. Serve with grass-fed butter, of course!

Recipe Notes

  • An active starter is one that has been fed 8-12 hours previously, and is bubbly and passes the float test.
  • You can reduce the amount of sugar in the filling to 1/3 cup if you like. You can also reduce the amount of powdered sugar in the icing if you prefer.
Recipe Rating




Kerry

Sunday 11th of February 2024

Made these yesterday and they were amazing! Id like to make them mini. Would baking time differ?

Erica Kastner

Wednesday 14th of February 2024

Yes, start checking at least 10 minutes early!

Shannon Gillespie

Thursday 1st of February 2024

…follows recipe EXACTLY as stated, while making frosting they are ready to take out of oven….. turned out cRUchY…yes my oven is perfectly calibrated, now i have just ok cinnamon rolls and a whole bunch of wasted ingredients. 🤷‍♀️

Chris Walker

Friday 22nd of September 2023

I can't figure out what happened to my dough. The starter was very active and bubbly. I went out for about 4 hours and when I came home and checked it, it doesn't look like it rose at all. I'm wondering what your thoughts are. I know enriched dough takes longer, but it should have done more I think.

Erica Kastner

Saturday 23rd of September 2023

There are many factors that could affect how long it takes your sourdough to rise: how active your starter is, how warm your kitchen is, if you used milk that was too hot and killed the starter, etc. etc. If your kitchen is chilly, it can take up to 12 hours for the dough to double!

RedSquirrel

Friday 2nd of September 2022

Very fluffy on the inside, with a nice crunchy exterior. Also loved the slight tang from the sourdough, and the icing had the perfect amount of sweetness (but I do like things less sweet than some).

Thanks so much, Erica!

Erica Kastner

Tuesday 6th of September 2022

So happy you enjoyed them! I'm the same - too sweet and I don't enjoy it!

Jordyn

Tuesday 19th of May 2020

I have a question! For the final rise (4-8 hrs), is it possible to place my rolls in the refrigerator for about 8 hours? (Thinking overnight for a fresh morning roll)

Erica Kastner

Tuesday 19th of May 2020

Hi Jordyn,

Yes, it should work to do the final rise in the refrigerator. You may find that you need more than 8 hours, however. You can also do a partial rise at room temperature, and then place them in the fridge to rise the rest of the way. Or let them rise in the fridge, and then give them some time at room temperature before baking.