15,000+ Have Baked these Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

OVER 15,000 PEOPLE HAVE BAKED THESE SOURDOUGH BRIOCHE CINNAMON ROLLS

This recipe was one of the first that Chef James posted in the original Sourdough Geeks Facebook Group and WOW was it a success. This is, by far, our most loved recipe. Give it a go!

JUMP TO RECIPE

First, a Few Notes from James

• This recipe is best for a 3.5 - 5.5 qt. stand mixer. If you are using a 6-8 qt. mixer then I would double the recipe for best results.
• The recipe yields 12 hefty cinnamon rolls, and is designed to be baked on a 13” x 18” sheet pan but could also be split between two 9” x 13” sheets or two 9” rounds.
• I prefer to bake on parchment lined pans, but they can also be baked in glass or stoneware dishes. You may need to increase time and/or temperature slightly for this.
• Both the milk and eggs should be cold from the fridge.
• Caster sugar is equivalent to superfine sugar, and granulated can be substituted if caster sugar is not readily available to you.
• Final dough temperature (FDT) is 76°F (24°C).
• All dough build times are based on temperatures as listed below, and will require longer if your dough is cooler.
• Final proof should be warmer for maximum rise, ideally 80°-85°F (27°-29°C).

 Let’s Get Started!

First, you’re going to need a stiffer starter so you’ll make a levain. Then, you’ll build your dough using the fresh levain. 

This recipe uses a starter at 75% hydration, rather than the normal 100% hydration where most people keep their starter. This limits the acidity and gives strength to the final dough.

The below ingredients will yield 210g of levain. Simply add all of the ingredients together, mix well so there are no clumps of flour, and wait for your levain to at least double before starting on the dough.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE LEVAIN

 *Flour selection is very important for this recipe. We recommend an all-purpose flour at 11.7% protein. Our favorites are King Arthur All-Purpose, Central Milling ABC+, or Trader Joe’s Unbleached All-Purpose. 

While you wait on your levain to rise, gather your ingredients for the dough, your stand mixer and a container for your bulk fermentation. 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH

After your levain has at least doubled, you’ll start on the dough.

1. Cut the butter into 1cm pats. Let it soften to room temperature before you move to the next step.
2. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the 500g of flour and 11g of salt. 
3. In a separate bowl whisk the 190g of eggs and 135g of whole milk until smooth. 
4. To the same bowl, add the 50g of caster sugar and 200g of levain and stir all to combine. The levain does not need to be completely broken up, just dispersed. 
5. Set the mixer to low and mix the flour and salt, then slowly pour the liquid mixture in. Mix until combined but still shaggy, about 3 minutes.
6. Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
7. After the rest, turn the mixer up to medium and mix for 5-6 minutes until the dough gets smoother and starts to pull from the sides of the mixing bowl. The dough should completely come together at this point.
8. With the mixer still set to medium, add the room temperature butter, one pat at a time, waiting to add the next until the previous is absorbed into the dough. It might take around 8-10 minutes to emulsify all the butter into the dough. 
9. After all of the butter is added, continue mixing for another minute or two until the dough smooths out and once again begins to cling to the dough hook. The dough should be almost fully developed at this point (it won't completely pass the windowpane test, but almost).
10. Transfer the dough to a container for bulk fermentation, cover, and keep somewhere warm — 78-80°F (26-27°C).

This is the first, warm, bulk fermentation. 

During this time, give the dough 2 sets of stretch and folds. The first S&F will be 30 minutes after the beginning of bulk fermentation and the second S&F will be 30 minutes after the first. 

After the second set, let the dough rest, covered for around an hour. The entire first bulk fermentation should take around 2 hours. Remember that if your room temperature is cooler, this could go longer.

Once your dough is ready, you’ll move to the cold bulk fermentation.

This should last anywhere from 8-16 hours in your refrigerator.

Before putting the dough into the refrigerator, assess it. Has it risen a little during the warm bulk fermentation? It should be a little puffy and smoothed out, but without significant rise. If it looks like there's no activity at all, give the dough another 30 minutes to 1 hour and check again.

Once you see some rise in the dough, place the covered bulk fermentation bowl into the refrigerator overnight or for 8-16 hours. It is worth noting that this retard period is quite flexible as long as your fridge temperature is below 40°F/5°C. Depending on your timetable, you can shorten this or extend it, but you may not get the same level of flavor development on a same-day bake.

After your cold bulk fermentation is complete, do not remove the dough from the refrigerator yet, we’re making the filling first!

This filing is a streusel, which will produce a bit of gooey syrup during proofing, but will also caramelize and have some crunch for texture.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CINNAMON STREUSEL FILLING

1. Whisk all of the ingredients above together in a bowl and cover until ready to use.
2. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and scrape it onto a floured work surface. 
3. Flour the top of the dough and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a rectangle approximately 24” x 10” (60cm x 25cm) in size with the longer edge facing you.
4. Melt an extra 28g (2 tbsp) of butter, and coat the pastry with it using a brush. This will help the filling adhere to the dough, and makes sealing the roll easier at the end.
5. Using an offset spatula, spread the filling over the dough leaving a small gap clean on the long edge farthest from you. 
6. Starting at the side closest to you, roll up the dough into a tight log. It's important for the dough to be rolled up rather tight, so pull the dough taut with each roll. If you work quickly, the dough should still be firm enough to portion. If it begins to get too soft to handle, place it in the freezer once rolled for a few minutes to firm up before slicing.
7. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 2” (5cm) sections, and place them on the parchment lined sheet pan or your preferred baking dish, pressing them down slightly to form nice circles, with about 2cm of spacing between each one.
8. Cover the pan with a proofing lid and place it somewhere warm, ideally, 80-85°F (27-29°C), to proof. If you don’t have a raised sheet pan lid, you can use a large bag, but make sure the dough does not touch it during proofing or it will stick. You can also proof uncovered in your oven, using a pan of hot water underneath to keep them warm and from drying out. Just be sure to monitor your temperature here to make sure you stay within the above range.

From here, we’re going to let the rolls proof. 

You’ll want to give the rolls another 2.5-3 hours of proofing time. This dough can be slow to rise. Give it the time it needs to rise up and spread before baking.

The dough may begin to sweat a bit, and you may get little pools of melted sugar on the parchment. This is ok! Some of the sugar will caramelize during baking, leaving a sticky sweet coating on the base of the rolls!

Now, we’re finally ready to bake!

Preheat the oven with a rack in the middle to 375-400°F (190-205°C) with no convection. If you are using a convection oven, then lower the temperature to 350-375°F (175-190°C). 

When the oven is preheated and the dough fully proofed, bake for 18-20 minutes until the dough is a dark blonde color and the cinnamon swirls are browned and caramelized.

Take out and allow to cool for a few minutes, but don’t let the caramelized sugar on the pan fully set or they will be hard to remove. If you plan on eating right away, just add icing (below) and enjoy. If keeping for later, move to a cooling rack lined with parchment or wax paper, then put in a covered container once cool.

The icing on the…cinnamon roll.

This tangy icing is not overly sweet, making it the perfect foil for these rolls. If you prefer sweeter, you can up the quantity of icing sugar, but we like the balance that this gives.

1. Soften the butter and cream cheese then add to a stand mixer and cream with lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt, using the paddle attachment until light and airy.
2. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then switch to whisk attachment and whisk on medium-high speed, slowly adding the icing sugar a little at a time and waiting for each bit to incorporate before adding more. 
3. You will need to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl, then give it a final whisk until smooth and creamy.
4. Spread all over your baked cinnamon rolls and enjoy the goodness!

One final tip from James on timing. 

These are best served still warm from the oven, so if you want them ready in the morning without a lot of faff, there are a few ways to achieve this. The easiest would be to follow the recipe all the way through the final proofing until just before baking, cover then freeze them overnight. The next morning, take them out to fully defrost, and bake them immediately.

Alternatively, you could set your timings so that you are shaping them late the night before, then allow them to proof overnight. This requires a cooler ambient temperature in your kitchen though, about 66-68°F, and may over proof. 

Finally, you can shorten the cold bulk fermentation time to about 2 hours, shape the dough and proof them almost fully, then retard them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, allow it to come up to room temperature while the oven is preheating, then bake as usual.

Let us know just how much you loved these in the comments. We love learning about the little tweaks that our Geeks use to make them their own. Good luck!