Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls

Dig into the fluffiest, gooey, sourdough discard cinnamon rolls with a cinnamon brown sugar swirl and cream cheese frosting.

These beauties underwent months of testing and perfecting to meet the high standards of my cinnamon roll-loving family. We're the kind of people who don't just have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. For us, they're a year round treat.

These ones are just like traditional cinnamon rolls but with a hint of sourdough flavor.

What is Sourdough Discard?

An active sourdough starter needs to be fed with flour and water to stay alive. Each time you feed your starter it grows. You use a portion of the fed active starter to bake bread, and you hang on to a certain amount of starter to keep the starter going for years to come.

What inevitably happens, though, is that you end up with more starter than you need, so you discard the extra. Thus, sourdough discard.

While it is often considered waste, this tangy, nutrient-rich mixture can be repurposed in various sourdough discard recipes, adding depth of flavor to things like crackers, breadsticks, and bagels.

Want to dig into the world of sourdough bread? Check out this post all about discard.

If you don't have sourdough discard, head to a regular cinnamon roll recipe like this one from Butternut Bakery.

But, if you have discard and you want to use it up, this is one of my favorite ways to do that. I use discard that is a 1 to 1 to 1 ratio.

My starter came from Basil & Bloom and we affectionately call it Frodough.

Type of Flour for Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls

I played around with bread flour and all-purpose flour in the development of this recipe. Unbleached all-purpose flour (King Arthur is my go-to) was the final choice for this recipe because it makes for a light and fluffy roll. Adding bread flour adds more protein, making for a chewier texture.

Steps for Making Cinnamon Rolls

Making these cinnamon rolls is an easy 6 step process. It takes around 2.5 hours from start to finish if you go straight through. Or, you can do the first 4 steps the night before you want your rolls, and do the last two the next day.

Step 1: Bloom the Yeast

Because you're using sourdough discard, which is NOT a fed active starter, you'll need dry active yeast to help with the rising action in this recipe. Combine the dry active yeast with 105 - 110F water in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Once it gets foamy on top, you know it's working and you can proceed on to the next step.

Step 2: Knead the Dough

You'll combine all the remaining ingredients for the dough into the bowl with the bloomed yeast and then knead. You can do this by hand or with the dough hook on the stand mixer. When using the stand mixer, I put it on medium speed for 8 minutes until the dough is smooth an elastic.

I experimented with a wide variety of ratios of dry to wet ingredients in the testing of this recipe. My personal preference is for a super light and fluffy roll.

You can achieve that with a higher ratio of liquids, so this dough is very sticky after kneading it. Don't be alarmed. Just scrape the stuck dough off the dough hook using a dough scraper and then leave the dough to rise in the bowl.

The good news is that while the dough rests for the first rise, the gluten bonds form and as long as you flour your work surface before rolling out the dough, it will be workable.

Step 3: First Rise

After the kneading, it's time for the dough to rise. The rise time can greatly vary depending on the temperature in your kitchen. If it's warm (75F or warmer) it will rise faster, possibly as quickly at 30 minutes. If it's cold, it could take up to an hour. Keep an eye on your dough and once it's doubled in size it's ready to roll.

Step 4: Rolling the Dough

Rolling your cinnamon rolls is the trickiest part, in my opinion. But, also only if you're really into uniformity. I break out a tape measure and then use a rolling pin to roll the dough until it's 24'' long.

I go with 24 inches because I don't like math and it's easier for my brain when I go to cut my rolls. I automatically know they're each going to be 2 inches wide if I make 12 rolls. You absolutely can eyeball the slices if you'd like.

I also prefer to slice the dough with a pizza cutter or sharp knife and then roll up each roll individually. This helps me to get a tight cinnamon roll, which helps to create that signature swirl. Place all of your rolls into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish or pan.

Step 5 & 6: Second Rise and Bake

Once you've rolled your cinnamon rolls, you can choose one of two options. Either bake right away or go with the bake-ahead option.

1. If you want to bake the rolls right away, preheat the oven to 325F and cover the pan of cinnamon rolls with a kitchen towel or cling wrap, and let them rise another 30 to 60 minutes until they're puffed up and doubled in size. Again the rise time will vary depending on the temperature of the room. A warmer room means your rolls will rise faster. Once they're doubled, you pop them into the oven to bake for 30 minutes until they're golden brown.
2. If you want to bake the rolls the next morning, just cover the pan with plastic wrap and put the rolls into the refrigerator. They can happily chill out there for up to 12 hours. When you're ready to bake them, pull the rolls out of the fridge, preheat the oven to 325F and let the rolls sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. From there, bake them for 30 - 35 minutes in the preheated oven.

Spreading on the Cream Cheese Frosting

Big fan of frosting? Me, too! But I don't like it too sweet. This frosting has that little bit of tanginess from the cream cheese and isn't overly sweet. The rolls are already sweet enough.

You can add the frosting about 15 minutes after the rolls have come out of the oven and have cooled a bit, but they're still warm so the frosting gets a little bit melty and soaks into the swirls.

Storing Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls

These rolls are best the day they're baked and the day after. Once you get to day 2 and beyond they start to get a bit dry and not quite as soft.

I keep them at room temperature and cover the pan with plastic wrap or in an airtight container.

I love to serve these as a part of holiday brunch alongside my Green Chili Egg Casserole and Homemade Granola with fresh fruit and yogurt.

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More Sourdough Recipes

• Sourdough Discard Banana Bread
• Sourdough Discard Crackers
• Sourdough Discard Bagels
• Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins
• Sourdough Discard Breasticks