Description
The lightest fluffiest sourdough discard cinnamon rolls with a light cream cheese frosting, tested to perfection.
Ingredients
Make the Dough
- 2 1/4 tsp (7g) dry active yeast
- 3/4 cup (180g) warm whole milk heated to 100 to 110F or 35 to 42C
- 1/2 cup (140g) sourdough discard
- 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 Tbs (30g) honey
- 4 cups (500g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp (7g) fine grain salt
- 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, melted
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 2/3 cup (124g) light brown sugar
- 2 Tbs (14g) cinnamon
- 2 Tbs (28g) melted butter
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 oz (56g) cream cheese softened
- 4 Tbs (60g) heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cups (150g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the yeast and the warm milk in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and allow it to sit for 5 minutes until the yeast starts to form little foamy spots on the surface of the milk (also referred to as blooming).
- Next, add the sourdough discard, sugar, eggs, honey, flour, salt and butter into the bowl and start to mix using the dough hook attachment on a stand mixer on low speed.
- Once the dough starts to come together after about a minute on low, increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 7 minutes. The dough will be rather sticky but will pull away from the sides and have a smooth elastic looking sheen to it which means you are done kneading.
- Lift the arm of the stand mixer and scrape off any dough that is still on the hook using a dough scraper and add it to the dough ball in the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with the dough with a kitchen towel or cling wrap and allow it to rise for 30 to 60 minutes until doubled in size. If the room is warm it will rise faster. If it is cold it will rise slower.
- While the dough is rising, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and stir it up, then set aside.
- Melt the 2 Tablespoons of butter in preparation for rolling and set aside.
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with butter, shortening or non-stick baking spray and set aside.
- Once your dough has risen, sprinkle a few tablespoons of flour onto a clean work surface and dust your hands a bit then using a dough scraper, pull your risen dough out onto the floured work surface.
- Roughly shape the dough into a rectangle and then using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to approximately 24 inches by 8 inches. If you are about precision and want equally sized rolls, bust out a tape measure as this will make it easier when you go to cut the dough into individual rolls.
- Next, brush your sheet of dough with the melted butter all over.
- Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture all over the top of the butter and spread it evenly across the surface of the dough with your hands so the whole sheet is covered.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2 inch strips along the 24 inch side so that you get 12 equally sized dough strips.
- One strip at a time, start rolling up the dough starting at one end and roll it up to make a cinnamon roll. Place the cinnamon roll into your prepared 9 x 13 inch pan at one of the corners, keeping in mind that the rolls will rise and expand so place them a few centimeters away from the edges of the pan.
- Continue rolling the remaining strips of dough and placing rolls into your pan until you have rolled all 12 rolls.
- If you are ready to proceed with baking your cinnamon rolls, preheat the oven to 325F and cover the pan of rolls with a kitchen towel or cling wrap and allow them to rise for 30 to 60 minutes until they have puffed and doubled in size. Once they have risen, uncover the pan and bake the rolls for 30 to 35 minutes until golden on top and the internal temperature reaches 190F to 200F on an instant-read thermometer.
- If you want to bake your cinnamon rolls the next day, cover the pan of rolls with cling wrap and place them in the fridge for 6 to 12 hours. Less than 6 hours and the rolls will not have enough chance to slowly rise in the fridge. Going longer than 12 hours will lead to over-proofing your rolls and they will come out a bit flat when you bake them. When you are ready to bake, take the pan out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 325F. Then bake the rolls for 30 to 35 minutes until golden on top and the internal temperature reaches 190F to 200F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Once your rolls are baked, place them on a cooling rack to cool for 15 minutes.
- While the rolls cool, prepare your frosting by combining the cream cheese, heavy cream and powdered sugar in a bowl and using a stand mixer or hand mixer, start the mixer on low to combine the ingredients and then increase the speed to medium and beat for one minute so the frosting is smooth and there are no sugar lumps. If you want the frosting thicker, add a tablespoon more powdered sugar. If you like it thinner, add an extra tablespoon of heavy cream.
- Once the rolls have cooled for 15 minutes, place dollops of frosting on all of your rolls and then using the back of spoon or a spatula, spread the frosting all over, then your rolls are ready to enjoy.
Notes
- I love to use this instant-read thermometer to check the temperature on liquids like the milk in this recipe and to check the doneness of baked goods. If your milk is not warm enough the yeast will not bloom. If your milk is too hot it will kill the yeast.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Roll
- Calories: 415
- Sugar: 30.6 g
- Sodium: 288.1 mg
- Fat: 13.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 66.1 g
- Fiber: 2.1 g
- Protein: 7.5 g
- Cholesterol: 79.8 mg