These fluffy cinnamon rolls made with sourdough starter have a gooey cinnamon filling, cream cheese frosting, and a slightly tangy flavor. Let them rest overnight and bake in the morning for the most delicious breakfast treat!
If you bake with sourdough regularly, or even if you've just started experimenting with creating a starter, you know how much starter you end up discarding. If you're anything like me and cringe at wasting food, you have a jar full of sourdough starter in your fridge that gets more full by the day. You can put that starter to good use in these sourdough starter cinnamon rolls and rejoice as your house fills with the heavenly smell of sweet cinnamon while they bake.
Why You'll Love These Cinnamon Rolls
Who doesn't love fluffy, gooey cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting? These pillowy rolls with a cinnamon and brown sugar filling and not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting can be made the day before and then baked in the morning for a delicious breakfast that also uses up sourdough discard, so you don't have to throw out all of that flour!
How To Make Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls
- Mix and knead the dough in a stand mixer or by hand until you have a smooth dough.
- Cover and rest the dough at room temperature until puffy and doubled in size, about 2-3 hours.
- Roll out the dough into a rectangle, mix the filling and spread it onto the dough, leaving about a half inch on one long edge bare.
- Roll up the dough, using a bench scraper to help, if needed. Use a sharp knife or unflavored dental floss to cut 12 even cinnamon rolls.
- Place the rolls in a baking dish lined with parchment (or lightly greased). Cover and let the cinnamon rolls rise at room temperature for 1.5 - 2 hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
- Uncover cinnamon rolls and bake until golden.
- Make the frosting while the rolls bake. Simply whisk together all of the ingredients until no lumps remain.
- Frost the warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Tips For Making the Best Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls
- Use softened, room temperature butter and a room temperature egg for the best mixing. The milk should be warm, but not too hot. The temperature of warm bath water is what you should aim for.
- The rise times will vary based on what room temperature is in your kitchen, the type of yeast used (active yeast or instant), etc. Place it in a warm spot in your kitchen when rising for the best results.
- You can use all purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, or a 50/50 mix.
- Maple syrup or another liquid sweetener may be used in place of honey.
- This dough is slightly more sticky than normal doughs. It makes for lighter, softer cinnamon rolls. Work with floured hands and a floured rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking.
- I like to roll the dough into a rectangle on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper to make it easier to roll up after filling.
Sample Baker's Schedule for Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- 6:30 pm: Mix the dough, knead and rise at room temperature.
- 9 pm: Roll out dough into a rectangle, fill, roll up, and cut into cinnamon rolls. Place in a baking dish, cover rolls and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- 7-8 am: Preheat oven to 375°F, bake and frost!
Still have too much discard? Then you'll love these other sourdough discard recipes!
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the comments!
PrintSourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls
These fluffy cinnamon rolls made with sourdough starter have a gooey cinnamon filling, cream cheese frosting, and a slightly tangy flavor. Let them rest overnight and bake in the morning for the most delicious breakfast treat!
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- ¾ cup sourdough starter discard
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 cups flour (all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp yeast
- ⅔ cup milk, warmed (but not hot)
For the Filling:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
For the Frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp butter, softened
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
- In the bowl of a a stand mixer, or in a large bowl, mix all of the dough ingredients until a dough starts to form. Use the dough hook (or your hands) to knead the dough until you have a smooth dough, about 2-3 minutes.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until puffy and doubled in size.
- Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a ¼" thick rectangle. I like to roll it on a piece of parchment or silicone baking mat to make it easier to roll up later.
- Mix the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon for the filling in a small bowl. Spread the filling mixture evenly over the dough, leaving about an inch bare on one of the long edges.
- Roll the dough up starting on the long edge that has filling all the way to the edge. Use a bench scraper to help if the dough is sticking a little bit.
- Cut the dough into 12 even rolls. Place them in a baking dish that has been greased or lined with parchment paper.
- Cover the dish and let the rolls rise for 1.5 to 2 hours at room temperature, or place them in the refrigerator for an extended rise time overnight. At the end of the rise, rolls should look puffy but may not have doubled in size.
- If your rolls are room temperature, heat the oven to 400°F. Uncover and bake 16-20 minutes. If they are coming from the refrigerator, heat the oven to 375°F. Uncover the rolls and bake 20-25 minutes.
- While rolls are baking, make the icing. Whisk softened cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until no lumps remain. Add vanilla and milk and whisk until smooth.
- Remove rolls from the oven and frost while warm, or frost individually as you eat them if you plan to same some for later.
Notes
- Use softened, room temperature butter and a room temperature egg for the best mixing. The milk should be warm, but not too hot. The temperature of warm bath water is what you should aim for.
- The rise times will vary based on what room temperature is in your kitchen, the type of yeast used (active yeast or instant), etc. Place it in a warm spot in your kitchen when rising for the best results.
- You can use all purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, or a 50/50 mix.
- Maple syrup or another liquid sweetener may be used in place of honey.
- This dough is slightly more sticky than normal doughs. It makes for lighter, softer cinnamon rolls. Work with floured hands and a floured rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking.
- I like to roll the dough into a rectangle on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper to make it easier to roll up after filling.
- See post above for a sample baking schedule.
Keywords: sourdough discard cinnamon rolls, cinnamon rolls using sourdough discard
Alyssa says
Very easy recipe to follow. They turned out great! This SHOULD go without saying but the honey flavor is very noticeable in the dough and filling so if you have anyone in your crew that doesn’t like honey (like I do) you may want to swap it out. =D Definitely putting this in to rotation for my discard!
★★★★★
Tara says
These are exceptional and very forgiving. Sometimes I accidentally leave them all day to rise, just because I get busy (like today). But I can still roll them up at midnight, stick them in the fridge and bake them off in the morning. This time I tried double the filling and will try them without icing, just because it's such a flexible recipe, I thought why not? Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
★★★★★
Cheryl says
I have never commented on any recipe before, so this is a first. I made these today from discard that I started saving. My starter is only 10 days old, but it worked great. I have Never made such good cinnamon rolls, ever! These are angle soft, rose very well, and flavor is fantastic. I did increase the filling by 25%.
Question: Can this recipe be adjusted to use sourdough starter only? Leave yeast out and increase 2nd rise time?
★★★★★
Lauren says
I made these yesterday and I just want to say they were incredible!
★★★★★
Laura says
I am not a skilled baker... working with the dough felt like working with puff pastry. should it have been this soft?? Plus i was so worried about the filling not looking like enough, I made more... BIG MISTAKE!! I'm doing the overnight in the fridge... I'm sure it's going to be super tasty but I'd like to make them look a little prettier next time. help???
★★★★
Amanda K. says
I followed this recipe exactly and found that while it was incredibly easy and the rolls turned out bigger and fluffier than any other cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made, there was not nearly enough filling and consequently not enough gooey cinnamon flavor. I did like that the frosting wasn’t overly sweet but without an abundance of filling to balance it out they just didn’t have the classic cinnamon roll flavor I was looking for. I will definitely try the recipe again but with different filling and topping. Thank you for sharing!
★★★
Kim Jordan says
Does this recipe call for regular yeast or instant yeast?
Kathie says
The lightest fluffiest cinnamon rolls I've ever tasted. They should be called Dangerous Cinnamon Rolls.
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
So glad you like them!
Lyn says
These look delicious—can you roll them
Right and make smaller mini cinnamon buns from them?
Lyn says
That should have read roll them tight...🤪
Kaleigh says
You should be able to! You'll probably have to roll out the dough into a thinner rectangle before rolling up, and maybe even cut it in half to make smaller rolls.
Lyn says
I’m going To try that then!
Charllee says
Excellent! Made these yesterday and everyone loved them. Going to make them and proof overnight for Sunday breakfast.
★★★★★
DONNA Bradbury says
Hi.
Do you think it would be ok to freeze these once assembled but not baked? If so, would they be ok to be cooked from frozen?
Thank you
Kaleigh says
Yes, I think you could freeze them before baking! I would place them in the refrigerator then night before you plan to bake.
Amanda says
At what point of the recipe would it be best to freeze? Before the fridge or after?
Athena says
I made these last week. They were amazing!! Is there a way to do the 1st rise in the refrigerator overnight, then assemble, 2nd rise and bake the second day?
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
So glad you loved them! I haven't ever tried so I can't say if you could do the first rise in the refrigerator, though that would be helpful if so! My only concern would be over-proofing.
Bri says
I’m trying that this night, fingers crossed it works out alright (though, full disclosure, I also did not have an egg so mine may be a bit wonky).
Joan says
My family asks for these every week! I add a Tbsp or more of cinnamon in the filling but otherwise just follow the recipe. Delicious! Thank you.
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
I'm so glad your family loves them!
Cathy Cherry says
These are absolutely delicious. I love that they are not super sweet and that they rise overnight in the fridge.
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
I'm so glad you liked them!
Kathy Margolis says
I love that these can be assembled and left to rise in the fridge overnight. Beautiful soft, gooey scrolls!
★★★★★
Regan @ This Unmillennial Life says
Gorgeous!
★★★★★