RECIPES BUNS & ROLLS

STICKY BUNS & CINNAMON ROLLS

Sourdough Cinnamon
Buns
RECIPE BY CHARLOTTE RUTLEDGE

201 REVIEWS SHARE

There are few things that could enhance the flavor

and texture of a cinnamon bun, but sourdough is one
of them. The added boost in flavor and the subtle
chewy texture from a ripe sourdough starter,
especially when used without the addition of
commercial yeast, takes these soft, buttery,
cinnamon sugar-laced buns over the top — with just
slightly longer proofing times. Believe us, you’ll be
glad you waited!

PREP BAKE T O TA L

35 mins 18 to 22 mins 9 hrs 30 mins

YIELD

1 dozen large buns

S AV E R E C I P E PRINT

Ingredients

Dough
1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) sourdough starter

3/4 cup (170g) milk, lukewarm

1 large egg

4 tablespoons (57g) butter, softened

2 3/4 cups (330g) King Arthur Unbleached All-

Purpose Flour

1/2 cup (57g) King Arthur White Whole Wheat

Flour

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) table salt

1 teaspoon instant yeast, optional*

*See "tips," below.

Filling
3/4 cup (159g) light brown sugar or dark brown
sugar, packed

1/4 cup (30g) King Arthur Unbleached All-

Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon (14g) butter, melted

Icing
1 1/2 cups (170g) confectioners' sugar

pinch (1/16 teaspoon) salt, optional

1 1/2 tablespoons (21g) butter

1/2 teaspoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract

1 to 2 tablespoons (14g to 28g) milk or heavy

cream

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N U T R I T I O N I N F O R M AT I O N

Instructions

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1 To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or

measure it by gently spooning it into a
cup, then sweeping off any excess. Mix
together all the dough ingredients except
the salt (and yeast) until the flour is
evenly moistened and the dough has
formed a cohesive, sticky mass, 2 to 3
minutes on low speed of a stand mixer.

2 Add the salt (and yeast) on top of the

dough (without mixing it in), then cover
and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
This rest is period is known as an autolyse.

3 After the autolyse, mix in the salt (and

yeast) until fully incorporated, about 1
minute on low speed. Turn the mixer up
one speed and knead the dough until it’s
smooth and supple though still somewhat
soft and tacky, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4 Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm

(75°F) place for 4 hours. To develop
strength in the dough, stretch and fold it
in the bowl three to four times during the
rest. You can be fairly flexible in your
timing of these. One stretch and fold per
hour is ideal. The goal is to end up with a
strong dough with good elasticity.

Perfect your technique

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Sourdough
Cinnamon Buns
BY MAURIZIO LEO

5 To make the filling: Meanwhile, combine

all the filling ingredients in a medium
bowl. The texture will be somewhat like
wet sand.

6 Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased

or floured work surface and gently deflate
it, patting or rolling it into a 14” x 20”
rectangle.

7 Spread the filling evenly over the surface

of the dough, leaving 1/2” of exposed
dough along one short edge.

8 Starting with the filling-coated short

edge, roll the dough into a log. As you roll,
the log will lengthen to around 18".

9 Cut the log into twelve 1 1/2” slices and

place them in a lightly greased 9” x 13”
pan. Cover the pan and let the buns rise
until they’re puffy, 2 to 3 hours.

10 At this point, you can let the buns rise for

another hour or so and then bake them;
or you can place the pan in the
refrigerator overnight, covered, and bake
the buns the next day (up to 24 hours
later).

11 To bake the same day: Bake the buns in a

preheated 400°F oven for 18 to 22
minutes, until golden. A digital
thermometer inserted into the center of a
middle bun should read 190°F.

12 To make the icing: While the buns are

baking, stir together all the ingredients in
a medium bowl until smooth.

13 Remove the buns from the oven and cool

for 5 to 10 minutes before icing.
Alternatively, allow the buns to cool to
room temperature. Cover the buns and
leave them at room temperature
overnight, then reheat in a 325°F oven
for 10 to 15 minutes before icing and
serving.

14 To bake the buns after being refrigerated

overnight: Remove the pan from the
refrigerator and leave the buns covered at
room temperature while you preheat the
oven to 400°F.

15 Bake the buns for 20 to 25 minutes, until

golden. A digital thermometer inserted
into the center of a middle bun should
read 190°F. Remove the buns from the
oven and cool for 5 to 10 minutes before
icing.

16 Wrap the buns in plastic and store at

room temperature for a day or so; freeze
unfrosted buns for longer storage.

Tips from our Bakers

 Don’t have any starter? Here’s a recipe for

homemade sourdough starter. If you're
making it from scratch, you'll need to feed
it for 5 to 7 days before it’s ready for
baking. Want a head start? Purchase our
classic fresh sourdough starter — it’ll be
ready for baking soon after it arrives at
your door. Looking for tips, techniques,
and all kinds of great information about
sourdough baking? Find what you need in
our sourdough baking guide.

 You know your starter is ripe and ready to

leaven bread when it doubles or triples in
volume within 6 to 8 hours of being fed. If
your starter has been refrigerated, you’ll
need to give it a series of feedings at room
temperature to get it to this state.
Depending on the initial health of your
starter, this may take just two or three
feedings spaced every 12 hours, or up to
five to seven days of feeding it every 12
hours.

 Don't have any whole wheat flour on hand?

Substitute unbleached all-purpose flour
for the whole wheat; no adjustments to
other ingredients are needed.

 If you don’t want to wait for your starter to

be completely ripe (or if you’d like a little
added leavening insurance), add the
teaspoon of optional yeast to your dough.
Note that the rising/proofing times will be
shorter with additional yeast, likely just 2
to 2 1/2 hours (with just two to three
rounds of stretching and folding the
dough) for the first rise, and 1 1/2 to 2
hours for the second.

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Baker’s Resources
RECIPE SUCCESS GUIDE

TIPS & TECHNIQUES

H I G H - A LT I T U D E B A K I N G

BAKER’S YEAST

INGREDIENT WEIGHT CHART

TO O L S & PA N S

HOW TO MEASURE FLOUR

SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS

C H AT W I T H A B A K E R

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4.6 5
4
!!!!! 3

201 2

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201 Reviews

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Robin G. Verified Reviewer

R
! !!!!!
Recommend: No

These were ok...

I refrigerated overnight, followed instructions to
the letter (weighing my ingredients and adding
some yeast) and I felt like these were just ok. The
final result lacked flavor in the dough and were a
little tough. I'll try a di!erent recipe next time.

Location:
Mesa, AZ
! Share !
01/14/24 !0 !0

Julie S. Verified Reviewer

J
! !!!!!
Recommend: Yes

Great flavor but go stale fast

Came out great with my adjustments: I omitted
the egg and used regular whole wheat flour and
added yeast. Obviously I made a cream cheese
frosting to go with these (use something similar
to the KA Cinnabon recipe) because how can you
put anything else on a cinnamon roll??

Came out with a really great nutty sourdough

flavor. Unfortunately ...Read More

Location:
Philadelphia
! Share !
01/09/24 !0 !0

Jodi B. Verified Reviewer

J
! !!!!!
Recommend: Yes

Winner Winner Cinna-dinner (breakfast)

Wow! Just wow! These cinnamon rolls were Da
Bomb. I am always looking for ways to use our
sourdough starter (We named it "Happy" during
lockdown 2020); and these rolls will be our go-to
recipe from now on. So easy and straightforward.
This recipe leaves nothing to chance. I proofed
overnight in the fridge, then brought to room
temp before baking. ...Read More

Location:
Irvine, CA
! Share !
12/31/23 !2 !0

Olivia Verified Reviewer

O
! !!!!!
Recommend: Yes

Fuss free sourdough cinnamon rolls

Relatively straight forward recipe using mature
starter (no separate leavin preparation). Started
the dough around 6pm, bulked for 4 hours with
stretch and fold every hour or so, then filled and
rolled around 10pm before bed. Our house was
quite chilly at 18C, so I was able to proof the rolls
overnight inside the microwave oven (not on, of
course)...Read More

! Share !
12/26/23 !2 !0

Janet N. Verified Reviewer

J
! !!!!!
Recommend: Yes

Next level cinnies!!

Best ever recipe! I’ve been baking cinnies as we
call them, for 40+ years! Started sourdough in
2020 with the rest of the world, and became
really good at it. I’d tried a couple of sourdough
cinnamon bun recipes but they were just not
great. Then the lightbulb came on! check King
Arthur Baking.com!! Struck gold! Declared by
family and friends, “th...Read More

Location:
British Columbia, Canada
! Share !
11/21/23 !0 !0

! 1 2 3 !

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