I LOVE cinnamon buns. No two ways about it. Right now our family can only do wheat that has been soured or we need to bake gluten free. Too many of us can't handle unfermented/soured wheat so it's not worth trying to bake multiple things to suit everyone's needs. Most sourdough cinnamon buns are somewhat of a challah dough, meaning they have lots of eggs, oil/butter, and sugar. I don't always have 6 eggs to make a batch of dough, and this results in me not having cinnamon buns as often as I need.
Enter my Soft Sourdough Master Dough Recipe...one recipe, many ways to bake it. So far I have used it for French bread, buns, sandwich loaves, and now cinnamon buns. I've got more experimenting up my sleeve as well!
There is so many ways to fancy up your cinnamon buns...
Cocoa in with the cinnamon sugar.
Raisins or nuts in with the cinnamon sugar.
Coffee as the liquid in your icing.
Thick cream cheese frosting.
A nice vanilla drizzle overtop.
I could go on, but we're only making each other hungry here at this point.
Soft Sourdough Cinnamon Buns (Egg Free)
Ingredients
Cinnamon bun filling
- ⅓ cup salted butter, very soft or melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Cinnamon Bun Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Milk mix in to your desired thickness of glaze
Instructions
- Follow the Soft Sourdough Master Dough Recipe to the end of the second rising stage.
- Punch down dough, dump onto a lightly floured. Roll dough out into a 12"x18" rectangle.
- Spread or pour butter over the dough and evenly coat the rectangle. If the butter is melted, sometimes I let it sit a couple minutes on the cool dough to let it thicken up as it cools down.
- Mix your cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl.
- Sprinkle your cinnamon sugar mix over the butter.
- Gently roll your rectangle into an 18" log.
- Cut your log into 12-18 cinnamon buns, depending on how big you want them.
- Line or grease a half sheet pan (or cookie sheet with sides/a lip to it) and arrange the buns on the tray. Closer together if you want them 'pull apart' or spaced farther if you want them stand alone.
- Cover pan and let rise 2-3 hours. If your house is REALLY cold, like below 60F/15C, I like to tuck a cast iron pan in the oven to help it hold heat, turn oven on for a minute or two, then turn oven off. Tuck the covered pan in and let the buns rise in there.
- When they are doubled and looking fluffy, (don't forget to take the pan out of the oven if it's in there!) and preheat oven to 375F.
- Bake for 15 minutes, flip around then bake another 10 minutes. Take their internal temp with an instant read thermometer - because everyone's ovens cooks different, your buns are probably different sizes than mine...sourdough takes longer to bake than yeast dough...instant read is best way to know they are done and not have doughy buns. You want them to be 190F-200F
- When theyre out, this is the fun part! You can eat right away, glaze using the one above, or use your own frosting. If you're frosting them, they need to cool down for about half an hour or your frosting will all melt off.
becnerdy
These turned out so well. Plus I’ve never made any kind of homemade cinnamon rolls before. Loved that they had a little tang of sourdough. Probably because I let my pre-ferment go for almost 24 hours.
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These were absolutely delicious!! Light, fluffy and flavourful. YUM!!
jc
They look delicious!
Elizabeth
Would these freeze well after baking if I want to make them ahead of time?
Kayli Shattuck
I'd like to make these for breakfast. It is possible to place the completed buns in the fridge overnight and do the last 2-3 hour rise in the morning or to do the last rise then place in the fridge overnight and bake in the morning?
kateschat
I would do their last rise in the fridge overnight.
Madeline Murray
So does that mean shape them and let them rise overnight in the fridge then take out and bake in morning?
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I don't usually let them rise in the fridge. Unless it's really warm in your house, just leave them in a cool place.
Kayli Shattuck
Great, thank you.
Jennifer
Hi Kate~ just do you know - the "Soft Sourdough Master Dough Recipe" link under indgredients isn't working! The one below that is.
Excited to try this!! 🙂
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Thanks. It seems to be working now.
Madalyn
They turned out so well and yummy.
Could you freeze these before or after baking?
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Definitely after baking. Freezing kinda kills the sourdough.
Stephanie
Just tried these out as my first ever cinnamon bun making experience and they were so good! What changes would you make to time/temperature if baking in a cast iron pan?
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Sorry we missed replying to this....I just use same time and temperature
Janelle Martinez
I've been waiting for my new sourdough starter to be mature enough to make your Master recipe sourdough cinnamon rolls. Oh My they are delicious. Im new to sourdough and I was afraid this was more difficult than my abilities. ? thank you so much.
Betsy
These were delicious! I filled them with a blueberry filling I made using blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, and arrowroot powder instead of the traditional cinnamon sugar and it was a hit. I doubled the recipe and made dinner rolls with the other half. I love that your master sourdough recipe is so versatile! One recipe for almost all of my bread needs. Thank you Kate!
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Wow that sounds delicious!
Emily
Are you able to freeze these before baking?
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It's not recommended to freeze raw sourdough. It doesn't like it.
Emily
These are delicious! I tripled the master recipe and made two soft sourdough loaves in addition to this tray of 18 cinnamon buns. I followed the overnight recipe exactly except that I added some raisins to the filling, and they came out very nice. I was a little afraid that cutting it into 18 would make skimpy buns, but they puffed up nicely to an ample-but-not-overwhelming size. I gave some buns to my neighbors, kept some for us tomorrow morning, and froze more (unglazed) for another day!
Advice: next time, I would definitely line the cinnamon bun pan. I only greased mine, and it took some muscle to remove the buns.
Carly
I'd love to make and freeze these, especially to give as gifts to people. I read the earlier comments that recommend freezing after they're baked, but what about reheat instructions? Just recommend to let them thaw in a fridge and then bake until warmed up, or maybe pop in the oven straight from the freezer? Thanks for any feedback!!
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I think you can do either, but I think heating them from thawed would be better than frozen.
Bri
Is it possible to ferment these longer for someone who is more gluten sensitive? Curious if I could do a long ferment after the first ferment in the beginning or if I would put the completed but not baked buns in the fridge for another 24hrs to allow longer ferment. Thoughts?
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Yes you can do that just use cold/cool liquids not warm.
Hazel Peters
Nowhere Near Cinnamon Rolls
I’m just about to bake my own creation. It’s made like a cinnamon roll, but red pesto, jalapeño, Greek olives and feta. I hope they turn out!
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Wow those sounds amazing!!
Jabber
Would you recommend using Nutella as an option or how better to do a chocolate spread? This recipe is insanely good. I make it times four as I have so many that want a loaf when I’m making them. With these adaptations, I could open a bakery!!!
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Mmmmmmm Nutella could be amazing in this recipe! Sounds like you already have your own in-house bakery.
Alaina
If I want to use these as dough for king cake, could I add my extracts ( lemon/orange/vanilla) and when would you suggest I do so?
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So sorry for the delayed reply! Kate says this is probably too late now but for next year…I add that in the dough stage.
Judy picton
Kate ,thankyou for easy recipe . I made 2 batches of the easy soft sourdough ,one for a loaf and the extra to try out the cinnamon buns..Just checking on the recipe for cinnamon.buns it says overall rising time 12 hours ,I can only work out 9 hours max ,am I missing out a stage ?
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Yes, 9 hours if you are doing the one day method. I think the 12 comes into play if you are letting it rise overnight. But I will ask Kate about this.
Jensen Ankerson Carr
If I want them ready in the morning to do I let it rise overnight on the counter or fridge? 2 of the comments below are conflicting. Thanks!
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Overnight rises are tricky unfortunately and depends on how your dough is rising and what your house temp is. the best bet is to let them rise almost good on counter then move to fridge for the night.
Elizabeth
I took a double batch to church for coffee hour. They were gone in nothing flat and several people said they were the best Cinnamon Rolls they’d ever had. Thank you from all of us, Kate!
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How lovely is that to bring them to church!