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Soft, pillowy sourdough cinnamon rolls with a gooey, spiced centre and a tangy cream-cheese glaze. The sourdough does two things: it makes the dough beautifully soft and keeps it that way for days, and it adds a gentle depth that stops them being sickly. I mix the enriched dough the day before and let it prove slowly overnight, so all I do in the morning is roll, fill and bake.
Ingredients
Dough
- 500g Shipton Mill strong white flour
- 250g whole milk, warmed
- 100g active starter, at its peak
- 1 egg
- 50g caster sugar
- 50g soft unsalted butter
- 8g fine salt
Filling
- 100g soft unsalted butter
- 120g soft brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 100g cream cheese, 50g soft butter, 100g icing sugar, splash of vanilla
Method
- Mix the dough: Whisk the starter, milk and egg together. Add the flour, sugar and salt and mix to a shaggy dough, then work in the soft butter until smooth and elastic — a few minutes of folding or a stand mixer. It should be soft and only slightly tacky.
- Bulk & overnight prove: Cover and leave for 2–3 hours until risen by about half, then refrigerate overnight. The cold prove deepens the flavour and makes the dough far easier to roll.
- Roll & fill: Roll the cold dough into a large rectangle, roughly 40 × 30cm. Spread evenly with the soft butter, then scatter over the brown sugar and cinnamon right to the edges.
- Shape: Roll up tightly from the long edge into a log, then cut into 9–12 rolls (a length of thread or floss gives the cleanest cut). Arrange cut-side up in a greased baking dish, leaving a little room to expand.
- Final prove: Cover and leave somewhere warm until puffy and touching — 1.5–3 hours depending on warmth (they're cold from the fridge, so give them time).
- Bake: Bake at 180°C for 22–28 minutes until golden and the centres are cooked through.
- Glaze: Beat the glaze ingredients smooth and spread over the rolls while still warm so it melts into every crevice.
Tip: Short on time? Skip the overnight prove and do a single warm rise until doubled, then shape and bake the same day — the flavour is milder but they're still excellent. For extra-soft rolls, don't overbake; pull them as soon as the centres are set.
That depth of flavour starts with a lively culture. Our lab-verified San Francisco sourdough starter is live, and ready to bake in 2 hours.
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