Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with Orange Glaze
Use up your sourdough discard and prep some cinnamon rolls for the morning!
Servings: 12 rolls
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 4 Tbsp salted butter, melted plus some for coating
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp orange juice
Instructions
For prep the night before:
- Warm the milk in a microwave for 15 seconds, or until it is lukewarm. The easiest way to test if it's lukewarm is to dip a clean pinky into the milk.
- Add 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the milk and whisk together. Let it cool slightly while you get the other ingredients ready.
- Add your egg, starter, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar to a stand mixer. Mix together with the flat beater, then slowly add in your milk mixture. If you don't have a stand mixer, mix with a spatula in a large bowl.
- Sprinkle in the flour, and mix. Once the flour is mixed in, remove the flat beater and cover the dough with a kitchen towel. Let it rise for 30 minutes.
- Using the dough hook, knead the dough for 5 minutes on setting #2. Without the stand mixer, knead the dough on a clean floured surface for 5 minutes.
- Coat a large bowl with extra butter. Move the dough to the bowl with a spatula, then cover and let it rise again for another 30 minutes.
- Fold the sides of the dough with the spatula to the center—should fully go around the bowl once. Cover and leave the dough to rise overnight on the counter.
For the morning:
- Flour a clean surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin—or if you don't have one, an empty wine bottle that has been floured! You'll want to roll it into a long rectangle.
- Melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, spread the butter on the top surface of the dough.
- Mix the other 4 tablespoons of sugar with 2 tablespoons of cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly on top of the buttered dough.
- Roll the dough from the long side of the rectangle to the other (not the short side—this will create fat rolls).
- Using a serrated knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 12 rolls. To make them even, score the top of the dough before cutting. You can score the halfway mark, then the quarter marks, then cut each quarter into 3 rolls. Voila! 12 evenly cut rolls.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper inside a round cake pan, a pie dish, or a small casserole dish.
- Add the rolls to the dish lined with parchment paper. You may not have enough room for all 12, so you may want to bake 2 pans, or freeze some pre-baked rolls for another day! Freezer instructions are above.
- Cover the rolls with a towel and leave them to rise for 1 hour. At the 45 minute mark, start preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the rolls in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
- Let the rolls cool slightly while you whisk together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and orange juice to make the glaze.
- Pour the glaze on top of the rolls and spread using a small knife. Then devour!
Notes
Don't have a sourdough starter? No problem! Instead of using the starter, grab 1 packet of Instant Yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp) and follow these instructions!
FYI, you can do this recipe all the morning of—no prep the night before!
- Mix the warmed milk with the packet of Instant Yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Leave it for five minutes while the yeast blooms.
- Mix in the other tablespoon of sugar, the egg, and the 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
- Sprinkle in flour. Knead with a dough hook for 5 minutes, or using your hands on a clean floured surface.
- Cover and let it rise for 1 hour. Then proceed with the recipe as normal!