Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

I'll try to keep this post brief today (HA!). Mother Humble is arriving tonight and that means I need to get the house in order. It also means I need to hide any food I don't want her to swipe for the gigantic cooking projects she tends to undertake during her visits.

Anyway, so despite the near constant bread baking around here, I have yet to post a single sourdough recipe on the blog. This has everything to do with Mr. Humble's deciding he is the 'artisan' bread maker around here and his completely taking over the job of supplying the household with bread. However, I was able to commandeer a bit of the sourdough starter this week and start the process of creating sourdough cinnamon rolls.




I found a recipe on The Fresh Loaf that sounded great. I love really soft, tender cinnamon rolls. So when I'm hunting for a recipe, I look for heavily enriched doughs (woohoo butter!). This one delivers and has additional tenderizing ingredients (eggs, mashed potato and of course, wild yeast) so I was expecting a super soft billowy roll.

They were. Oh yes.



The catch... they took days to make. DAYS. Spanning thirty-six hours, to be exact.

I'm not the most patient baker. I understand that delicious things happen when dough cold ferments for extended periods and that waiting is usually rewarded, but I'm not sure I can handle making these again. They just took soooo long. Mr. Humble doesn't agree, he loved them and promised to make the dough for me whenever I had the urge to bake cinnamon rolls. Not that it will do anything to relieve my impatience...

Still, if you're looking to make sourdough cinnamon roll and happen to be in absolutely no rush, this is a good recipe.




Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
by Mountaindog @ The Fresh Loaf
yields 12 large rolls

Levain
150 grams 100% hydration sourdough starter, recently fed and ripened (when it has just doubled it's volume is a excellent time to use it)
340 grams lukewarm water
340 grams all-purpose flour

Let this mixture sit at room temperature for 12 hours, until doubled (usually overnight.) If your starter tends to double in less than 12 hours or you're not going to make the final dough for a while, then keep the levain in the fridge until you're ready to make the dough.


Final Dough
113 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
225 grams 3 large eggs
42 grams (1 1/2 tablespoons) honey
24 grams (2 tablespoons) pure vanilla Extract
130 grams mashed potato (I recommend Yukon Gold)
195 grams (3/4 cup) buttermilk or whole milk
850 grams levain
700 grams all-purpose flour
21 grams salt

In your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter then beat in the eggs, honey, vanilla and mashed potatoes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix until well blended.

Swap out your paddle for the dough hook and add the milk/buttermilk and levain, mixing until blended and then gradually add the flour and salt to the bowl. Continue mixing with the hook until well-blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Allow the dough to rest covered in the bowl for 20 minutes.

After the rest, mix with the hook for another 2-3 minutes.

The resulting dough will be very moist and sticky.

Turn the dough out into a large, lightly-oiled bowl. Cover and allow to ferment in a cool location (55-65°F) until doubled (this should take 8-12 hours, depending on how warm the location is). Every 4-6 hours, lift the dough to stretch and then fold it onto itself.

Towards the end of the fermentation you can ready the filling:

Filling
double the dry ingredients for extra coverage/fun
170 grams (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted.
85 grams cream or half & half
300 grams dark brown sugar
180 grams raisins (I omitted these because I consider them a blight on cinnamon rolls)
3 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) cinnamon
12 grams (1 tablespoon) vanilla extract

Combine the melted butter, vanilla and cream. In another bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon and raisins.

Once the dough has finished the ferment, you can roll it out and fill.



Since the dough is so sticky, I highly recommend using a well-floured baking couche. Don't have one? No need to hit a specialty store. Just visit your nearest fabric store and buy a large heavy piece of linen or canvas. Thoroughly wash it, flour it and never wash it again (if for some reason, dough sticks to your couche, let it dry and then scrape it off). It will make rolling, handling and proofing any sticky dough so much easier. The scrap of cloth happens to be one of the handiest things it my kitchen. When you're done using it, simply dust off the excess flour, fold it and stash it.

Okay, back to the rolls...

Turn out your dough onto your floured couche and dust it lightly with flour. Roll it out into a rectangle, (how large will depend on how thick you want your rolls and how many spirals of cinnamon you desire). I rolled mine a bit larger than 18"x20" ...I think.

Brush the sheet of dough with the butter/cream mixture and then sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar.



Roll up the dough, using the couche to help roll it onto itself (I told you it was handy).

Then using a piece of floss or thread, cut the 1"-1.5" rolls from the log. Place these into a greased baking pan or casserole. Brush the rolls with a little butter and then cover. Slowly proof the rolls for 12 hours (or overnight) in a cool place (or the refrigerator) until they have doubled.



Bake straight from the fridge in a 400°F oven for 25-35 minutes (if you have very thick rolls it may take a bit longer) or until the internal temperature hits 195-200°F on instant-read thermometer.

Once out of the oven, brush the rolls with a little more melted butter to keep them soft and work on the topping.

Mountaindog provides a recipe for a cream cheese icing (you can find it here). I went with my own favorite cinnamon roll slathering glaze:


Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream
whole milk

Whisk together the ingredients, adding just enough milk to make a fluid glaze that flows thickly and smoothly off the end of the whisk.

Use the whisk to drizzle the icing over the rolls and serve warm.




If you're not able to serve the rolls immediately, they'll keep for a couple days covered and refrigerated. Gently rewarm before serving.

Enjoy!