Sour Cream Cinnamon Rolls
Super super soft and gooey cinnamon rolls made with sour cream and a hint of nutmeg! These sour cream cinnamon rolls are reminiscent of an old fashioned donut. The sour cream does lovely things to this dough, makes it so incredibly tender once baked.
Honestly the best word I can use to describe these sour cream cinnamon rolls is: sofffffttt. And kind of donuty!
My daughters have this book, Pandas Eat Pickles, and I was reading it to my youngest one evening and noticed that the ‘donut’ and ‘cinnamon roll’ illustrations were on the same page. I stared at them for a moment and my brain went: “MAKE DONUT CINNAMON ROLLS! With sour cream! And nutmeg! It’ll be like an old fashioned donut cinnamon roll!”
So I did. And they were so good… A few weeks later I made them again and loved them even more, I think I also proved them better the second time, and they were even… smooshier. The hint of nutmeg makes these smell like Christmas and reminds you of a donut but what you have really is just a crazy awesome cinnamon roll.
Recipe Origins
For this recipe I worked off of my brown butter cinnamon roll template: the goal was to remove the eggs because I’d had a few people asking how to make the dough without eggs. Yogurt can work too but sour cream has a little less water and a little more fat so the rolls are more enriched. Plus, I was going for the donut/roll hybrid.
I kept the japanese milk bread technique of making a tangzhong and the brown butter in the filling (though it’s optional here). Also, nutmeg in the filling is just WONDERFUL.
Recipe Ingredients
Bread Flour: A flour that’s got a higher protein content, so at least 11% will yield a chewier bread. If you can’t find it, use all purpose but get one with a higher protein content. I’ve found that with all purpose you will probably want to reduce the water used to prove the yeast to about 80g or a third of a cup.
Water: this is to cook the flour in for the roux, or tangzhong.
Sour Cream: Full fat! No substitutes here, this is the ingredient that’s going to give our dough that ‘smooshiness’ (I promise I’ll stop using that word… someday).
Canola Oil: Use any flavorless oil, vegetable, avocado or grapeseed. Don’t use olive.
Sugar: This is for the dough, fine granulated or you can use brown sugar.
Milk: Partly to make the roux, partly to dissolve the yeast. Full or 2%.
Yeast: fast acting or instant yeast. I dissolve both types of yeast in warm water before adding to the dough.
Butter: I have the option of browning the butter but you can also just use softened butter.
Brown Sugar: For our filling, light or dark is fine.
Cinnamon & Nutmeg: I like a lot of cinnamon and a hint of nutmeg. Spice how you like yours!
Powdered sugar: I use organic powdered sugar made with tapioca starch, it tastes better!
Heavy cream: I love using heavy cream in my glazes because it makes them thick and lush. You can use milk if you like.
Cream cheese: for a more classic cinnamon roll glaze. Whipped, spreadable or a from a brick is fine.
How to make Sour Cream Cinnamon Rolls
First we’ll make the tangzhong: this is a chinese method used to make japanese milk bread. In doing this pre-cooking, some of the starches are geltanized which gives the bread a more open texture and makes it softer, with a longer shelf life. I tend to do my yeasted doughs in one day which means we eat the rolls the next day for breakfast, and they are still as soft as they were fresh out of the oven.
To make the tangzhong combine water, milk and some of the flour in a small pot. Whisk to combine then set it over low medium heat.
Keep stirring as it cooks, it will thicken. Once it is a thick paste, take it off the heat and let it cool.
Add the warm water to a stand mixer bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it, whisk to dissolve
Once the yeast has started to foam, add the flour on top
And the rest of the dough ingredients
Affix the dough hook and knead until the dough starts to come together around the hook and clears the bowl. This can take over 10 minutes, the dough will still look rough but won’t be overly sticky
Set it in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap
Leave the dough to rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours, until almost doubled in size.
Make the filling by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and whisking, stirring or beating to combine (if the butter is on the solid side warm it slightly so it’s easier to spread)
Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan
Flour a countertop and set the dough on it, then flour the dough. Roll it out to about 16×12 inches, about a half inch thickness
Spread the filling over the dough, then roll it up so you have a long log
Use unwaxed floss or a bread knife to slice the log into one inch thick rolls – I usually slice of the edges first and bake them separately in a muffin tin
Arrange the rolls in the prepared pan, leaving space for them to rise and bake
Cover with a tea towel and let rise for about another hour, until puffy and when pressed, your finger leaves a slight indentation
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake the rolls for about 30 minutes, until golden
You can wait to put the glaze on top so it’s thicker, or you can do it while the rolls are warm and it will seep in and make them gooier: whisk all the glaze ingredients together and spread over the rolls
FAQ on Sour Cream Cinnamon Rolls
How to make the rolls ahead of time
The first rise will take a couple of hours and the second around an hour, plus a half hour of baking time. You can make these the evening before and simply rewarm them in the oven the next day.
Alternatively, you can make the dough and immediately set it in the fridge to rise overnight. The second rise will take a little longer as the dough will need to warm up before it can start rising.
I don’t recommend doing a second rise in the fridge as it will lead to over-proving the dough.
How to know when the first rise is done
The dough will almost double it’s initial size and be lax and easy to work with.
How to know when the second rise is done
Use your index finger to gently touch the side of a roll (in the video I demonstrate this): if it bouces back immediately, it’s not done yet. If it comes back slowly and leaves a slight indentation, it’s ready for baking.
How to know when cinnamon rolls are done baking
Bread is done baking when it reaches 190 F, you can use a thermometer to check it. Since this is a pretty flat bake, it’s easier to tell: look for golden tops and edges.
How to make the perfect consistency for cinnamon roll glaze
This is about getting the balance of dry to wet right: add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin, more milk if it’s too thick.
Sour Cream Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Sour Cream Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 43g or ⅓ cup bread flour
- 65g or ¼ cup whole milk
- 65g or ¼ cup water
Sour Cream Dough
- 120g or ½ cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry
- 512g or 4 cups bread flour
- 100g or ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 50g or ¼ cup canola oil
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla
- 100g or scant ½ cup full fat sour cream
Filling
- 113g or ½ cup unsalted butter at a warm room temperature, or overly soft (if you are browning the butter, cold is fine)
- 130g or ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg or freshly grated
Glaze
- 1 ¼ cups organic powdered sugar
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese at room temperature, optional
Method
- Make the tangzhong: in a small pot, whisk together the bread flour, water and milk. Cook on medium whisking frequently until the mix turns into a thick paste, about 5 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the 120g warm water and sprinkle the yeast over it. Whisk or stir gently to dissolve then let set for about 5 minutes, until it starts to foam.
- Over the yeast add the flour, sugar, sour cream, salt, vanilla, oil, and the flour paste (tangzhong). Knead on medium speed until the dough starts to clean the bowl and come around the dough hook, this can take up to 15 minutes. When it's done it won't have a smooth surface but won't be overly sticky. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set it to rise on the counter for a couple of hours until it has doubled in size.
- Grease a 13×9 cake pan.
- Option to brown the butter: place the butter in a frying pan and cook on medium heat. It will melt, then sizzle and sputter. Once it goes quiet transfer it to a heatproof bowl making sure to scrape in the brown specks let cool until it reaches a solid but creamy state.
- Mix the softened butter with the brown sugar, flour, dash of vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. If it looks like it will be difficult to spread, warm it briefly in the microwave.
- Roll out the dough onto a well floured surface to about a half inch thickness. Spread the filling onto the dough and roll it up into a log from the shorter side. Using unwaxed dental floss, slice the log into 12 rolls and arrange them in the prepared pan - if you are running out of space, bake the extra rolls in a cupcake pan. Cover the pan with a tea towel and let them rise until they are puffy and when you press them, the dough doesn’t immediately spring back (about an hour, more if your kitchen is cold).
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake the rolls for 30 minutes, until they are slightly browned.
- When the rolls are cool, make the glaze: whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream (use more if the glaze is too thick), cream cheese if using, salt and vanilla. Spread over the rolls. Grate some nutmeg over the top too, if you like!
- Keep the rolls in the pan wrapped in foil on the counter. To rewarm the next day, set them in the oven with the foil on and preheat the oven to 250 F, they should be warm to eat after 10-15 minutes.
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I think in the filling instructions you have vanilla listed instead of flour. 1 tablespoon of flour is listed in the ingredients for the filling but not mentioned in the instructions.
it should have both! Will add it, thanks.
Hi! Thanks for the recipe… there are a couple of places in the recipe where 1/2 cup or whole cup of something (water as example) doesn’t match in grams. Example what you have in tangzhong vs in dough…. can you please advise? Thanks
Tangzhong
43g or ⅓ cup bread flour
65g or ½ cup whole milk
65g or ½ cup water
Sour Cream Dough
120g or ½ cup warm water
the tangzhong cup measurements were off, thanks – i just fixed them!
How to store if I bake it in the late evening for next day morning breakfast?
Best homemade cinnamon roll recipe I’ve tried!
Hi! In case you see this, I was wondering if you could help me troubleshoot… I tried this recipe today but could not for the life of me make the dough turn out… it was sticky and never really formed a ball/cleared the sides and bottom of my stand mixer bowl. I kept kneading it for way longer than 20min, more like 50 to see if I could get it there, but no dice.
I was wondering if you could add to the recipe some kind of description of how the dough should feel when kneaded enough? I’m sure I overworked it, but didn’t know when to stop because I didn’t know how it should look or feel (which I attribute to me being a novice baker when it comes to yeasted dough).
Thanks!
Hi Glenda! Gosh it definitely shouldn’t have taken 50 minutes. It’s possible the dough looked rather sticky but it was done kneading. Sometimes a heavy/lighter measuring hand or kitchen humidity/temperature can affect the dough. I’d say after 20 minutes I’d transfer it to a bowl and just let it rest. If it’s good to roll after the first rise do it, but if it’s still overly sticky you can chill it for a bit to make it easier. Thank you for the comment, I’ll update this recipe in the next few weeks and get some more instructional photos to help.
Does anyone know how the frosting tastes cuz I’m really skeptical..
it’s a very basic glaze, the heavy cream just keeps it thicker than usual
These are a soft and pillowy DREAM. I made the dough as directed but then my creativity got the better of me and for the filling I instead whipped together a batch of homemade cranberry/orange jam and smeared it across the rolled out dough. I reserved about 2 tbsp of the jam mixture to add to the frosting later for some extra color and flavor. On top of the jam I added a sprinkling of brown sugar and a light dusting of cinnamon before rolling them up, cutting into 12 rolls, and arranging in a 13×9. I let them rise overnight in the fridge, took out in the morning, and baked. Since the cranberry jam was so moist, they did end up taking a little longer in the oven. Once out of the oven, I whipped up the glaze but added 1 or 2 oz of softened cream cheese and the 2 tbsp of reserved cranberry jam. Smeared it all over the rolls, and Voila! They were amazingly soft and fluffy, and the cranberry added a delicious tartness. Also, the red/pink color was so lovely that they would be the ideal Valentine’s Day breakfast.
These are beyond delicious! I prepped them in the evening, put the shaped rolls in the fridge overnight, covered with saran wrap, then took them out the next morning and let them come to room temp for about an hour then baked them as directed.
Can you make these and then refrigerate after shaping and cutting to where you basically can pull them out of the fridge and bake?
Thanks
Can you knead them by hand? If so, how long
These are excellent! Super easy to make and recipe is easy to follow. I made them late afternoon and rolled them later in the night and left them in the fridge. Took them out first thing in the morning to proof and bake. Think maybe they over proofed but didn’t seem to affect the flavor! Super excellent!
Best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had in my life, they were sooo soft and delicious.
Made these for Christmas morning for the gluten free crowd (subbed in a GF baking blend 1 for 1). I was initially skeptical because they weren’t much to look at when they came out of the oven (you know…no gluten structure), but they tasted amazing. Such a hit with a picky crowd.
Hello, can you share what gluten-free flour you use for these cinnamon rolls? I am gluten-free and I’ve been trying to find a successful recipe to use.
I tried these cinnamon buns for my Christmas Eve day celebration… I’ve made many cinnamon bun recipes in the past and these are by far the best… they are soft and fluffy and delicious. Days later the tiny bit that was left was still good! I made them completely and put in the fridge overnight and cooked in the morning. I can’t comment on the glaze because I did my traditional cream cheese glaze. I will definitely be making these again… would like to try the pink glaze with a few jimmies… my granddaughter will go crazy!
THE best cinnamon rolls I’ve made! So delicious and perfect for Christmas morning. Recipe was very clear and easy to follow!
these were so unbelievably delicious. the dough came together beautifully and i was able to knead it by hand fairly easily. i added a little orange zest to the filling and about 2 oz mascarpone to the frosting (plus a little extra cream) and i don’t regret it a bit. made our christmas morning extra special!
If you aren’t making these cinnamon rolls, I really don’t know what to say lol. Hands down some of the best ones I’ve ever made. And will continue to make. Your recipes never fail!!
Oh my. These were AMAZING. I just ate one (HUGE) one and I am ready for the bed! They are just delish. Thanks Sam!!
Absolutely DIVINE!!! Made these for a wintry morning and shared with various groups. Each person came back with the same feedback, “these are the BEST”, “they are so soft”, “the texture is great!”. Even those that don’t typically enjoy cinnamon rolls were coming back. This truly was an easy baking method overall (even with the stovetop portion). I made the dough early afternoon, rolled out the cinnamon rolls at night, proofed overnight in the fridge, and baked in the morning. Best way to wake up. We were impatient and put the glaze on right when they came out so they went almost like a cinnamon/sticky bun cross-over. Also, if you don’t have nutmeg, I subbed cardamom instead as we are big cardamom fans. Another great recipe, Sam!
I’m anxious to try this recipe for my annual Christmas brunch! Question – how big are these?
Also, how versatile is this recipe in terms of fillings. Could I use this for, say, a jam based filling?
You sure can use a jam filling – might want to put something in there to thicken it (sometimes jam fillings fall to the bottom when the rolls bake). These are big – I got about 12 in a 13×9″ pan but you can always make them smaller, just roll the dough out into a longer, thinner log.
Do you really knead in standing mixer for 20 minutes? Wondering if that was a typo. Thank you! Sounds delicious!
I baked half the batch right away and they were the fluffier, pillowiest cinnamon rolls I’ve ever tasted. I froze the rest and when I tried to bake them off this morning, they didn’t rise at all. I pulled them from the freezer last night and proofed them at room temperature for 2.5 hours. What went wrong?
Not a typo, this works the gluten kind of like when you make brioche and you knead it for 20 (often more).
These were the best cinnies I’ve ever made and I have tried several recipes! Thank you!! Question, what number speed on standing mixer do you use?
Hi Noreen, that makes me SO HAPPY. I LOVE these rolls! I usually put mine somewhere between 4-6 speed, I have a kitchenaid mixer.
We made these cinnamon rolls today…and wow!!! Just speechless! I’ve been baking for nearly 40 years and I’ve never made a better roll! EVER!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! It’s everything you said and more!! This is a keeper for my family!!👏🏼
These look great. Also, we LOVE Pandas Eat Pickles over here too.
I use it as a motivator to get my girls to try new things: REMEMBER THE PANDA???? It works only occasionally :p