Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Bread
This post may contain affiliate links.
Sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia bread combines super soft, pillowy focaccia bread with a brown sugar, cinnamon roll filling, topped with a gooey vanilla cream cheese frosting. Seriously, you will wonder where this has been your whole life! Dessert focaccia has been on my radar for a while now, but this sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia really does take it to the next level!
I have combined my popular fluffy sourdough cinnamon rolls recipe with my easy sourdough focaccia recipe to create this one of a kind sourdough dessert recipe with a whole new look! My kids ask me to make this recipe every day, seriously they are obsessed! They love these sourdough cinnamon roll pancakes too!
If you love making cosy winter sourdough recipes and sweet sourdough treats, then you might enjoy making this sourdough applesauce cake (which also features a lovely vanilla frosting) or this sourdough skillet cookie.
Why You'll Love This Recipe!
Quick and Easy - there's no rolling or bursting with this sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia, making it quick and easy to make. Most of the time is hands off, just waiting for the dough to rise.
Sourdough Starter or Sourdough Discard - this versatile recipe can be made with active starter or sourdough discard with a little instant yeast to help it along. You choose what works best for your schedule.
Eat it Anytime - this delicious combination sourdough recipe can be served for breakfast, brunch, dessert ... pretty much any time you like!
How To Make Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Bread
If you've made sourdough focaccia bread before, you'll know just how easy it is to create a delicious sourdough bread with very minimal effort. This sweet focaccia bread is no different! It is quite a high hydration dough, but it really does need minimal hands on time, making it pretty easy to handle.
You can choose to use active sourdough starter or sourdough discard plus commercial yeast. You'll need to ensure that you adjust your timings based on which one you use (I've added a sample timeline below to help you navigate this).
Mixing The Dough
Weigh out your sourdough starter, sugar and water into a large bowl.
Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add flour, sugar and salt and mix whole lot together until it forms a sticky dough. You don't want any dry flour left at all.
You can use a dough scraper or Danish whisk for this process. I like to use my jar spatula.
Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit at room temperature for around an hour.
Strengthening the Dough
After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre. You should feel the dough strengthen as you do this. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth or tight, just work around the bowl stretching and folding (around 10 - 15 times is perfect).
Bulk Fermentation
Now you want to leave your dough to ferment. Cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave it alone to double (see notes).
Focaccia is super forgiving so it doesn't need to be perfectly doubled - near enough is fine.
Shaping Focaccia
Once the dough has doubled you need to shape the dough. Shaping focaccia is super simple (and absolutely forgiving). I've chosen to split my sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia dough into two smaller trays, but you can definitely do one big one.
If you are using a cast iron dish, you can just use oil, but I have used some parchment paper to make them easier to access and move. If you are using a cake pan like me, I recommend you use some parchment paper to avoid the focaccia bread sticking to the pan (it's a mess you don't want to have to deal with).
Use a dough scraper to gently ease the dough out into your desired pan.
Rub your hands with a little olive oil and gently pull the dough out to fill the tray. Again it doesn't have to be perfect as it will naturally fill the tray as it proofs.
Second Rise
Let your dough rise again. Leave it until it's spread out and filled the tray. It will be puffy and pillowy ... you might even have some gorgeous bubbles popping up.
Topping
Once the dough has filled the tray and is looking puffy and full of volume, you need to dimple the dough and add the toppings.
Sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar over the top of the dough so you get an even coverage. Then pour the melted butter over the dough. Then use your finger tips to gently dimple the focaccia dough and push all the brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter into the dough.
Baking Sourdough Focaccia
Preheat the oven to 200C (392F).
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Once baked through, remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool. Don't leave it in the tin as it will sweat.
Frosting
Whisk the frosting ingredients together until it forms a smooth, slightly runny paste. Add it to a piping bag and then drizzle it over the cinnamon roll sourdough focaccia. I've used my stand mixer to whip the frosting in this instance (around speed 5 until thick and creamy).
I added a star tip to my piping bag and piped the frosting on in little puddles.
What Baking Pan To Use?
Here are some ideas of what you can bake sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia bread in:
- Cast iron skillet or bread pan.
- Divide into two portions and bake in round cake tins lined with parchment paper (I do this with 20cm (8 inch) cake tins.
- Baking tray (either using olive oil or baking paper) - any medium sized tray is fine, the dough can stretch out to fit.
- I've used 2 enamel trays in this post - they are lined with parchment paper, mainly to protect the trays and they measure 9" x 11" (23cm x 28cm) and this recipe fitted perfectly when divided in two.
Sample Baker's Timeline for Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Bread
This sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia bread is super forgiving time wise. Focaccia is one of those magical breads that can be a little under or a little over fermented and no one will really notice too much!
Here is my baking timeline for making this sweet sourdough focaccia bread:
9pm - Before going to bed, feed your sourdough starter 1:3:3 so that it's bubbly and at peak when you wake up.
7am - Mix the sourdough focaccia dough together. Allow it sit for around an hour.
8am - Perform stretch and folds (one set is fine in this instance).
8.10am - Leave the dough covered at room temperature to bulk ferment.
2pm - Shape sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia bread into pans and cover for it's second rise.
6pm - Add brown sugar, cinnamon and butter, dimple and bake.
7pm - Add vanilla cream cheese frosting and serve for dessert!
You'll also find plenty of information on creating your own sourdough baking timeline here.
Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Bread
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Digital Scale
- Baking Tray
Ingredients
For the dough
- 100 g Sourdough starter active and bubbly (see notes for using discard)
- 400 g Water (can increase or decrease by 30g if desired)
- 500 g Bread Flour
- 50 g Sugar (granulated sugar - can sub honey if you like)
- 10 g Salt
- 30 g Olive Oil (this is for SHAPING ONLY - it does not get added to the dough).
For the topping
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 50 g Brown Sugar
- 50 g Butter
For the vanilla cream cheese frosting
- 125 g Cream Cheese (block not spreadable)
- 25 g Butter
- 100 g Powdered Sugar
- 5 g Vanilla Extract
- pinch Salt
Instructions
- Mixing The DoughWeigh out your sourdough starter, sugar and water into a large bowl.Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add flour, sugar and salt and mix whole lot together until it forms a sticky dough. You don't want any dry flour left at all.You can use a dough scraper or Danish dough whisk for this process.
- Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour. It's ok if it's a little bit longer, it's not going to matter too much.
- Strengthening the DoughAfter the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre. You should feel the dough strengthen as you do this. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth or tight, just work around the bowl stretching and folding (around 10 - 15 times is perfect).
- Bulk Ferment:Now you want to leave your dough to ferment. Cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave it alone to double (see notes).Focaccia is super forgiving so it doesn't need to be perfectly doubled - near enough is fine.
- Shaping Focaccia:Once the dough has doubled you need to shape the dough. Shaping focaccia is super simple (and absolutely forgiving). See my notes in the post above for details on baking pans/dishes.Use a dough scraper to gently ease the dough out into your desired pan.
- Rub your hands with a little olive oil and gently pull the dough out to fill the tray. Again it doesn't have to be perfect as it will naturally fill the tray as it proofs.
- Second Rise:Let your dough rise again. Leave it until it's spread out and filled the tray. It will be puffy and pillowy ... you might even have some gorgeous bubbles popping up.
- Topping:Once the dough has filled the tray and is looking puffy and full of volume, you need to dimple the dough and add the toppings.Sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar over the top of the dough so you get an even coverage. Then pour the melted butter over the dough. Then use your finger tips to gently dimple the focaccia dough and push all the brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter into the dough.
- Baking Sourdough Focaccia:Preheat the oven to 200C (392F).Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Once baked through, remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool. Don't leave it in the tin as it will sweat.
- Frosting:Whisk the frosting ingredients together until it forms a smooth, slightly runny paste. Add it to a piping bag and then drizzle it over the cinnamon roll sourdough focaccia.
Notes
- Cast iron skillet or bread pan.
- Divide into two portions and bake in round cake tins lined with parchment paper (I do this with 20cm (8 inch) cake tins.
- Baking tray (either using olive oil or baking paper) - any medium sized tray is fine, the dough can stretch out to fit.
- I've used 2 enamel trays in this post - they are lined with parchment paper, mainly to protect the trays and they measure 9" x 11" (23cm x 28cm) and this recipe fitted perfectly when divided in two.
Nutrition
Can the second rise happen in the fridge and then bake in the morning? Thanks, looks yummy! Love all your recipes!😁
I have a question, can this cinnamon focaccia bread be baked in a sheet pan? If would be great this way for a family or church function. Thank you.
Absolutely - a sheet pan would be a great idea 🙂 I've baked in two enamel trays but if I didn't split the dough, it would fit in a sheet pan just fine 🙂
Hi, I am in the process of making this right now. What size sheet pan is the best fit for one recipe? And do you mean a sheet pan like a cookie sheet with raised edges or more like a cake pan? Lastly, would it work to put chopped pecans in the topping that gets pushed into the dough? Thanks!
This dough will fit into a 9" x 13" baking tray. A cookie sheet with a lip or raised edge is best as the cinnamon sugar and melted butter can run if you don't have sides on your pan. And yes for sure you could add chopped pecans into the dough - this would be absolutely delicious!
Hi Kate.
Have you ever made this ahead & keep it in the freezer?
Love all your recipes & instructional videos. So helpful. I've tried several & they are so good!!! 🌟
Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm so glad you love the recipes and videos 🙂 I haven't tried this as a frozen dough that is then baked from frozen, but the bread will freeze ok once baked, just don't add the frosting until the focaccia has thawed 🙂 I hope that helps xo
If I opt for discard and instant yeast - how much yeast, when do I add the yeast, and how does it change the autolyse, stretch and folds, second rise , etc?
Check the notes in the recipe card for this information 🙂
At what point could I pop this in the fridge so it is ready to bake in the morning?
You'll place it in the fridge after you've allowed it proof a little in the pan, then in the morning take it out and allow it to fully fill the pan at room temperature and then bake.
This looks amazing! I'm sorry--I don't have a good bread rhythm down yet, how long would each bulk ferment approximately take?
THANKS!
I feel there are MISSING parts to this receipt!
Ingredients listed not in the directions and directions to mix ingredients not listed.
Please help me find the missing pieces of this receipt.
I have loved all the previous receipts I have made from The Pantry Mama, so this makes me sad. I may try to wing it anyways as i am excited to try this new one!
Thank You :~)
Looking at the recipe and directions. It doesn’t say to add sugar (honey) to the dough. When does it get added?
I used my discard with 1 TBLSP of instant yeast and the dough came out perfectly. Loved how this turned out. The dough was bubbly and baked beautifully. Made my whole house smell amazing! I added some pink food coloring into the icing for a nice little Valentine treat.
Love this recipe! My focaccia always turns out great. Do you think I could cold proof it at some point to adjust the timeline to fit my schedule? Thanks for all your great sourdough resources!
Can the second rise be successfully slowed down in fridge overnight, or will it be over proofed? Ideally I would like to take out of fridge and finish for baking first thing in morning.
Can I freeze it? If so is it better to bake? Par bake? and then Freeze? Thaw? Reheat then Frost? There is only two of us and a full recipe would be too much. Thanks in advance
When using honey instead of sugar is it still 50g or a different amount? Also, can you do this with most recipes like the fool proof loaf? That’s my favorite and I’d love to use honey instead.
I recommend using the same amount of honey as sugar (50g in this recipe). And you can substitute honey for sugar in most recipes. 🙂
After cooking how do you store this? Counter top/ fridge? How long?
Kate, just for clarity, are you using regular table salt here or Kosher salt? By weight I know it won't matter, I just want to follow exactly what you are doing here, at least the first time. Thanks! 😉
Can I make the dough and then put it in the fridge to bake first thing in the morning?
I didn't see how long the rises should take. Can the second rise be done overnight?
After the bulk ferment, could I split into the pans and then place overnight in the fridge and bake in the morning?
Do you suggest adding a little melted butter to the desired pan? Similar to adding olive oil, I worry the dough may stick if using a glass dish.
Loved this!
One question - how do you store leftovers and would you heat up leftovers to soften the bread?
Do you think this would freeze well?
Kate, Do you have a regular discard focaccia recipe I can use? I’m trying to cut down on sugar and have discard I’d like to use to make focaccia. Is it even possible? I’d love to hear that there is one. All your discard recipes have been wonderful and I’ve tried many of them. thanks so much!
Amazing! I increased the water by 30g and baked in a 12” cast iron skillet, liberally coated in butter instead of oil. I also reduced the oven temp to 350° and baked for 30 minutes. It came out PERFECT!
Would it work ok to spread the frosting over the whole bread, instead of piping?
Absolutely you can do that 🙂 I've just piped it because I thought it looked pretty 🙂
Would love to make this for breakfast - what timeline would you suggest so it’s coming out of the oven in the morning rather than evening?
In the timeline I have listed in this post, where it has you shaping the dough at 2pm, you could then place it into the fridge until the morning. You will need to allow the dough to come back to room temperature and be fully proofed before it goes into the oven though, so you'll need to factor that into your timeline too 🙂 xo
Oh my gosh!! Made this today and it is amazing. I baked on a 11x17 pan and doubled the Cinnamon topping. This is absolutely delicious and was very easy to make. I am taking it to a family get together today and I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks.
Can this be baked with a sugar substitute like Stevia or Splenda brown sugar?
I'm sorry, I haven't tried it with a sugar alternative 🙂
I added pecans and doubled the cinnamon. Loved the way it turned out! So much easier than rolling out sticky buns. I will make this again for sure.
Can you use AP flour?
You can use All Purpose Flour however you would then need to reduce the amount of water. I really do recommend using bread flour if you can 🙂
Approximate time for second rise ?
Can’t wait to try this!
Perfect! Next time I'll try to stop everyone from devouring it before I make the cream cheese icing!
Could I stick this in the fridge overnight for the second rise? So I could bake the next morning instead? Or do both first and second rise and then put in the fridge ?
You can put the focaccia dough in the fridge overnight. Place it in the fridge after you've allowed it proof a little in the pan, then in the morning take it out and allow it to fully fill the pan at room temperature before baking. 🙂
Hello.
Could I prepare this and place it in the fridge when it’s ready to go in the oven and then bake in the morning so it’s nice and fresh and warm for breakfast?
Yes you can put the focaccia dough in the fridge overnight. I would place it in the fridge after you've allowed it proof a little in the pan, then in the morning take it out and allow it to fully fill the pan at room temperature and then bake x
I wish I had thought to take a photo of my results, it turned out wonderfully delicious! Very happy with the end results. I ended up dividing the dough in half. I use an 8” square cake pan a 8” round cake pan. They both filled very nicely. The only thing I deviated on was the oven temperature. I baked mine at 375 for30 minutes. I flipped both out onto cooling racks and iced them while they were still warm. The flavor is wonderful and the texture is soft and springy. I will be making this many more times. Thanks for the fantastic recipe.
I am trying to figure out how anybody gave this less than 5 stars... I would give it 50 if I could. This recipe is iconic, absolutely legendary. Tales will be told about it in my family for generations to come! But seriously, it has everything; sweet, sour, crunchy, chewy, soft... What more could you ask for? Only changes I made were using honey instead of sugar and for the second proof I left it on the counter for about an hour and then into the refrigerator overnight. Added toppings and baked in the morning, and honestly probably the best thing I have made so far! Thanks so much for being so generous in sharing your amazing recipes. I have made several and have yet to be even remotely disappointed.
I assume the 50 g of sugar listed in the ingredients goes in with the flour and salt. I don't believe I saw it listed in the instructions.
That's correct, that's when it is added 🙂
My dough is still super wet. I'm currently at the bulk stage, but wondering if I should add a little flour during the strech and folds. Please help!
Sourdough focaccia bread is a very wet dough, so don't be frightened by this, it's very normal. I wouldn't add extra flour, no 🙂
My dough was so runny...I followed the recipe as close as possible. But I wonder if my starter hydration would have played into the dough consistency.... I'm going to try again with less water....(I'm so new to this sourdough world!)
But I baked it anyways and it was delicious!!!!!
Different flours can absorb liquids differently, so it's possible that your flour is the culprit here. However I would just hold some water back next time, yes 🙂 Good luck and let me know how it turns out 🙂 xo
I just made this and we loved it! How do you suggest storing it?
You can store it in an airtight container at room temperature. The frosting will make the bread a bit soggy after a day or two though so I definitely recommend just eating it fresh!