Go Back
–+ servings
A tray of sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia bread topped with gooey vanilla cream cheese frosting.

Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Bread

Indulge in the ultimate fusion of sweet and savory with our sourdough cinnamon roll focaccia bread. This delightful creation combines the pillowy softness of focaccia with the irresistible swirls of cinnamon sugar, creating a heavenly treat that's perfect for breakfast or a cozy dessert
3.86 from 143 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Fermentation Time 10 hours
Course Bread
Cuisine Italian
Servings 1 Loaf
Calories 3662 kcal

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 (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 tsp 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 Dough
    Weigh out your sourdough starter, sugar and water into a large bowl.
    Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add flour 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 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 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

Using Sourdough Discard - if you want to use discard, you can use 100g of sourdough discard with up to 7g of yeast. Remember that if you use 7g of yeast it will rise very quickly. I like adding just a pinch of yeast so you still get some of the extended rise time. The timeline posted above will not work if you add commercial yeast - it will all happen a lot faster.
What baking pan to use? Here are some ideas of what you can bake sourdough 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.
Hydration - this is a wet dough but it should strengthen as you perform stretches and folds. If you're worried, take the hydration down a bit the first time you make it - you can always add more water, but you can't take it away.

Nutrition

Calories: 3662kcalCarbohydrates: 590gProtein: 71gFat: 113gSaturated Fat: 65gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 28gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 288mgSodium: 4799mgPotassium: 769mgFiber: 14gSugar: 203gVitamin A: 3569IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 292mgIron: 5mg
Keyword Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Discard
Tried this recipe?Share your creation with us @ThePantryMama or tag #thepantrymama!