I’ve mentioned many times that one of my favorite reasons for blogging is the community. My experience has been that the food blogging community is so warm and welcoming, and I have made many great friends in the few years that I’ve been blogging.
One of my favorite bloggers (you’ve seen her in my Friday Favorites many times), Amanda from I Am Baker and I Am Mommy has become a great friend of mine. I’m sure you already know that she is a very talented baker and cookie decorator, but she is also one of the sweetest, kindest people I know. I am blessed with the opportunity to chat and talk with her on a regular basis, and she always brightens my day!
So, today, I am happy to do something that will hopefully help brighten her day just a bit, as well. You see, she is having a precious little baby boy in about one week. How exciting! So, along with a group of many of my favorite blogger friends, we are hosting a virtual baby shower for Amanda to let her know how much we love her!
When I think of baby showers, I think of brunch… Sure, you can have a baby shower any time of day, but I think brunch is especially fun. As I was thinking of fun brunch foods to make for the shower, I decided that it would be fun to make some cinnamon rolls. Everyone loves cinnamon rolls, right?
These aren’t my typical cinnamon rolls, though… I’ve done cinnamon rolls before, and I wanted to create a new recipe especially for Amanda’s shower. I’ve been incorporating sourdough starter into many of my recipes lately for some added depth of flavor, so I thought it would be fun to make some sourdough cinnamon rolls.
Maple Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
(Makes 12 large cinnamon rolls)
For the dough:
- 1 cup fed sourdough starter at room temperature
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 3/4 – 2 cups all purpose flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the filling:
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon half and half
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Begin by making the dough. Combine the sourdough starter, warm milk, canola oil, maple syrup,sugar, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth. Gradually stir in the whole wheat pastry flour and one cup of the all purpose flour. The mixture will be sticky and wet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until almost doubled (about 1 1/2 – 2 hours).
After the dough has risen, gradually stir in the remaining flour and the baking powder. Add just enough that the dough is no longer sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and let it rest while you make the filling.
Stir together the light brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt the butter in a small microwaveable dish. Brush a 9 by 13 inch baking dish or cake pan with the melted butter, and set aside. Reserve the remaining melted butter.
Roll out the dough to shape a large rectangle, approximately 18 inches by 12 inches. Generously brush the dough with the melted butter, and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture on top of the melted butter. Add the chopped pecans and dried cranberries on top of the the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.
Roll the dough lengthwise to create an 18 inch long spiral of the dough and fillings. Cut the dough into 12 even rolls (each approximately 1 1/2 inches wide), and arrange them cut-side down in the prepared baking dish. Brush any remaining melted butter on top of the rolls.
Cover the rolls once again with a damp cloth and allow them to rise while the oven preheats to 375°F.
Uncover and bake the cinnamon rolls for about 16 – 18 minutes. The rolls will be puffy and golden on top. Allow the rolls to cool slightly in the pan while you prepare the glaze.
To prepare the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, half and half, and maple syrup. To reach the consistency you like, you can add a bit more powdered sugar (about 1 tablespoon at a time) to thicken it a bit, or you can add more half and half (about a teaspoon at a time) to thin the glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the warm rolls in the pan. You can also reserve some of the extra glaze to serve along with the rolls. I find that a small cream pitcher from my coffee set works perfectly for the glaze.
The cinnamon rolls are best served warm on the same day. They can also be frozen and reheated at about 250°F until warm and toasty.
Congratulations and best wishes to Amanda!
If you’d like to extend your congratulations to Amanda, you can find her on Twitter and check out her Facebook page!
Be sure to take some time to mingle with all of my blogger friends who are participating in this virtual baby shower… You won’t want to miss their fantastic recipes and fun shower ideas!
- TidyMom – Ducky Bath Punch
- Confessions of a Cookbook Queen – Homemade Butter Mints
- GoodLife Eats – Cucumber and Watercress Sandwiches
- Bake at 350 – Baby on Board Cookies
- Bluebonnets & Brownies – Mini Fruit Pizzas
- What’s Cooking with Kids – Hamentashen cookies
- Add a Pinch – i am baby Shower Punch
- Simple Bites – Spring Crudité, Buttermilk-Black Pepper Dip
- A Farmgirl’s Dabbles – {i am baby} cakes
- Food for My Family – Baby Shower Macarons
- Wenderly – Baby Cards
- She Wears Many Hats – “B” is for Boy – Itty Bitty Baby Cupcakes
- Dine & Dish – Stuffed Mushrooms
- My Baking Addiction – Crab Rangoons
- Smith Bites – Strawberries w/Brown Sugar Dip
- Gourmande in the Kitchen – Chocolate Blueberry Truffles
- Bakers Royale – Baby Shower Cupcakes
This is great. I was just given starter the other week by a friend. Yum!
Those look AMAZING! I want to come to ever shower you ever are hosting!
Love this virtual shower idea and so sweet of Kristan to have thought of it for such a special lady. Amanda is going to love these Jen, they look amazing!
Oh my goodness gracious these look so good it’s not even funny.
Forget Amanda, you need to make these for ME!!
Kidding.Sort of.
I’m so glad you were able to participate in the shower!! It was a lot of fun.
These look so delicious, Jen. Goodness me!
This shower is so much fun, I just wish we could do it in real life, too!
I’m coming to your house Jen!! These look SOOOOO good! I love cinnamon rolls!!!
You. Are. Amazing.
Not only have you blessed me beyond words with these beautiful and I KNOW delicious rolls, but you have touched my heart in the most humbling and beautiful way! THANK YOU so much for your sweetness… thank you so much for you!! I have loved getting to know you better and love being able to call you friend!!!
BE BLESSED!!!
Amanda
I want one of these for my breakfast today!
Goodness me! Let’s go ahead and make this shower a real life thing cause these cinnamon rolls are calling my name! They’re perfect.
Maple and Sourdough- two of my favorite flavor combinations. You’ve really outdone yourself, Jen.I need a pan of these for breakfast.
Those cinnamon rolls look heavenly. The combination of cinnamon, maple and sourdough sounds beyond delicious!
Jen, I am so glad you are my friend and you live within driving distance. Oh please won’t you bring these with you the next time you’re in the area? :) Beautiful recipe, love.
Oh I wish I had one of those right now! They look so good, Jen!
That looks wonderful. I am loving the recipe.
YUM! I love how moist and tender thse look. I have to say the sourdough part is so intriguinig. Well done.
What a great addition to a baby shower – just wish I could eat one of these for real!!
Gah – this post reminded me that I haven’t had breakfast :-) xo
oh yeah, come to mama please! the only thing better would be that i would be able to really enjoy one . . . or two . . . or . . . of these. Wow Jen!!
I hope you don’t mind, but I would forego the fork when eating mine. Nothing better than pulling it apart:)
These look fabulous!
Send one of these my way. Love the sour dough starter.
These look incredible. I love the photos and the use of sourdough. Mmmm!
Great minds think alike, as I made some cinnamon roll cereal this weekend. Not anywhere near as decadent as your but still. ;)
hi I saw these over at Amanda’s blog they look super yummy. I quickly looked around but didn’t see a recipe for the sourdough starter???
thanks!
Cecilia – Any sourdough starter will work. I purchased a starter from King Arthur Flour, so that would be my recommendation. It comes with instructions regarding how to feed and keep the starter.
These sound so, so good! We’re featuring breakfast this week over at the M&T Spotlight and I’d love for you to submit this. http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight
What a fun idea :) I need to make more blogger friends. Then I when I start talking about food they will actually join in instead of zone out….haha.
These cinnamon rolls look great too. I love the idea of using sourdough.
I love how you’ve taken one of my favourites, sinful recipes and made it a bit healthier. Good on you!
Oh my goodness. These photos make my mouth water. They look so delicious, Jen!!!
I am all about cinnamon rolls…add maple to mix and I am smitten! Lovely photos!
How sweet of you to make something for Amanda’s virtual baby shower. These cinnamon rolls are just perfect. They’re one of my favorite treats but I’ve never made them with sourdough before! What a great idea. :) These look amazing.
These are absolutely adorable and I love the idea of a sourdough starter for them!
I LOVE the idea of maple syrup in the cinnamon buns! I too have been playing with my Sourdough Starter – and just tried out cinn. buns http://notjustachick.blogspot.com/2012/03/uncle-festers-cinnamon-buns-aka.html ) BUT – I think the addition of maple syrup would take these to a whole other level! Guess it’s back to the kitchen I go! Thank you!
Those look amazing, and I would love to make them for Christmas! I was wondering though, do you have to use whole wheat pastry flour, or would regular whole wheat flour work as well? Thank you!
Hi, Liv – You could use whole wheat flour, as well, but it won’t be quite as light in texture. Happy baking!
I have a batch of these in the oven right now!