I have found a delightful way to satisfy the craving you get for a cinnamon roll, but with half the effort and in a much healthier way. This soft sourdough cinnamon swirl bread is fluffy and cinnamon-y, with just a touch of sweetness.

Soft sourdough cinnamon swirl bread a is a white flour sourdough discard bread, with a simple swirl of warm, woody cinnamon spice and a blend of sugars and butter. This recipe is easy to follow, enough so that beginners could do it. Soft sourdough cinnamon swirl bread is a same day loaf that fulfills the desire for a high carb, sweet-ish treat, AND uses sourdough discard.

Discard?

If you’re new to sourdough, sourdough discard is the unfed, unused portion that is typically thrown out before feeding. Otherwise, you might have endless jars of sourdough to feed. Important to note, discard bread recipes usually need instant yeast.

Raisins?

There are no raisins in this recipe, but feel free to add them into the step where your dough is mixing and kneading. You can add the dry raisins straight from the box or soak them in water first to rehydrate them prior to mixing into the dough. I haven’t tried either way, for sheer lack of desire, so I can’t say which is better. Leave a comment if you do happen to add them!

Allergy notes– This recipe is naturally egg free, perfect for those with egg allergies (and easy on the wallet too.) This deliciously soft sourdough cinnamon swirl bread can also be made dairy free or vegan by swapping the butter to a dairy free or plant based butter.

Storage

This cinnamon swirl bread is best served fresh the first day or two. It is fantastic when toasted and slathered with butter too. I always slice and freeze the freshly cooled bread on day one, that way when i take out individual slices from the freezer they are as fresh as they were on baking day!

Additionally, I know I am a very visual person so I took the liberty to make a short video to show you how this bread is made!

So if you crave cinnamon rolls on a regular basis, but know it’s not practical (or healthy) to eat them as often as you desire them, try this delicious recipe out!

How to achieve scrumptious soft sourdough cinnamon swirl bread

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine and mix: 100g discard, 250g water, and 510g flour. Cover with kitchen towel and rest for 20 minutes. It will look like a dry, scrappy dough:

After 20 minutes, add 7g instant yeast, 20g sugar, 10g salt, and 65g softened butter to the dough. Knead with dough hook for 6-10 minutes, until a smooth ball forms and dough passes the poke test (remove dough from bowl, shape into a ball, and push quickly with a finger, watch for it to spring back quickly; if it springs back the dough is ready)

Cinnamon swirl sourdough sandwich bread — Smooth round dough that holds its shape and passes the poke test

Place dough into a greased clear container, cover with towel, and watch for it to double in size, usually 1-2 hours depending on room temperature.

In the meantime, combine the cinnamon mixture filling ingredients in a medium bowl: 1 tbsp melted butter, 2 tbsps sugar, 2 tbsps brown sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp flour. Part it down the middle as a reminder you will be using it on 2 separate loaves. Grease 2 standard loaf pans and set aside.

Cinnamon swirl sourdough bread recipes — Cinnamon sugar mixture that will be used for 2 loaves.

After it has doubled or more than doubled in size, punch down/deflate gently then turn onto a clean counter. Evenly divide the dough into 2 pieces. Roll each into a large rectangle, about 6 inches by 20 inches long. The 6 inch portion should run parallel to the counter. It should look like a long scroll in front of you.

Using half the filling, spread the cinnamon mixture evenly onto the dough, covering it entirely with the exception of a small bare space at the top of the dough. This is to help with pinching the dough seam together.

Roll the dough from bottom to top, (closest to you moving away from you), along the 20 inch length of the dough so at the end you have a 6-8 inch roll to fit into a standard loaf pan. Pinch the seam, and stretch the dough on the ends of the roll to gather at the bottom seam. Place seam side down in prepared pan. Repeat process with second dough.

Sourdough discard bread recipes — Rolling from bottom to top

Sourdough bread ideas — Pinch to join the dough along the seam and keep it from unraveling

Soft Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread Raisin — Have a good idea of how small the loaf is before the second rise. As you can see, my loaf is more than 6 inches (approximately 8 inches, and this is common as you roll it it might stretch, which is why you want to follow a measurement guide from the beginning)

Cover with kitchen towel and rise again, until doubled, about 1 hour. Halfway through rising time, turn oven on to 350℉ and preheat it so it is ready when your doughs are.

Soft Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe — Doubled and peeking over the top of the pan. Ready to be baked.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 200-210℉.

Soft Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread Starter

When baked completely, remove from pans and carefully place on cooling racks. Allow to cool before slicing into them.

Things that helped in the kitchen for this recipe, and can help you too:

Kitchen scale -from amazon, this one I used for 1-2 years, its inexpensive but gets the job done! The one I currently have is unavailable, but maybe your luck will change that when you stumble upon this post!
Kitchen-aid stand mixer– amazon, or Costco- Like many of my essentials, I’ve had mine for years, don’t let the big price tag scare you.
A container to watch and track your dough rise, and the lid both on amazon. It is beyond me why they don’t sell the container and lid together.
Food thermometer (amazon) to check the temperature of basically everything and anything. One of my most used and underrated kitchen tools.
Large Bread knife– This bread knife is perfect for slicing loaves of sourdough bread. Be sure to check out the safety cover/ guard (amazon)

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