But hear me out – what if – what if, I made it even better?
Impossible, you say. You can’t improve something that has already reached perfection.
Behold! Your favorite cinnamon rolls, now available in a small batch that you can make in your cast-iron skillet*. Rather than making enough rolls to feed an army, you only need to make enough to feed yourself (and maybe one or two family members if you’re generous).
An Indulgent Dessert
Seriously – they are amazing. The cream cheese frosting meshes beautifully with the hint of sourdough tang from the discard. The butter and sugar also melts into a fantastic caramel bottom that leaves you licking your fingers after you’ve finished the roll.
It makes for a great dessert (or breakfast if you’re feeling indulgent), and it takes a fraction of the time to make when compared to the original recipe. No need to roll and shape 24 rolls when you only have to do 6.
I love serving this sourdough discard cinnamon rolls on special occasions like birthdays and Christmas mornings. However, you can make these anytime you want to use up your sourdough discard.
Small Batch Skillet Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls
I've taken my favorite sourdough discard cinnamon roll recipe and scaled it down to a more manageable size. Now you can make rolls in a skillet anytime.
56.5GramsSourdough Discard, Fed, Unfed, or Discard(1/4 Cup)
255GramsAll-Purpose Flour(2 Cups and 2 Tablespoons)
20GramsWhite Granulated Sugar(1 1/2 Tablespoons)
3GramsSalt(1/2 Teaspoon)
13GramsVegetable Oil or Melted Butter(1 Tablespoon)
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
75GramsWhite Granulated Sugar(1/3 Cup and 1 1/2 Teaspoon)
4GramsGround Cinnamon(2 Teaspoons)
14GramsButter, Melted(1 Tablespoon)
Cream Cheese Frosting
56GramsCream Cheese(2 Ounces)
14.2GramsButter, Softened(2 Tablespoons)
1GramsVanilla Extract(1/4 Teaspoon)
130GramsPowdered Confectioner's Sugar(1 Cups)
.37GramsSalt(A Pinch)
15GramsMilk, To Taste(1 Tablespoon)
Instructions
Make the Dough
In a small bowl, combine the warm water and the yeast. Stir and then let the yeast sit for 10 to 15 minutes until foamy.
Add the sourdough starter and stir until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
Add the flour mixture and the vegetable oil to the yeast mixture. Knead until the dough becomes smooth. It will be slightly tacky to the touch, but not sticky. If sticky, add about 1 tablespoon of flour.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly greased surface and shape into a round.
Place round in a lightly greased container with a lid. Let dough rest until double in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on kitchen temperature.
Make the Filling and Shape
In a small container, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Mix well and set aside.
In a small container, melt the butter and set aside.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly greased surface
Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Brush the butter onto the rectangle. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the dough.
Starting at the shortest edge of the dough roll toward the opposite side.
Use unflavored waxed floss or kitchen scissors to cut the dough into 6 pieces. Place on a lightly greased cast-iron skillet.
Cover the rolls and let rise for 30 minutes to 45 minutes until puffy.
Bake and Frost
Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit (204° Celsius) and move oven rack to the lowest position.
Bake the cinnamon rolls for 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
In a mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract.
Mix in the powdered sugar and salt.
A tablespoon at a time, slowly mix in the milk, until the frosting achieves your desired consistency.
Frost the cinnamon rolls with the cream cheese frosting and enjoy!
Notes
Keep in mind that you may need more or less flour depending on the consistency of your sourdough starter. I feed my starter a 1:1 ratio of whole wheat flour and water, and I needed more flour than when fed my starter 1:1 of all-purpose flour and water. If you have an all-purpose starter, I suggest starting with just 1 cup of flour and then slowly adding the remaining flour until you achieve the consistency you want. You might not need all the flour. Depending on your ambient room temperature, you may need to lengthen or shorten your rise times. In the summer, my dough rose much faster and only needed to rise for about 30 minutes for the second rise.
Did You Try It?
I’m particularly proud of my small-batch skillet sourdough discard cinnamon rolls, and I love making it for my family. If you have suggestions for improvement, however, I’m all ears. Just give your feedback in the comment section below and leave a star rating. I can’t wait to make this recipe even better.
*As an Amazon associate, I provide affiliate links to products that I regularly use and enjoy. I receive a small commission on qualified purchases, but I’m not paid for my opinions. If I mention a product, it’s because I genuinely recommend it.
Making these for family for 3rd time. We absolutely love them.
Wonderful! I'm so happy you love them :) Thank you so much for letting me know. Your feedback made my day.
I doubled the recipe to make jumbo rolls; I can attest to an overnight rise in the fridge; was incredible! Covered with a produce plastic bag and puffed some air into it, thank you for the best recipe!!
You're most welcome! Thank you so much for your kind words and helpful feedback.
Easy to make and delicious
Thank you!
Can I put in fridge overnight?
Hey Lisa, I have not tried refrigerating this dough over night. It has quite a bit of yeast, so I can see a long proof in the fridge making them a bit too puffy. Additionally, these rolls rise a second time in a cast-iron skillet, and I'm not sure how well a cold skillet will affect the dough or the baking. However, if you really need to refrigerate this dough, I suggest cutting back the yeast by a bit, and then storing the dough in the fridge during the first rise. Then let the dough rest on the counter for 30 to 40 minutes until it reaches room temperature, and you can proceed with shaping as normal.
How are these best stored after being baked? Thank you. Also, these are delicious ????.
Hey Rachel, if you frosted your rolls, put them in an air tight container and keep them in the fridge (buttercream frosting and cream cheese frosting both need refrigeration). If you haven't frosted them, an airtight container at room temperature works just fine. You can even freeze them without the frosting if you need to store them for longer.
Want to try these but only have instant rise yeast. Can I use in place of active yeast? Thanks
Elaine, instant yeast and dry active yeast can be used interchangeably. And you don't need to wait the 10 minutes or so for the yeast to bubble and foam. Happy baking!
I have been trying to use my discard instead of throwing it away, so I made these today and they are SO GOOD! I can't wait to try more of your recipes, thanks!!
Wonderful! Thank you so much and happy baking :)
I am thrilled to have found a small batch recipe since it’s just my husband and I.
My cream cheese frosting was lumpy because I used cream cheese out of the fridge as well as my milk. I ended up scraping the mixing bowl into a glass measuring cup and microwaving for less than 30 seconds and it came out so smooth after a couple stirs. Poured it over my rolls and it was perfect!
Also, how do you store left over rolls?
I'm so glad that you enjoyed these rolls! I love hearing about baking adventures. As far as storing goes, I recommend putting frosted rolls in an airtight container in the fridge since the frosting has cream cheese in them. If you haven't frosted the rolls yet, you can keep the rolls in a Ziploc bag at room temperature and keep the frosting in the fridge.
Absolutely love this recipe! I actually use this recipe for the sourdough cinnamon rolls I sell at farmers markets (I just 10x the batch) everyone who has ever given feed back says they're the best cinnamon rolls they've had. For those that I sell my starter and give sourdough lessons to, I always send them this link as well as other recipes iv tried from you!
Oh wow! That's such high praise. Thank you so much.
These are fantastic. So moist and gooey! And look amazing in the cast iron pan so the in-laws were extra impressed!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing.
These are in the oven right now and if they taste anything like they look or smell I'm sooooo excited ????
Planning to make this my every Sunday recipe to make something special with my toddler!
I'm so glad! Happy baking :)
I am embarrassed to add my question to the list of comments from seasoned bakers, however I am new to sourdough and this is my first attempt in using my discard. My question is- how do you combine dry and wet ingredients? in mixer with dough hook or in a bowl with spatula or food processor? Thanks in advance for your help
Hey no worries! I still consider myself a beginner even though I've learned quite a bit. I mix wet and dry ingredients a bit differently depending on the recipe. With quick breads, I use a spatula to avoid over mixing. With my large batch cinnamon roll recipe, I just toss them into the mixer with the dough hook. This smaller recipe is almost too small for my mixer to combine things properly so I knead it by hand.
Perfect portion for just my husband and I and I love using my skillet for everything! I didn’t use all of the frosting though so kept them in the fridge. Probably have them with toast or buns? Thanks for this recipe, its scrumptious!
Thank you so much for the positive feedback!
This was very easy to follow and mine turned out amazing! Great recipe!
Wonderful! I'm so glad. Thank you for sharing.
What kind of container do you use after it’s rolled out into a round to make it fit?
I personally prefer a cambro food storage container with a lid (it's 6 quart one for big recipes), but just about any bowl that you can cover so the dough doesn't dry out will work. You could even just use some plastic wrap over a mixing bowl - just whatever you have on hand.
View Comments
Making these for family for 3rd time. We absolutely love them.
Wonderful! I'm so happy you love them :) Thank you so much for letting me know. Your feedback made my day.
I doubled the recipe to make jumbo rolls; I can attest to an overnight rise in the fridge; was incredible! Covered with a produce plastic bag and puffed some air into it, thank you for the best recipe!!
You're most welcome! Thank you so much for your kind words and helpful feedback.
Easy to make and delicious
Thank you!
Can I put in fridge overnight?
Hey Lisa, I have not tried refrigerating this dough over night. It has quite a bit of yeast, so I can see a long proof in the fridge making them a bit too puffy. Additionally, these rolls rise a second time in a cast-iron skillet, and I'm not sure how well a cold skillet will affect the dough or the baking. However, if you really need to refrigerate this dough, I suggest cutting back the yeast by a bit, and then storing the dough in the fridge during the first rise. Then let the dough rest on the counter for 30 to 40 minutes until it reaches room temperature, and you can proceed with shaping as normal.
How are these best stored after being baked? Thank you. Also, these are delicious ????.
Hey Rachel, if you frosted your rolls, put them in an air tight container and keep them in the fridge (buttercream frosting and cream cheese frosting both need refrigeration). If you haven't frosted them, an airtight container at room temperature works just fine. You can even freeze them without the frosting if you need to store them for longer.
Want to try these but only have instant rise yeast. Can I use in place of active yeast? Thanks
Elaine, instant yeast and dry active yeast can be used interchangeably. And you don't need to wait the 10 minutes or so for the yeast to bubble and foam. Happy baking!
I have been trying to use my discard instead of throwing it away, so I made these today and they are SO GOOD! I can't wait to try more of your recipes, thanks!!
Wonderful! Thank you so much and happy baking :)
I am thrilled to have found a small batch recipe since it’s just my husband and I.
My cream cheese frosting was lumpy because I used cream cheese out of the fridge as well as my milk. I ended up scraping the mixing bowl into a glass measuring cup and microwaving for less than 30 seconds and it came out so smooth after a couple stirs. Poured it over my rolls and it was perfect!
Also, how do you store left over rolls?
I'm so glad that you enjoyed these rolls! I love hearing about baking adventures. As far as storing goes, I recommend putting frosted rolls in an airtight container in the fridge since the frosting has cream cheese in them. If you haven't frosted the rolls yet, you can keep the rolls in a Ziploc bag at room temperature and keep the frosting in the fridge.
Absolutely love this recipe! I actually use this recipe for the sourdough cinnamon rolls I sell at farmers markets (I just 10x the batch) everyone who has ever given feed back says they're the best cinnamon rolls they've had. For those that I sell my starter and give sourdough lessons to, I always send them this link as well as other recipes iv tried from you!
Oh wow! That's such high praise. Thank you so much.
These are fantastic. So moist and gooey! And look amazing in the cast iron pan so the in-laws were extra impressed!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing.
These are in the oven right now and if they taste anything like they look or smell I'm sooooo excited ????
Planning to make this my every Sunday recipe to make something special with my toddler!
I'm so glad! Happy baking :)
I am embarrassed to add my question to the list of comments from seasoned bakers, however I am new to sourdough and this is my first attempt in using my discard. My question is- how do you combine dry and wet ingredients? in mixer with dough hook or in a bowl with spatula or food processor? Thanks in advance for your help
Hey no worries! I still consider myself a beginner even though I've learned quite a bit. I mix wet and dry ingredients a bit differently depending on the recipe. With quick breads, I use a spatula to avoid over mixing. With my large batch cinnamon roll recipe, I just toss them into the mixer with the dough hook. This smaller recipe is almost too small for my mixer to combine things properly so I knead it by hand.
Perfect portion for just my husband and I and I love using my skillet for everything! I didn’t use all of the frosting though so kept them in the fridge. Probably have them with toast or buns? Thanks for this recipe, its scrumptious!
Thank you so much for the positive feedback!
This was very easy to follow and mine turned out amazing! Great recipe!
Wonderful! I'm so glad. Thank you for sharing.
What kind of container do you use after it’s rolled out into a round to make it fit?
I personally prefer a cambro food storage container with a lid (it's 6 quart one for big recipes), but just about any bowl that you can cover so the dough doesn't dry out will work. You could even just use some plastic wrap over a mixing bowl - just whatever you have on hand.