Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Christmas Trees

Deck the halls with festive flavor! These Christmas tree-shaped cinnamon rolls are more than just a treat—they’re a delicious way to rescue your sourdough discard and spread some holiday cheer.

You’ll love pulling apart layers of buttery, golden dough swirled with warm cinnamon, enriched with nutty brown butter and tangy buttermilk.

This sourdough cinnamon bun rolls recipe is dedicated to Christmas trees.

Key Ingredients

Brown butter: There is something magical about cooking butter until the milk solids brown and take on a sweet, nutty fragrance and amber color. You’re going to be making a bit more browned butter than required for the recipe because the rendering process can be a bit unpredictable based on your butter, but don’t despair, you can use the leftovers on your toasted sourdough bread!

Sourdough discard: The sourdough discard in this recipe, while not in the active stage, is still sourdough, it will naturally ferment your cinnamon rolls and condition the dough, making the baked treats more tender and flavorful.

Vanilla paste: I’m on a huge vanilla paste kick these days – I find the flavor to be more intense. Plus, I love the little specs from the vanilla seeds! Feel free to sub in vanilla extract if you don’t have vanilla bean paste.

Psst.. Want to know more about feeding your starter, storing sourdough starter, how to use discard, or even which is the best jar for your starter? I’ve got tons of guides to help you!

How To Make Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Christmas Trees:

Brown The Butter:

1. In a medium-sized sauce pan, over medium-low heat, melt 1 cup unsalted butter and simmer the butter, stirring regularly, until it takes on an amber color, the milk solids have browned, and it smells nutty. This will take between 3-5 minutes of simmering, but do watch it closely because the butter can burn.
2. Transfer the browned butter to a heat proof container and place in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.
   Note: You’ll only be using 175g of the browned butter. Reserve the remainder for use in other recipes.

Make The Dough:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 200g warm buttermilk, 100g brown sugar, and 7g instant yeast. Mix on low speed until fully combined. Then add 1 large egg, 100g sourdough discard and mix until combined. Add 500g bread flour and 8g sea salt. Mix until a rough dough forms. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
2. Add 50g brown butter and mix until dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover and rest for 1 ½ – 2 hours, or until nearly doubled in size.

Make The Filling:

1. While the dough is proofing, make the filling by combining 200g brown sugar, 110g brown butter, 15g cinnamon, 5g vanilla paste, and 3g fine sea salt in the bowl of your stand mixer, and mix at medium speed until completely combined.

Make The Rolls:

1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.
2. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using a bench knife, divide the dough into two equal portions. Using your scale can help for this step.
3. Roll each piece into a rectangle, about 12 by 18 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Try to keep the size and shape consistent. Spread the filling on one of the rolled rectangles leaving a margin around the edges. The cinnamon sugar filling is quite thick, and it spreads by hand better than with a spreader – this is to ensure it doesn’t all run out during baking!
4. Fold the second rectangle in half, and then in half again, then pick it up and place it onto the other. Press the dough together all the way around the rectangle and then roll dough out once more.
5. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to slice the rolls into approximately 1 ½ inch strips before folding them in a zig zag pattern, increasing in size as you move down the triangle.
6. Place your hand on the folded triangle and pierce with a skewer. Use your bench knife to transfer the rolls to the prepared baking sheet. Cover and rise for another 45-60 minutes.

Bake The Rolls:

1. Once the rolls have completed the final proof, preheat the oven to 350f, and place a baking rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Bake the rolls at 350f for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Frost The Rolls:

1. While the cinnamon rolls are cooling make the cream cheese frosting; combine 175g powdered sugar, 35g softened cream cheese, 15g brown butter, 15g buttermilk, 5g vanilla extract, a pinch of fine salt in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on high speed for 3-4 minutes or until completly combined. It will take a while for the glaze to come together, and it will look thick, but will come together.
2. Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool until warm to the touch then carefully slide out the skewers and spread the glaze over them.
3. Serve warm or cool completely before storing.

Long Fermented

This recipe is a bake today recipe, because sometimes you just want instant gratification, am I right? But don’t let that deter you if you want to make them ahead of time. Here’s how you can prep these one day and bake them the next:

1. Once the rolls have placed into the baking dish and covered, transfer them to the fridge overnight, 12-24 hours.
2. When ready to bake, remove the buns and allow them to come to room temperature for approximately 30 minutes while the oven preheats to 350f.
3. Bake them at 350f for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Batch + Storage

Batch:

This sourdough discard cinnamon rolls recipe gives 12 good sized buns. It can easily be doubled or more if you live in a house with cinnamon bun fans, like I do!

Storage:

Store your cinnamon trees at room temperature for up to 3 days in an airtight container to avoid smearing the icing. If they are not iced, they can be kept in a ziplock bag and reheated in the microwave, oven, or air fryer to revive them to their fresh glory!

If you’ve got too many buns to enjoy in a short time, leave the buns you plan to freeze un-iced. Allow them to cool to room temperature before wrapping in a layer of plastic wrap and storing in an airtight freezer bag or container for 2-3 months.

As an added bonus, the icing can also be stored in the freezer! I like to put mine in snack-sized ziplock bags, enough for a couple of buns, then lay it flat to remove the air before sealing. Store your icing in the same bag or container as the buns and you’ll have both ready next time you’ve got a hankering for cinnamon buns!

Allow the cinnamon rolls to thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours before enjoying.

Enriching The Dough

If you’ve never kneaded butter into your dough after the fact, you have to trust me a little! I have been playing around with Pain De Mie, brioche, and other enriched doughs in my free time, and have a growing appreciation for this method of dough making.

We are adding the butter after the dough rests, because I actually find it makes a nice tender crumb and improves the structure of the dough. If it looks like the dough is falling apart in your mixer, that is ok – don’t hit the panic button yet. It will come together.

My dough took nearly 10 minutes to complete, and that’s totally normal! You’re looking for a dough that’s soft, tacky to the touch and elastic. See the images below for the stages of kneading; adding butter, 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 10 minutes.

Recommended Equipment

Ankarsrum Mixer: I splurged on an Ankarsrum mixer almost 2 years ago, and I cannot emphasize how much I love this machine. If you’re someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, I would not hesitate to recommend this mixer.

📖 Printable Recipe

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