Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns- Sourdough Recipe

Vanilla cardamom cinnamon buns are a perfectly sweet twist on your average cinnamon roll. These sweet sourdough buns hit the spot every time! 

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Tips for making Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns

Preventing dry tops: I like to cover my vanilla cardamom sourdough cinnamon buns with a damp tea towel at the rising stage before baking. This will prevent the tops from drying out and maintain the softness we are looking for.

Glaze right away: Glazing the buns immediately after removing from the oven allows the simple syrup to carmelize. The carmellization creates a wonderfully sweet layer over these buns. 

Rolling out the dough: If you need all grains to be well fermented or gluten free in baked goods, I suggest using a gluten free flour to dust the surface when rolling out the sourdough brioche cinnamon roll dough.

Pausing the process: If you need to pause the process of baking for whatever reason, place the unbaked dough or rolls in the refrigerator and resume when able.

Homemade Vanilla Sugar

• Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla Bean Pod

Baking Tools

• 5 quart large mixing bowl (I prefer glass or stainless when working with sourdough)
• Stand mixer (this is nice but not necessary)
• Dough whisk (or dough hook attachment for the stand mixer)
• Bowl scraper
• Bench scraper
• Silicone baking mat or parchment paper
• 9 x 13 baking dish or large cast iron skillet (you can also make these buns in muffin tins)
• Pastry brush
• Sifter
• Tea towels, plastic wrap or beeswax wrap
• Spatula
• Pastry wheel or pizza cutter
• Measuring cups and measuring spoons
• Kitchen scale
• Water Filtration (I always use filtered water in my sourdough starter. This one is our favorite.)
• Small saucepan
• Paring knife (to remove vanilla beans)
• Whisk
• Mesh strainer
• Glass jar or small bowl (these are fun for storing extra simple syrup)

Ingredients for Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns

Enriched Dough

• 1 cup active sourdough starter (220g)
• 1 cup of softened butter (220g) – I prefer to bake with salted butter but if using unsalted butter, add an additional 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the dough
• 3 cups of bread flour (435g)
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour (89g)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar or vanilla sugar (50g)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk (4 oz. or 120g)
• 1 tablespoon (15g) vanilla extract
• Sea salt (10g)

For dusting your work surface

• Additional all purpose flour or rice flour if gluten sensitive

Egg wash

• 1 egg (any size)

Filling

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vanilla sugar
• 3 tablespoons of butter (softened or slightly melted for ease of spreading)

Vanilla Cardamom Simple Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup filtered water
• 2 whole cardamom pods
• 1 whole vanilla bean (caviar scraped)

Homemade Vanilla Sugar

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• Scrapings of 1 whole vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder)

Alternative Toppings

• For a classic Swedish Cinnamon Bun finish, top with pearl sugar.
• These vanilla cardamom sourdough cinnamon buns would also be delicious topped with the browned butter maple cream cheese frosting found at my Pumpkin Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Recipe here. 
• Additionally, you can use a browned butter glaze. (Sourdough Brioche Cinnamon Rolls with Browned Butter Glaze)
• Incorporating candied or toasted pecans or walnuts in the bun filling or sprinkling on top before brushing on the simple syrup.
• Even just a simple dusting of powdered sugar over the top is a great way to top these buns if you are looking for a less sweet topping. 

Optional Add-ins

Adding raisins, pecans, walnuts.

Baker’s Schedule: Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns

The day before:

Feed sourdough starter until nice and bubbly

The day before baking vanilla cardamom cinnamon buns, feed your sourdough starter in the morning and leave it in a warm place to rise into a nice bubbly sourdough starter.

The time it takes for your starter to reach a bubbly status will depend on the warmth of your kitchen.

Mix up the main dough

That night or when your sourdough starter is nice and bubbly, mix up your dough by adding all dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer or large 5 quart mixing bowl. 

To ensure my cinnamon buns are nice and fluffy, I like to use a bubbly active sourdough starter.

Then, using a dough hook, turn the mixer to medium speed and knead until the dough comes together looking smooth and glossy. This should take about 5-7 minutes. 

If you still have a sticky dough after 7 minutes, turn the mixer down to low speed and continue kneading for another 3-5 minutes until the dough looks glossy and smooth.

If you are worried about overworking the dough, you can stop at this point and just add more stretch and folds in 30 minute increments to your baking schedule. You will perform these until the dough can pass a windowpane test (described below).

Next, once the cinnamon bun dough is nice and smooth looking, cover with plastic wrap or an air tight bowl and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to let the dough rest. The dough will look and feel very wet. This is normal and good so do not add more flour.

First rise

After 30 minutes, use a bowl scraper to help stretch and fold the dough around all four sides. Getting the scraper a little wet can help the dough not stick as much to the sides of the bowl.

Second rise

Then, allow the dough to rest another 30 minutes and then repeat.

Once you have completed the two sets of stretch and folds, perform a windowpane test on the dough. For best results, you will want the dough to reach this point and easily be pulled from the sides of the mixing bowl without sticking much to your hands.

Windowpane test,

To perform a windowpane test, pull the dough slowly away from the side of the bowl straight up. The dough should look smooth, elastic-like, and glossy- holding together well. 

If the dough has not reached this point yet, continue with stretch and folds in 30 minute increments.

Finally, lift the dough up and lightly butter the bowl. Return the dough to the lightly greased bowl, cover again with plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, a wet towel or an air tight lid to prevent the top of the dough from drying out.

Bulk Fermentation

Place the bowl in the refrigerator to proof overnight. It can proof longer if you desire increased fermentation of the dough. I like to at least allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator.

(If you are beginning the morning with an active starter and want to bake your rolls the same day, allow the dough to double in size on the counter at room temperature and continue with the instructions below. This bulk ferment could take anywhere from 4-8 hours until the dough has doubled in size)

The next day or after the dough has doubled:

Rolling out the dough + Fill

The next morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator. If the dough temperature is cool, this will be easier to roll out and less sticky than a room temperature dough. 

If you are leaving the dough on the counter to double in size, I recommend placing in the refrigerator 30-40 minutes before rolling out to firm up a little bit. 

Next, mix up your cinnamon sugar filling ingredients minus the butter so your filling is ready to go. 

Separately, I like to melt the butter until soft so that it spreads easier.

Then, lay out a silicone baking mat or a large sheet of parchment paper. Dust the work surface generously with flour. 

If you are concerned about the flour grains being less fermented you can use rice flour or gluten free flour for this step.

Place the sourdough cinnamon bun dough on the well floured surface. 

Using a well floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle about 16″ X 18″ and 1/4″ thick.

Then, taking a pastry brush or a spatula, begin spreading the slightly melted butter evenly across the entire surface of the dough.

After the butter is evenly distributed, sprinkle the cinnamon, cardamom, brown (or coconut) sugar, and vanilla sugar over the butter. 

Shaping the Cardamom knots

Using a pastry cutter or pizza dough cutter, slice the dough in half..

Then, starting from the bottom, slice 1 1/2″ inch strips vertically across the dough.

Make a small mark with your pastry cutter in the middle of each strip. 

Beginning at the middle mark, slice the strip vertically in half up to 1/2 inch away from the center horizontal slice. Make sure not to slice through.

Next, take the two halves of one strip and begin twisting them together.

Once they have been twisted a few times, take one end as the center of the knot and roll the rest of the twist around the center, giving you a nice circle. 

Place the twisted buns into a 9 x 13 buttered baking dish or large cast iron pan.

Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns Final Rise

Cover and allow buns to double in size

Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm spot of the kitchen.

Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

While the oven is preheating, make the vanilla cardamom simple syrup to top the buns.

Simple Syrup Topping for Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns

Step 1: heat syrup mixture

First, add the sugar, water, vanilla bean caviar, and whole cardamom pods to a small sauce pan on the stove top.

Step 2: Whisk + strain

Then, on medium heat, heat the mixture and occasionally stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. This should take 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a mesh strainer into a glass jar. 

Step 3: Refrigerate

Finally, place the simple syrup in the refrigerator until the end of baking.

Baking Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns

Egg wash

When ready to bake vanilla cardamom sourdough cinnamon buns, mix up one egg and brush a light egg wash over the buns.

Bake

Bake the rolls on the middle oven rack of your fully preheated oven for 35 minutes or until slightly golden on the top and risen a bit. 

Remove from the baked buns from the oven.

Topping

While the sourdough cinnamon buns are fresh out of the oven, brush the simple syrup over the hot rolls. I like to do 2-3 layers of the simple syrup.

You will notice the syrup will sizzle when hitting the bottom of the dish, this will create a nice carmellization around the buns.

Delicious.

Allow to cool

Place the baking tray on a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving. 

Storing

Store these cardamom cinnamon buns in an airtight container for 3-4 days on the counter, or a week in the refrigerator.

Make-ahead Option

These buns freeze very well. 

You can either:

1. Mix up the dough and freeze to be rolled out later.
2. Twist the buns and flash freeze for 30 minutes. After flash freezing, move the frozen buns to a ziplock bag to be baked later. 

I don’t recommend freezing after baking and topping for the most fresh, bakery-like results. 

Enjoy!

Vanilla Cardamom Cinnamon Buns FAQ

Swedish Cinnamon Buns

A slight twist on traditional cinnamon rolls. Swedish cinnamon buns are made with an enriched dough, twisted, and topped with pearl sugar to set them apart from other desserts.

These vanilla cardamom cinnamon buns are slightly different in that they are made with sourdough and topped with a delicious syrup for a carmelized texture.

How long do my vanilla cardamom sourdough cinnamon buns need to rise?

I let my cinnamon dough rise for about an hour or two on the counter before placing in the refrigerator to rise overnight. 

In the morning, I take my dough out to roll and make my cinnamon buns.

After I cut and twist the buns, I allow them to rise for about an hour covered in a baking dish or until they have doubled in size. 

What is the best way to roll out brioche dough?

The best way to roll out brioche dough is to generously flour the counter top or baking mat. Beginning with an unfloured surface can make rolling the dough very difficult and cause the dough to stick to the rolling pin. 

Discover More Sourdough Recipes:

• Sourdough Brioche Cinnamon Rolls (these are the absolute best classic cinnamon rolls)
• Pumpkin Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
• Maple Sourdough Discard Scones
• Sourdough Blueberry Bread
• Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Getting Started with Sourdough:

• How to Make a Sourdough Starter from Scratch
• The Best Way to Cut Sourdough Bread

I would love to know your experience with this recipe in the comments below! 

Any other recipes you would love to see?