Sensational Sourdough Sticky Buns Made with Fresh Milled Flour

Fresh, warm sourdough sticky buns in the morning makes any day perfect! These sourdough sticky buns made with fresh milled flour are a sweet, sticky cinnamon roll covered in a caramelized pecan sauce. Sticky Buns are an easy upgrade to your normal cinnamon roll recipe!

Why You will Love Sourdough Sticky Buns

Irresistibly Delicious – These sourdough sticky buns are soft, fluffy, sweet and covered in a caramelized pecan sauce! The caramelized pecans are my favorite part and make these buns different than cinnamon rolls. I love to eat them with my 3 ingredient cream cheese icing.

Made with Sourdough and Fresh Milled Flour – While no sticky bun is healthy, these buns are as close as I can get! The dough is fermented and with all the nutrients from the fresh milled flour they are a delicious treat and keep you filled longer.

Tasty Twist on a Cinnamon Roll – These sourdough sticky buns taste different than a cinnamon roll, but they are the same amount of work to make. If you enjoy making cinnamon rolls, but want to change up the flavor try these sticky buns!

Ingredients and Substitutions for Sourdough Sticky Buns

Dry Ingredients

Fresh Milled Flour – I use a Komo Mill to grind the wheat berries into flour. I love half hard red and half spelt or Khorasan for this dough. You could use hard white instead of hard red if you want to have a loaf that tastes more like a store bought loaf.

Sugar – I use organic cane sugar in this recipe. You could substitute sucanat, date sugar, or coconut sugar as a one to one replacement.

Brown Sugar – I make dark brown sugar for this recipe. My recipe for brown sugar is here. You could substitute sucanat, date sugar, or coconut sugar as a one to one replacement.

Salt – Any salt you have will work, but remember that some whole salts like Redmond’s Real Salt and Celtic Salt can leave a gritty texture in your bread because of the extra minerals they have.

Cinnamon – I use cassia cinnamon, but ceylon cinnamon would work fine too. If you want to leave out or add more cinnamon you are welcome to!

Nutmeg – I love adding nutmeg to recipes that ask for cinnamon. I think the flavors go well together. Feel free to leave the nutmeg out if you like.

Pecans – I love the flavor the pecans add, but you can easily swap the pecans out for any other nut or seed that you have in your pantry.

Wet Ingredients

Milk – If you want to replace the milk with water, whey or an alternative milk, that will work well!

Sourdough Starter – I prefer a sourdough starter with a dough like consistency. If you have a runny sourdough starter you may need more flour to balance it out.

Oil – I use olive oil, but any oil you prefer will work. If you choose to use avocado oil, coconut oil, or melted butter. As your rolls cools, know that the coconut oil and butter will set up again in the bread and it will make the bread stiffer. Serving your bread warm will solve that problem though.

Vanilla Extract – I make my own vanilla extract. Store bought will work fine as well.

Butter – The butter has to be room temperature, but not melted. If it is a cold day, you can heat the butter in the microwave for 5-10 seconds at a time to get it to a spreadable consistency!

How to Make Sourdough Sticky Buns

Mixing the Dough Together

Mill the Flour. Use your mill to grind the flour.

Mix together all the dry ingredients. Mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and sugar together in a medium size bowl.

Combine the wet ingredients together. Mix the vanilla, oil, milk, and starter together.

Combine the dry and wet together. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the well. As you mix it together the dough will look like a sloppy mess right now.

Rest for 30 minutes for the flour to hydrate. Fresh milled flour needs extra time to soak up water.

Start the ‘stretch and folds’ or knead the dough. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes or until it can pass the window pane test. If you want to do stretch and folds then plan to do 4-6 of them.

How to Stretch and Fold

If stretch and folds is a new term for you, I want to assure you that stretch and folds are easy and can change your baking life!

Stretch and folds are a great alternative to kneading bread dough. I preform about 3-6 sets of stretch and folds for each dough I make. By the end of the stretch and folds, my dough is holding together, feels smooth, and breaks only after stretching pretty thin.

To do a stretch and fold means to take a side of the dough and stretch it as high as your bread will allow. Then fold that piece over the rest of the ball of dough. This is easiest if your hand is wet.

Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and do another stretch up as high as the bread will allow. Then fold that piece over the ball of dough and rotate another 90 degrees.

Stretch and fold side 3 and side 4, then place the dough fold side down so that it looks nice.

This whole series of movements is only ONE set of stretch and folds. By the end of one set of stretch and folds your bread doesn’t really want to stretch anymore and the gluten needs time to relax.

After waiting at least 15-30 minutes do another set of stretch and folds. I do about 3-6 sets of stretch and folds for each bread I create.

How do I know I am Done with Stretch and Folds?

You will know that you are done with the stretch and folds when your dough feels like it is smooth, which means that it doesn’t break apart until it is stretched far or thin.

The dough will stick to you a little bit, but almost all of it will stay with the ball of dough. Your hands should get easier and easier to clean as you finish your sets of stretch and folds.

The more sets of stretch and folds you complete, the more gluten you are developing and that will help your dough rise and bake beautifully!

Let the dough bulk ferment. Bulk ferment means the bulk (most) of the time that the dough will ferment.

Prepare the Pan

While you are letting the dough sit prepare the 9 by 13 inch pan.

Gather the pecans, brown sugar, and butter.

Spread the butter in the pan. Use the butter to grease the pan, but spread most of it evenly across the bottom to create a butter layer.

Layer on the brown sugar and the pecans. Spread the sugar evenly and you can layer the pecans in like I did, or just shake them in and create an even layer.

Shaping the Sourdough Sticky Bun Dough and Adding Fillings

Turn your dough out on a floured or oiled surface. You do not want the dough to stick to the counter at all!

Roll to about half an inch thick (about 1 cm) in a rectangular shape. Don’t stress about making the rectangle perfect, just get pretty close!

Spread with butter and then spread the cinnamon sugar mixture all over the top. I like to cover the entire dough without leaving any border, because I don’t mind if the rolls unravel a little.

If you want them to stay together, then leave one half an inch (1 cm) of edge bare to stick the roll dough together.

Shaping The Sourdough Sticky Buns

Cut 1.5 inch long strips (4-5 cm). Once your sticky buns are covered in butter and cinnamon sugar cut them with a pizza cutter.

Use the pizza cutter to cut 1.5 in strips from the long edge to the long edge. You want the shorter side to be the length of the sticky bun.

Roll the cinnamon rolls up. Take the edge and roll it up. If you notice that the dough is loose, then pull the roll back toward yourself to create more tension.

Place in the prepared 9×13 inch pan for baking and repeat.

Cover and second rise. Once they are all in the pan, cover it and let them rest for a second rise. They will fill out the pan and when you gently shake the pan they will jiggle a little.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (165 Celsius) for 45-60 minutes.

Cool for 5 minutes and use a baking sheet to flip the buns over. Serve warm.

Tips for Making Sourdough Sticky Buns

Use a Pizza Cutter. I used to roll the whole log up and then cut the rolls apart, but using a pizza cutter to cut the flat dough surface works better!

The rolls look better and they don’t have big gaps between layers. I really think that pizza cutters are the way to go!

Don’t let the dough go limp. When you notice the dough go limp or floppy, you can lift and pull the roll to stretch it out more. That will create more tension and tension is what makes the rolls beautiful!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Reheat these Sourdough Sticky Buns?

Yes! When I serve them to my family after they are cool, I put them in the microwave for 30 seconds to heat them back up.

To heat them in the oven, set it to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 C) for 5-10 minutes depending on how many you are reheating and how hot you want them.

Why are my Sourdough Sticky Buns Rock Hard?

This is normal! They are hard because the caramelized sauce has hardened. If you reheat them they will become soft and easy to eat once again.

Can I Freeze these Sourdough Sticky Buns?

Yes! I like to freeze them right after they are rolled. When I am ready, I set them out overnight to thaw and finish rising.

In the winter, I set them out on the counter all night. In the summer, I start them on the counter while I make dinner and then move them to the fridge overnight.

Can I use Different Nuts?

Yes! You can use any nuts you want in this recipe.

How to Store Leftovers

Store the sourdough sticky buns in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days. Then you can store them in the fridge for 4 days more.

What is your Favorite Nut to add to Sticky Buns?

Let us know in the comments down below what nut you like to add to sticky buns!

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