Cinnamon Honey Butter Sourdough Bread

I think most of us can agree that Texas Roadhouse rolls with their cinnamon honey butter on top are a match made in heaven. The only thing that could make it better is sourdough, which is why I made Cinnamon Honey Butter Sourdough Bread.

This loaf is flaky and delicious with melt-in-your-mouth buttery flavor. The recipe starts with my simple artisan sourdough bread recipe, infused with honey for a little extra sweetness. Then, a layer of cinnamon honey butter is rolled into the dough to infuse a sweet, buttery flavor throughout. Topped, of course, with more honey butter, making this the ultimate Texas Roadhouse copycat, if not better.

Adding cinnamon honey butter to sourdough

The homemade cinnamon honey butter in this Cinnamon Honey Butter Sourdough Bread is incredibly easy to make. All you need is butter, honey, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Mix it all together, and you have the most incredible cinnamon honey butter. The flour is only necessary when adding this to the dough because it helps prevent all of the butter mixture from leaking out of the bread.

The cinnamon honey butter is added to the dough just before shaping. Shaping the dough can be a little tricky once the butter mixture is added because it no longer wants to stick together. The key is to shape the dough quickly and touch it as little as possible. Rolling it into an oval shape is easier and requires less handling than a round one, so I recommend using an oval basket when possible. If the dough begins tearing and becomes hard to work with, simply place it in the proofing basket. Let the dough sit for 10-15 minutes, then do your best to stitch it up and seal in the butter before placing it in the fridge for the second proof.

Cinnamon Honey Butter Sourdough Bread Ingredients

• Bread Flour – Flour with a higher protein content, like bread flour, is ideal for sourdough bread. Sourdough bread is a higher hydration dough so it needs a flour that is efficient at absorbing water, like bread flour. You can also use unbleached all-purpose flour, but I recommend reducing the water by 25 grams.
• Active Sourdough Starter – An active sourdough starter refers to starter that was recently fed and is bubbly and doubled in size.
• Water – Despite what many people say about only being able to use filtered water, I’ve always used tap water with no issues.
• Sugar- can sub for 25 grams of honey.
• Salt – Any type of salt will work.
• Butter- unsalted or salted will work.
• Cinnamon
• Honey
• Powdered sugar

Sample Baking Schedule for Cinnamon Honey Butter Sourdough Bread

This schedule is based on rough estimates. The temperature of your dough, kitchen, humidity, and strength of starter will all impact the times, so while this will give you an estimate, it is best to look at the signs the dough is ready to move on. You are looking for about a 75% rise.

There is flexibility in this schedule to make it work for you. If 8am is not a convenient time to feed your sourdough starter, you could opt for a smaller feeding ratio like 1:1:1, 4-6 hours before mixing the dough. If you don’t have time to bake the bread around dinner time, you can always leave the dough in the fridge for an extra day or two. Do what works for you!

If you are looking for more precise timelines based on the temperature of your dough The Sourdough Journey put together a great resource. It looks at different temperatures and percentages of sourdough starter to give you an estimate of how long the first rise will take. My recipe below calls for 10% sourdough starter.

How Temperature Impacts Sourdough

Temperature is very important when it comes to sourdough and fermentation. If your house is cooler than 68F, the dough will have a hard time rising. If your house is cold, I recommend using a dough mat (use code country10 for 10% off) or finding a warmer spot in your house. Placing the dough in a draft-free area like a turned off oven or microwave may help. You could also try placing near a heating vent.

If your house is above 75F, I wouldn’t recommend leaving the dough overnight, as it is more likely to overproof. You can try using cold water to help cool down the dough and stick to a shorter timeline like 8 hours as that may help it from getting too warm.

How To Make Cinnamon Honey Butter Sourdough Bread

Feed Sourdough starter

The first step to making bread is to feed your sourdough starter. The temperature of your house, activity level of your starter, and how much you feed the starter will all impact how quickly your starter rises. A 1:1:1 ratio meaning 1 part starter: 1 part flour: 1 part water will rise in about 4-6 hours. Whereas a 1:5:5 ratio meaning 1 part starter: 5 part flour: 5 part water will rise in about 12 hours. Feed based on the timing you want to make bread. Once the starter doubles or exceeds its size and becomes bubbly, it is ready for use. If you can’t use the starter while it is at peak place it in the fridge until you are ready.

Mix ingredients

Mix together the flour, water, salt, sugar and starter together with a danish dough whisk (10% off with link), spoon or hands until incorporated. The dough will look shaggy at this point. Cover bowl with a lid or dinner plate and let it sit for 30 minutes.

stretch and fold

Stretching the dough helps build strength and aerates the dough. Typically I aim for 3-4 sets in my traditional recipe but with this simplified version I aim for 1 or 2. If you do 2 sets wait 20-30 minutes in between the sets to let the dough relax. You can also do more sets if you have time. Cover the dough in between sets.

To stretch and fold grab one side of the dough with a damp hand and gently shimmy the dough up and then fold it on itself. Repeat this 3 more times rotating the bowl 90 degrees each time.

first rise

After stretch and folds let the dough sit overnight on the counter covered, about 10-14 hours (depending on the temperature) until the dough has risen about 75%, not completely doubled. The dough should be aerated with bubbles showing on the sides and bottom of the dough and jiggle when the bowl is shook. If it does not show these signs continue to let the dough sit, preferably in a warm spot to finish bulk fermentation.

If the dough is very pillowy, sticky, and deflates when working with it, it is overproofed. At this point you can try to bake it if it will hold some shape. Personally my favorite thing to do with overproofed dough is to make focaccia. Put it in an oiled 9×13 pan with more oil on top. Dimple the dough and bake at 425F for 25-30 minutes. Check out my tutorial.

Make cinnamon honey butter

Mix together room temperature butter (so it is easy to mix), honey, powdered sugar, flour and cinnamon until incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

If you want to make a double batch of the butter to have some to put on the bread after it bakes, I would mix everything together except the flour. Then, split the butter into two containers: one for immediate use and one for later. For the portion you are using now, to put in the bread dough, add 1 tablespoon of flour and mix. You do not need flour for the butter that is being spread on the baked bread; only the butter being added to the dough, as it helps prevent leakage.

shape dough

The goal of shaping is to create a taut, outer skin on the dough. The skin creates tension, helping the dough to hold its shape when baked, which translates to a good rise and a crispy crust. This will be a little more challenging with the addition of the butter mixture. If the butter is leaking out a lot when shaping just get it in the basket. Trust me, working with it further is going to make an even bigger mess.

Shaping instructions:

1. Dump the dough on an unfloured surface and gently spread the dough into a chubby rectangle.
2. Spread half of the cinnamon honey butter to the top of the dough.
3. Fold the dough like a tri-fold starting with one side and folding it 2/3rd of the way on top of the dough. Stack the other 1/3rd of the dough on top.
4. Gently stretch the folded dough out and add another layer of the butter mixture on top.
5. Starting on one side, roll the dough up like a cinnamon roll.
6. If you have an oval shaped basket, pinch the sides and place the rolled up dough seam-side up in the proofing basket.
7. For a round basket take your hands in cupping shape and rotate the dough counter-clockwise towards you to get a smooth surface on top of the dough. If the butter mix starts leaking out, stop touching the dough and place it in the basket seam side up.

second proof

Place dough in the fridge covered for the final proof. The fridge slows down fermentation which allows your dough to sit for longer periods of time. You can bake anytime after the two hour mark but ideally you will wait 8+ hours. Longer fermentation times will make for a more sour loaf.

scoring

Preheat the oven with the dutch oven to 450F once the dough is ready. Flip the dough onto a bread sling or parchment paper and score the dough. Hold the blade at a slight angle and quickly slice the bread about 1/2 inch deep.

Baking

Bake the loaf at 450F in a dutch oven. Begin with the lid on for 25 minutes followed by an extra 12-15 minutes with the lid off. The loaf should sound hollow when you tap on the bottom. That is how you know it is baked through. Once done baking, remove from the dutch oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool.