Candy Cane Sourdough Sweet Rolls - Overnight Recipe

ByLaRee Colburn Updated on
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These easy candy cane sourdough sweet rolls will be your favorite sweet rolls in no time!  They can be made the night before, so you can quickly bake them fresh for breakfast in the morning, or you can bake them right away for a quick dessert.  You can mix them up in a mixer, or just do some quick stretches and folds by hand if you don't want to dirty your mixer.  These sweet rolls can also be made with discard or active sourdough starter, and they will turn out just fine.  This is a very flexible recipe for soft and fluffy peppermint sweet rolls that you and your family are going to love! With a swirl of Christmas cheer in every bite, these soft, fluffy, and peppermint-kissed cinnamon rolls are a must for the Christmas season. 

There’s nothing quite like a delicious batch of sourdough candy cane sweet rolls on Christmas morning, for a family brunch, or even for a Sunday morning breakfast. They are delicious with a warm peppermint mocha or tea for a special occasion, or even with a bowl of chili for a comforting supper.  Because they can be made the night before, you can easily have them ready for a yummy breakfast even on busy mornings.  

pan of candy cane sweet rolls

Quick Look: Candy Cane Sourdough Sweet Rolls

  • ⏱️ Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • 🍳 Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • 🕒 Total Time: 40 minutes
  • 👥 Servings: 12
  • 📊 Calories: ~342 kcal per serving (based on nutrition panel)
  • 🔥 Cook Method: Oven-baked in cast iron skillet
  • 👩‍🍳 Flavor Profile: Sweet and slightly tangy with soft sourdough layers, refreshing peppermint candy cane flavor, and a light vanilla glaze.
  • ⭐ Difficulty: Easy – beginner-friendly, mostly overnight rest, shaping, and baking.

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sourdough candy cane sweet roll on red towel

Be sure to watch our full tutorial on how to make your own sourdough starter here.

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients

  • Water or milk- You can use milk or buttermilk in this sweet roll recipe.  Basically, any kind of liquid will be fine.
  • Sourdough starter- Active sourdough starter is preferred, but sourdough discard works just fine too providing you are rising them overnight if you’re not adding the baking soda and baking powder into the recipe.
  • Butter- Melted butter is my favorite fat to put into these rolls, but you can also use melted beef tallow or coconut oil.
  • Sweetener- Sugar is what I use most often, but you can make these with honey or cane sugar as well.
  • Salt- Redmond real salt is my favorite, but any kind of salt will do.
  • Eggs- Farm-fresh eggs are always best.
  • Flour- Bread flour will make the fluffiest rolls, but I’ve made these cinnamon rolls many times with all-purpose flour.  You could also make them with whole-grain flour, but they wouldn’t be quite as fluffy.
  • Baking powder & baking soda
    Filling Ingredients
  • Butter
  • Brown sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Crushed candy canes
  • White Chocolate Glaze
  • White chocolate 
  • Cream
  • Powdered sugar

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here

Tools

How to Make Candy Cane Sourdough Sweet Rolls

Prepare The Dough

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the first six ingredients.

mixing up dough for candy cane sweet rolls

If using a mixer, start mixing on low and slowly add the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

If you’re not using a mixer, add the flour to the other ingredients in the bowl and knead until the dough comes together into a nice ball.  Stretch and fold or knead the dough every 15-30 minutes for a couple of hours.  This will develop the gluten similar to how the mixer develops it by mixing.  

The baking powder and baking soda are optional and only needed if you are making these with sourdough discard, or if you want to bake them right away without letting them rise first.

Combine the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

mixing up filling for candy cane sweet rolls

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough using a rolling pin to ¼” thick in the shape of a rectangle.

rolling out dough for candy cane sweet rolls

Spread the filling ingredients on the dough (see video).

spreading filling on candy cane sweet rolls

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the top of the dough.

spreading crushed candy canes on candy cane sweet rolls

Roll the dough up, beginning with the long side of the rectangle.

rolling up candy cane sweet rolls

Using a sharp serrated knife, cut rolls into approximately 1 ½” lengths.

slicing candy cane sweet rolls

Place in a greased cast-iron skillet or baking dish.

putting candy cane sweet rolls into pan

For the long fermented version:  cover with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap and let the dough rise on the counter overnight.  If you need to wait longer than overnight to bake them, place them in the refrigerator, and pull them out to finish rising a couple of hours before baking

You can also freeze the cinnamon rolls at this point and thaw them to raise and bake later.

For the quick version:  proceed with baking.

Bake The Rolls

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  

Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate and cream together in a saucepan. Add powdered sugar and whisk together to form a glaze. 

Frost The Rolls

Remove the warm rolls from the oven and spread the glaze over the top of the rolls.

candy cane sweet rolls

Serve warm with a cup of coffee or tea from Farmhouse Teas.

Savor every bite!  Store any leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to one week, although I know they'll never last that long.

If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @wagonwheelhomestead21 

candy cane sweet roll served up on a plate

Tips

  • Make-ahead options: You can make these rolls the night before and let them rise on the counter overnight, or even freeze them before baking.
  • If your sourdough starter is really thin, you may need to add a little more flour to this recipe.  I always mix them until the dough pulls away from the sides of my mixer bowl, or until it’s not super sticky if mixing up by hand.
  • You can mix these in a mixer (my favorite is a Bosch), or just mix up the dough and do a series of stretch and folds every few minutes for about an hour to develop the gluten in these rolls.  Then just roll them out, shape and allow to rise until double and then bake.
  • Use a food processor or blender to turn candy canes into small pieces, or you can purchase already crushed candy canes from Amazon.
  • You can use string to cut the cinnamon rolls if you’d like, but I find that cutting them with a knife works just fine for my family.
  • It is perfectly safe to add the eggs to this dough and still allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature overnight because the good active bacteria in the sourdough starter will prevent any bad bacteria from forming in the eggs.

FAQ

If you add too much flour to your dough, they won’t be as fluffy.  You don’t want a sticky dough, but not a super dry dough either.  Make sure you give them enough time to rise, I prefer to raise them overnight.  You can make quick cinnamon rolls with baking powder and baking soda as the leavener, but they won’t be as fluffy as the rolls you allow to rise overnight.

Allow them to rise until they are fluffy.  Make them with active sourdough starter.

Bread flour will give you the fluffiest and softest cinnamon rolls, but you can make cinnamon rolls with a variety of flours including whole grain or all purpose.

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candy cane sourdough sweet rolls pinterest image

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Easy Sourdough Candy Cane Sweet Rolls - Overnight Recipe (Video)

There’s nothing quite like a delicious batch of sourdough candy cane sweet rolls on Christmas morning, for a family brunch, or even for a Sunday morning breakfast. They are delicious with a warm peppermint mocha or tea for a special occasion, or even with a bowl of chili for a comforting supper.  Because they can be made the night before, you can easily have them ready for a yummy breakfast even on busy mornings.  
LaRee Colburn
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Serving Size 12 people

Equipment

  • 1 Stand mixer You can mix these rolls up by hand, but I usually use my Bosch mixer and just mix up the dough while I’m cleaning up supper dishes in the evening.  This makes the rolls fast and easy to make.
  • 1 measuring cups and spoons
  • 1 Rolling Pin
  • 1 sharp knife
  • 1 Cast iron skillet or 9 x 13 baking pan

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients

  • 1 cup water or milk
  • 1 cup sourdough starter
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • ½ cup sugar or honey
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4-5 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (optional - only use if baking right away)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda (optional - only use if baking right away)

Filling 

  • ½ cup melted butter
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • Dash of cinnamon
  • Crushed candy canes

White chocolate glaze:

  • 1 cup white chocolate 
  • 2-3 tablespoon cream
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  • In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the first six ingredients.
  • If using a mixer, start mixing on low and slowly add the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  • If you’re not using a mixer, add the flour to the other ingredients in the bowl and knead until the dough comes together into a nice ball.  Stretch and fold or knead the dough every 15-30 minutes for a couple of hours.  This will develop the gluten similar to how the mixer develops it by mixing.  
  • The baking powder and baking soda are optional and only needed if you are making these with sourdough discard, or if you want to bake them right away without letting them rise first.
  • Combine the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough using a rolling pin to ¼” thick in the shape of a rectangle.
  • Spread the filling ingredients on the dough (see video).
  • Sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the top of the dough.
  • Roll the dough up, beginning with the long side of the rectangle.
  • Using a sharp serrated knife, cut rolls into approximately 1 ½” lengths.
  • Place in a greased cast-iron skillet or baking dish.
  • For the long fermented version:  cover with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap and let the dough rise on the counter overnight.  If you need to wait longer than overnight to bake them, place them in the refrigerator, and pull them out to finish rising a couple of hours before baking
    You can also freeze the cinnamon rolls at this point and thaw them to raise and bake later.
    For the quick version:  proceed with baking.
  • When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  
  • Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate and cream together in a saucepan. Add powdered sugar and whisk together to form a glaze. 
  • Remove the warm rolls from the oven and spread the glaze over the top of the rolls.
  • Serve warm with a cup of coffee or tea from Farmhouse Teas.
  • Savor every bite!  Store any leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to one week, although I know they'll never last that long.
  • If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @wagonwheelhomestead21 
Rate this Recipe

Notes

Make-ahead options: You can make these rolls the night before and let them rise on the counter overnight, or even freeze them before baking.
To gain all of the health benefits from making these with long-fermented sourdough, be sure to allow them to bulk ferment at room temperature overnight.  This will ensure that most of the phytic acid and gluten in the flour are consumed by the sourdough starter making these much easier to digest especially if you are gluten intolerant.
If your sourdough starter is really thin, you may need to add a little more flour to this recipe.  I always mix them until the dough pulls away from the sides of my mixer bowl, or until it’s not super sticky if mixing up by hand.
You can mix these in a mixer (my favorite is a Bosch), or just mix up the dough and do a series of stretch and folds every few minutes for about an hour to develop the gluten in these rolls.  Then just roll them out, shape and allow to rise until double and then bake.
Use a food processor or blender to turn candy canes into small pieces, or you can purchase already crushed candy canes from Amazon.
You can use string to cut the cinnamon rolls if you’d like, but I find that cutting them with a knife works just fine for my family.
It is perfectly safe to add the eggs to this dough and still allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature overnight because the good active bacteria in the sourdough starter will prevent any bad bacteria from forming in the eggs.
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I'm a homeschool Mom of 5, living out my dreams of growing a simple, sustainable life on our Nebraska homestead. I'm passionate about gardening, preserving, cooking from scratch and baking with sourdough. I enjoy milking Jersey cows and making our own dairy products. Come along with me as I share with you the skills you'll need to be successful at homesteading and frugal living.

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