If you have never heard about potato flake sourdough sticky bun cinnamon rolls, you are about to be in for a huge treat. This delicious recipe makes a soft dough swirled with cinnamon sugar and topped with a rich, gooey pecan caramel glaze.

Potato Flake Sourdough Sticky Buns after baking

The natural fermentation from the potato flake starter gives these rolls an incredible depth of flavor and pillowy texture that’s hard to resist.It’s possible that you have had sticky buns, but never made them using a potato flake sourdough starter. There is just something different about these sticky buns. Perfect for a cozy weekend breakfast or a special holiday treat, this recipe is sure to become a family favorite. Let’s dive into the process of making these irresistibly sticky, sweet, and perfectly spiced sourdough cinnamon rolls!

There are a few ways you can substitute some of the ingredients in this recipe so, if you don’t have everything on the ingredient list, don’t pass over too quickly. Check out later in this post, the ways you can switch some things up to still enjoy some delicious potato flake sourdough sticky bun cinnamon rolls.

If you don’t have your own potato flake starter, check out how you can make your own starter, and how you can use it in so many different sourdough recipes, including dinner rolls, potato flake sourdough bread, and much more!

What makes these sticky buns the best:

A potato flake starter is perfect for sweeter breads, making this recipe one of the best things to make with a potato flake starter.
They are soft, fluffy, gooey and delicious with the perfect swirl of cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter, not to mention the caramel pecan topping.
You don’t need any yeast, baking powder, or baking soda, they will naturally rise using the yeast in your starter.
The best make ahead breakfast. You can prepare the sticky buns the night before and let them rise over night making it a breeze to pop in the oven when you wake up the next day.
The fermentation that occurs to make the bread rise, but also makes the bread much more digestible and easier for those who don’t tolerate gluten well.

This post may contain affiliate links through amazon, which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. When you make a purchase through my link, you help me to keep Little Tennessee Home up and running! Thank you for your support! See my full disclosure here.

Tools you may need:

Stand mixer (optional, but so much easier)
Measuring cups and spoons
Rolling pin
Pastry brush
Baking dish (large circle baking dish, 9×13 baking dish, or large cast iron skillet)
Dough scraper
Wooden spoon
Medium Sauce Pot

Ingredients

Dough ingredients:

active potato flake starter
bread flour
sugar
water
coconut oil
salt

Filling ingredients:

brown sugar
butter
cinnamon

Caramel ingredients:

Butter
Brown sugar
Pecans
Heavy Cream

How To Make Potato Flake Sourdough Sticky Bun Cinnamon Rolls:

Make the dough

In a bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine active sourdough starter, flour, sugar, warm water, salt, and melted coconut oil. Mix together until it forms into a ball and the dough is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Tip: Make sure that your melted coconut oil is not too hot, or it could kill your starter.

Cover and ferment

Remove the dough and form into a ball and place in a large greased bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out and let it set in a warm place throughout the day until doubled (about 8-12 hours).

Pecan Caramel Sauce

Right before you plan to roll out your dough, you will make the pecan caramel sauce.

Start by chopping up your pecans using a knife, or you can use a meat tenderizing hammer with the pecans in a freezer bag.

In a small saucepan melt the butter and brown sugar over medium heat, until it is completely dissolved and beginning to bubble. This will take about 2 minutes. Pour in the heavy cream, stir until smooth.

Finally, add in the pecans.

Pour the sauce into the bottom of the 9×13 pan.

TIP: For the easiest removal of the sticky buns, line the bottom of the 9×13 pan with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough

That night, or 8-12 hours later, after the dough has doubled, remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface. (You could do without flouring your work surface to avoid unfermented grains and utilize a bench scraper if the dough is sticking)

Press the dough flat into a rectangle first before using the rolling pin. This helps the dough not shrink back as you are rolling it out.

Using your rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large rectangular shape about 16 inches long and 12 inches wide.

TIP: If you find that your dough keeps trying to shrink on you, let your dough rest for about 5 minutes and then roll again.

Add the Filling

Mix together the dark brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside. Melt the butter and baste onto the dough, covering the entire surface, all the way to the edges, except for the front long edge. You want to avoid this edge to help the dough adhere to itself when rolling it up.

adding the filing to the potato flake sourdough sticky bun cinnamon rolls

Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on top covering all of the surface that has butter.

Roll the dough up as tightly as you can. Starting at the top edge and working your way down to the edge that does not have the melted butter or the filling on it.

When you get to the end, pull it up tightly and pinch the ends into the main roll.

Slice and Second Rise

Cut the sticky buns into 12 even rolls and place on top of the caramel pecan sauce in the 9×13 dish. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise again until doubled. Depending on the temperature of your home and strength of your starter this can take anywhere from 6-12 hours.

TIPS: The best to way keep the circular shape of your sticky bun cinnamon rolls is to cut them using thread or unflavored floss. A sharp knife or bench scraper will do the job, but will squish the rolls, leaving a less aesthetic looking sticky bun.

A wonderful way to get evenly sized rolls, is to make little marks before starting to cut. I make a mark in the middle, then again in the middle of those two halves. You now have 4 sections marked off. In each of these four sections make marks so that each of the 4 sections will have 3 rolls. This will give you a total of 12 rolls. If you want more rolls, you will just divide your dough based on how many you would like to have.

Bake the potato flake sourdough sticky bun cinnamon rolls

After the sticky buns have doubled, preheat your oven to 350F.

Right before placing the cinnamon rolls into the oven, pour about 1/2 cup of heavy cream over the sticky buns. This is optional but makes a much more gooey and moist sticky bun roll.

Bake the sticky buns in a 350 F oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

When the sticky buns are done, allow them to rest and cool slightly about 5 minutes.

Carefully flip the dish over onto a serving platter and remove the dish.

The caramel sauce will glaze, what is now top, of the sticky buns. Be sure to scrape any left over gooey caramel sauce out of the dish and add to the stick buns. Serve warm.

serving potato flake sourdough sticky bun cinnamon rolls

The perfect schedule to make morning sticky buns:

Day 1 Night: Feed your starter two nights before you want to have sticky buns for breakfast
Day 2 Morning: The next morning mix your dough and allow for it to bulk rise.
Day 2 Night: That night divide your dough and form sticky buns rolls, allow for second rise.
Day 3 Morning: The next morning your sticky buns will have double and will be ready to bake and eat!

Alternative substitutions:

You could sub all purpose in place of the bread flour, although it may not be as fluffy. A half and half mixture would be the best option.
Canola oil or vegetable oil can be used in place of coconut oil. But coconut oil is healthier for you and does not have a strong flavor.
Try subbing milk in place of the water for a richer dough. (I have long fermented dough with milk with no issues, but this is a choice you must make for yourself)
Light brown sugar can be used in place of dark brown sugar if necessary.

Some important tips for making potato flake sourdough sticky bun cinnamon rolls:

Be sure you use an active potato flake starter. This just means it was fed somewhere between 8-24 hours before mixing the dough, giving it plenty of time to feed before using.
If you want your sticky buns rolls to expand outwards, be sure to leave them room in the pan and don’t place them right next to each other. If you want them to rise up instead of out, place them close together.
If you place the cinnamon rolls right next to each other, the only way for the to rise, will be up! This is not bad and will result in a nice tall roll, but sometimes the middle can tend to pooch out. This doesn’t affect the flavor, but it doesn’t look as nice. To fix this, check on your cinnamon rolls about half way through, gently press the centers back down with a spatula. Do this again immediately when you pull them out of the oven at the end of the baking time.

Pin for later and share with a friend

potato flake sourdough pecan sticky buns pin image

If you give this recipe a try, I would greatly appreciate if you came back and gave it a 5-star review! It helps me out so much!

I also love seeing all of the delicious creations you make! Share your photo over on instagram and give me a tag @littletennesseehome

Potato Flake Sourdough Sticky Bun Cinnamon Rolls

Magen Jones – littletennesseehome.com

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 25

Fermentation (rising time) 20

Total Time 21 5

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Servings 12 Sticky Buns

Equipment

Stand mixer (optional, but so much easier)
measuring cups and spoons
Rolling Pin
Pastry brush
Baking dish (large circle baking dish, 9×13 baking dish, or large cast iron skillet)
Dough scraper
Wooden spoon
Medium Sauce Pot