If you’ve ever dreamed of pillowy focaccia bread meeting the gooey magic of a cinnamon roll, this recipe is for you. Our Sourdough Cinnamon Focaccia brings the best of both worlds—soft, caramelised edges, a spiced swirl, and a naturally leavened base that makes it just a little more special.
First thing in the morning, feed your sourdough starter and leave it in a warm spot to at least double in volume. We typically feed our starter in a ratio of 1 part starter: 1 part water: 1 part flour, and it doubles (or even triples) within 4 hours.
Fermentolyse and Mixing The Dough:
In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, water and active sourdough starter. Mix the dough in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment for a few minutes on low speed, until the flour is hydrated. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave the dough to fermentolyse (a type of sourdough autolyse where sourdough starter is added too) for an hour.
After an hour, scatter the salt on top of the dough. Drizzle the olive oil all over, and using your hands, squish the salt and oil into the dough, aiming to distribute it evenly.
TIP: Don't be tempted to just mix the oil in by running the stand mixer – the dough will split, separated by oil layers.
Once incorporated, run your mixer on medium speed for 10-12 minutes, until you have a very smooth and elastic dough. It will be wet, but should start gathering around the dough hook attachment.
Coil Folds, Bulk Fermentation, Cold Retardation:
Scoop the dough into a lightly oiled bowl (we like to use a heavy shallow dish – it helps with coil folds later). Cover the dough with a damp tea towel or cling film (plastic wrap) and leave it in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
Over the next 3 hours, at 30-minute intervals, perform a set of coil folds, using wet hands. See the coil folding video below.
After all 6 sets of coil folds are completed, cover the dough and let it finish its bulk fermentation undisturbed for 1.5-3 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Place the dough in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours (or simply overnight).
DAY 2:
The next day, line a baking tray (approx 24x24cm) with parchment paper, and brush it with a little olive oil.
Cinnamon Sugar Filling:
In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. It may look like a lot, but remember, we haven't added any sugar to the dough itself.
Second Proof, Filling and Final Proof:
Spritz clean kitchen surface with plenty of water (this will prevent the dough from sticking to the surface. Take the focaccia sourdough out of the fridge. Very carefully transfer the dough onto the sprayed surface, trying not to deflate it too much. Stretch it out slightly.
Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar across one half of the dough.
Fold the other half of the dough over the filling and pinch the edges together.
In a swift motion, transfer the dough into the prepared baking tray (Please see video below for visual instructions). Tug on the edges of the dough to stretch the dough out to fill the baking tray.
Cover it with a sheet of cling film (plastic wrap) resting on the rims of the baking tray and leave the dough in a warm spot for its second proof for 1-2 hours.
After the second rise, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Melt the butter and leave it to cool down to body temperature.
Drizzle the butter over the surface of the dough, then dimple the dough with your fingers.
Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on top.
Baking and Cooling:
Place your sourdough cinnamon focaccia in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes.
Once baked, let it firm up in the tray for 5-10 minutes, then lift it out by the overhanging parchment paper, and place it on a wire rack. Slice the parchment paper out from underkneath and allow the focaccia to cool down (we like it slightly warm with dripping icing, but if you want the icing to set, you'll need to cool your focaccia to roomtemeprature before icing).
Icing:
In the meantime, prepare the icing by mixing melted butter, icing sugar, vanilla paste, a pinch of salt and milk together and stirring to a smooth paste.
Drizzle your sourdough cinnamon focaccia with the icing and tuck in!