Cinnamon Rolls are a favorite in our house. We seem to always get the cravings on Sunday afternoons, so after church when we’re all home being lazy, I’ll often whip up a batch. There have been lots of times where I would have loved to make them for breakfast, but who wants to get up at the crack of dawn so they’ll actually be ready in time for breakfast?? Even if you don’t mind, by the time they’re ready to eat, you’ve got a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I’ve tried putting my everyday cinnamon roll recipe in the fridge over night and I haven’t had any luck. Actually, I’ve tried a few different recipes and none of them really turn out all that well. So when I saw a recipe for overnight cinnamon rolls in my new favorite cookbook, it instantly caught my attention. I tweaked the dough just a little and then used my own filling recipe. The cinnamon rolls were were just as I imagined they would be: soft, fluffy, full of flavor, and mouthwateringly delicious. The dough takes a bit longer than my other recipes, but it works out perfectly since you can whip them up up after dinner and pop them in the fridge before bed. In the morning, they just need to sit out for about an hour (so you can either sleep in some more or take a shower and get dressed!) and then pop them in the oven.
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe from Family Meals, Williams-Sonoma
Dough
1 T active dry yeast
1/2 C warm water (105 deg F)
4 1/2 C all-purpose flour (22 1/2 oz)
1t kosher salt
4 large eggs
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) real butter at room temp
Filling
1/2 C (1 stick) real butter at room temp, divided
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1 T cinnamon
Glaze
1 C powdered sugar
2 T butter, melted
2 T milk or cream
1 t vanilla extract
In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water, allow to bloom for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1/2 C of the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
Add the eggs, sugar, butter, salt, and remaining 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium speed until smooth 10-12 minutes. Add a bit more flour to reduce stickiness if needed.
Cover with plastic wrap, set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
While dough is rising, prepare filling. Take 2 T of the stick of butter and set aside. Beat remaining butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until combined and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute. It will be rather thick.
Butter a 9×13 baking dish. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Roll out into a rectangle about 15×10 in. Spread filling onto dough. Use a spoon (or your fingers) to spread it out evenly and then roll up length-wise.
Do you all know the trick to cutting cinnamon rolls? If not, go grab your dental floss! A piece of thread works fine too.
First score the rolls so you know you’re going to cut evenly. Then slide the thread underneath the rolls, cross over the top and pull. You’ll get razor sharp cuts without smashing your pretty dough.
You can cut the rolls to your liking. This will make 12 small rolls, 10 medium ones, or 8 large rolls. I made 10, but put 2 in a little dish to cook separately.
Place cut side up in baking dish. Melt the reserved 2 T butter and brush on top of rolls. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, remove from refrigerator and let rise until half again as high, about 1 hour.
While rising mix glaze ingredients until combined.
Preheat the oven to 350. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. If you get impatient and wait about 47 seconds like I did then your glaze will instantly melt and fall into the crevices between the rolls. Then you’ll stick your finger in the little well so you can taste it and you’ll burn yourself and possibly let out an expletive. You’ll be so hurt you’ll have to stuff a cinnamon roll in your mouth to comfort yourself. And possibly another one because the first one was too hot to enjoy. Not that I have experience with any of this. Just trust me and let the rolls cool off a bit.
Then spread the glaze over them and serve.
Don’t have time for overnight cinnamon rolls? Try my “every day” quicker version instead!
Questions & Reviews
Sara, thanks so much for the quick reply! We tried again last night (hubby had to take them to work for a bfast potluck) and increased the sugar to just shy of 1/2 cup (seriously, I just felt SO wrong about 3/4 cup..gag!) and then doubled the filling and the glaze. He's on a sugar high now but insists that they are the BEST ROLLS EVER! Thank you thank you!!
Lisa- if your husband prefers rolls from a can over something homemade like this there's not much I can do! ha. Cinnamon Roll dough is often less sweet because you're slathering both the inside and the top with sugar! If you want to sweeten it up a bit you could try increasing the sugar to 3/4 C in the dough.
I've had this recipe in the back of my mind to try for a while now and finally got my chance last night. I thought they were spectacular and delicious! My husband, however, thought the dough was a little on the bland side. (I think all those Pillsbury rolls have warped his senses.) Is there anything you'd recommend I try to sweeten up the dough a little more without completely botching the entire recipe to appease him?
When you are kneading it for10-12 mins, (I use a Bosch) is the dough really stiff/firm? And that's what you let sit for two hours?
wow!! that's all i can say. i'm SO not a baker, but even i can make these. they turned out perfect and SO yummy. i've been wanting to try out this recipe forever. thanks for posting it. it's definitely being added to my favorites.
Are you talking about the teal ones? Aren't those cute? They're nesting bowls and I love them because they have measurements marked on the insides. I think they came in a set of 6. You know why I bought them? They matched our blog header! I was super excited to see the color, lol. I actually found them at Ross or Marshalls and it was only like 4 bucks for the set. I just looked and there's no brand name on them so I'm sorry I can't get you any more info!
holy cow i love your bowls in this post! where did you get them?!
These look so good! I am trying them out tonight! I was wondering though if there is supposed to be any milk in the dough? I noticed that there is milk in the ingredient picture but maybe that is only for the frosting?
Thanks!
I made these for Christmas morning breakfast and they were FANTASTIC! We went out of town christmas afternoon and I gave the remaining cin. rolls to my neighbor so they wouldn't go to waste. We weren't on the road more than 10 minutes before she called to rave about them. Melt in you mouth.
Thank you thank you thank you!
Shanna- nope, I've never tried incorporating whole wheat flour. I'm all for adding healthy grains into rolls and bread, but I am firmly against it when it comes to something like cinnamon rolls! lol.
These look fantastic. Have you ever tried them with using whole wheat flour or at least half whole wheat?
Julie, I think it would be just fine to make them earlier. The fridge allows for a really slow rise so you should be fine. If anything, you might be able to get away with a shorter rise in the morning because of it (which is a bonus!) Good luck!
Sarah, I want to have these on Christmas morning with our breakfast. Could I make them sooner than Christmas Eve, say Christmas Eve morning? I have enough to do on Christmas Eve without making rolls so if I could do them earlier in the day that would be great. Thanks for the delicious recipes…my family loves them!
Your recipe is now a family favorite. I make these all the time and people LOVE THEM. I usually double the amount of glaze and add a little extra cinnamond to the filling for an extra decadant treat. Thank you for this recipe!
I love all your fun comments on your creations. Totally makes me laugh.
So DELICIOUS!!! Hubby, 5 yr old & 3 1/2 yr old all went back for seconds. We've decided these should be part of Christmas morning, because nothing is sweeter when you've opened all your presents than this fantastic taste waiting to make your tummy just as happy. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Thanks Sarah! That helps a lot. They are baked, frosted and ready to be eaten. They look and smell amazing.
Una- the mixture is thick so it won't get super fluffy. It's heavy on sugar in order to make a nice thick filling. It helps to use a spoon or your fingers to spread it out, and most importantly, make sure your butter is soft.
The brown sugar, butter & cinnamon mixture never got fluffy and was difficult to spread on to the dough. Is this normal? Any suggestions?
Jill- Try brushing a little melted butter over the top of the dough and make sure it's covered really securely. That should prevent it from drying out.
ilovemyairman- enlist a helper and count it as a work out! lol I trade off with my husband when I need to knead for a long time without a mixer.
marykelly- bummer! sounds like a yeast problem to me. Was your yeast fresh? Hope you have better success next time!
These turned out a hot mess 🙁 I followed the directions perfectly but for some reason my dough ended up a brick and did not rise at all. I'm sure it was my mistake but I am so disappointed because cinnamon rolls would have been so perfect for the morning (conference and all). I'll try a different recipe for tonight and maybe try these again another time.
How would you do the dough if you don't have a stand mixer with a hook? I only have two hands…
Thanks!
I made these this morning and they tasted great! My problem was how they looked. They seemed really dry but I think I didn't knead the dough long enough. Do you think that would happen if I under mixed it? It was like the dough looked kind of cracked when I took them out of the fridge. Yours look perfect! 🙂
Nonetheless, the fam loved them and I will definitely try them again.
I did freeze them & they turned out great! Of course, I only froze them for 4 days. I knew I didn't need the whole recipe so, after cutting, I put half in a pan in the fridge & the other half in a pan & freezer bag in the freezer. I put the frozen ones in the fridge mid-afternoon the day before I wanted to cook them & they turned out as well as the ones I'd cooked right away.
Diana- Ack!! What a horrible thing to happen to beautiful cinnamon rolls. I won't judge you if you cried. lol. So sorry to hear about that- hope you make them again some time and they make it safely to the oven!
So sad, I made these for the first time yesterday and woke up very excited to bake them only to find them sitting in a puddle of water. What a terrible night for the ice mysteriously accumulating in the fridge to melt combined with a strange finger hole that got poked into the plastic wrap. Hopefully I get to try again soon! They look amazing.
You can avoid the freezer issue by taking the copper ground wire from a 6 inch piece of electrical wire and making a small hook, hang it on the defrost coil in the back of the freezer and stick the other end down the defrost hole. The warm wire will keep the defrost hole open and draining. Found this on line luckily before I was going to go out and buy a new fridge. Has been working flawlessly for me.
Joy, I've never frozen them so I don't know how they would hold up but you could give it a shot! If you do, I would freeze them as soon as you fill them and make them into rolls. So instead of putting them into the fridge, stick them in the freezer. You might want to try flash freezing them individually. If you try it will you let us know how it goes? I'm still looking for a cinnamon roll recipe that freezes really well. Maybe this is it and I didn't know it!
Could these be frozen? If so, when in the process should I freeze them?
Have you ever tried a cup of mashed potatoes in your cinnamon roll recipe? IN_FREAKIN_CREDIBLE!!!!!
Glad to see your site is doing so awesome! I put your button on my blog last year when you had me at hello with the cookies in ramekins with ice cream… still a fave.
*mwah!*
I had fun exploring your blog today. These especially caught my eye. So nice to do all the work at night and enjoy hot rolls in the morning!