Cinnamon Rolls are a favorite in our house, and I’ll often whip up a batch of our favorite Everyday Cinnamon Rolls after church on Sundays. 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, or start the day with that many dirty dishes? While my Everyday Cinnamon Rolls do ok if refrigerated overnight, they are definitely best made fresh. So when I saw a recipe for overnight cinnamon rolls in my Family Meals cookbook from Williams Sonoma, 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 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 go back to sleep for a bit or take a shower and get dressed!) and then pop them in the oven. These are perfect for holidays or special occasions when you want something homemade and delicious without complicating your morning!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Active dry yeast – Just regular yeast, not rapid rise/bread machine yeast.
- Warm water – 105° is perfect. Too cold and the yeast won’t wake up, too hot and you’ll kill the yeast.
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Butter – Real, salted butter.
- Filling
- Butter – Real, salted butter.
- Brown sugar – I prefer brown sugar over white sugar in my cinnamon roll filling because it provides a deeper, richer flavor.
- Cinnamon
- Icing
- Powdered sugar
- Butter
- Milk or cream
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- The evening before you plan to make these, you’ll put your dough together. This is pretty straightforward and just involves letting the yeast bloom for a bit and then mixing the dough up in a stand mixer.
- The dough needs to rise for a couple of hours. During that time, you’ll mix up your filling of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. It helps if the butter is nice and soft!
- When the dough has doubled, you’ll punch it down and roll it out to a nice rectangle, spread on the filling and roll it up. I like to use dental floss or sewing thread to mark and cut my rolls. It slices through both dough and filling cleanly so nothing gets smashed and your filling stays in place!
- Place those rolls in greased baking dish, cover tightly, and pop in the fridge.
- In the morning, plan for about an hour and 45 minutes before you want to serve these. They will need to rise for about an hour and then bake for 30 minutes. After they cool for a few minutes, you can whisk up and spread on the glaze and serve warm!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftover rolls completely cooled, covered tightly, at room temperature and enjoy within a day or two for best results.
- If you like this recipe but don’t need overnight cinnamon rolls, you skip the refrigerator step. Just let the shaped rolls rise in a warm kitchen for about 30 minutes, or until puffed and about half again as tall as when they started, then bake as directed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. After putting the prepared rolls in the greased baking dish, cover tightly and freeze. When ready to use, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then allow to rise in a warm kitchen until puffy and about 1 1/2 times their original size, then bake and glaze as directed. This may take and extra hour or two because they will be starting out very cold.
Yes. I recommend freezing them unglazed, though. Once your rolls are baked and completely cool, wrap them individually in plastic and then place them in a zip-top freezer bag. When ready to enjoy, thaw at room temperature, then unwrap and heat for 15-30 seconds in the microwave, until just warmed through. If you’d like to make just enough glaze for one roll, you can mix up 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar with 1/2 teaspoon melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon milk or cream, and a tiny splash of vanilla.
Not dramatically, but 8 large rolls may need a few more minutes than 12 small ones. Look for golden brown tops and puffy centers! If you want to be precise, cinnamon rolls are generally baked through when the center of the roll reaches about 190°F.
This recipe is designed for regular yeast. If you’re in a hurry, I recommend these Everyday Cinnamon Rolls that use rapid rise yeast!
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm water 105℉
- 4 ½ cup all-purpose flour 22 ½ oz
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup real butter at room temp
Filling
- ½ cup real butter at room temp, divided
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 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 ½ cup 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 tablespoons 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.
- Grab a piece of dental floss or sewing thread, about 12 inches long. First score the rolls with the thread 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.
- Place cut side up in baking dish. Melt the reserved 2 tablespoons 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. Then spread the glaze over them and serve.
Questions & Reviews
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!