Ok, so we’re all in agreement that cinnamon rolls are awesome, right? I mean they wouldn’t have an entire store dedicated to them if they weren’t. They’re soft, ooey-gooey, sweet cinnamon clouds of delicious joy. But while everything’s fine and dandy with eating them in the morning, those of us who have tried can attest that making them in the morning is anything but fun.
Honestly, who in their right mind thought that cinnamon rolls would be a great thing to make for breakfast. It’s not exactly something that you can whip up in minutes for everyone to enjoy. First, you have to make the dough, then let the dough rise for an hour or two, then roll up the dough, then let it rise again. It ends up taking like 2 to 3 hours of prep work before you can even get to baking the damn things. Not that it’s a particularly difficult thing to make, but who the hell wants to wake up at 6 in the morning to have cinnamon rolls ready by 10.
Luckily there’s an easy way around this headache, do you want to know what it is?
You simply do most of the prep work the night before!
Yes, the solution’s really that simple. Now, of course, you still will have to let the cinnamon rolls rise one more time the morning of. But by making the dough and letting it do it first rise the night before you end up saving yourself at least 2 hours in the morning. Sounds pretty good right? So if you’re ready to spend less time in the morning making cinnamon rolls and more time eating them, then let’s get into today’s recipe.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Try adding in some chopped nuts or raisins into the filling for a different taste and texture.
- You can warm the milk in two ways. First, you can heat it up over a burner, which will take some time and dirty a pot. Or you can keep it quick and easy by microwaving it for a minute or two.
- Want an easier glaze to pour over your hot cinnamon rolls? Then check out our recipe for simple powdered sugar glaze.
Cinnamon Rolls (Overnight) Recipe
Prep time: 1 to 2 hours
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12 cinnamon rolls
Ingredients
For the dough:
4 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Cup of whole milk, warm (110 f°)
½ Stick of unsalted butter, melted
⅓ Cup of sugar
2 Eggs
1 package of dry active yeast
For the cinnamon filling:
1 Stick of unsalted butter, melted
1 Cup of brown sugar
4 Teaspoons of ground cinnamon
For cream cheese icing:
1 Cup of powdered sugar
4 Ounces of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 to 6 Tablespoons of whole milk, depending on how thick or thin you prefer your icing
Instructions
- Activate the yeast: Get out a large mixing bowl, or simply use the bowl for your stand mixer, and pour in the warm milk, ⅓ cup of sugar and yeast. Stir this together and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast has shown signs of life.
- Make the dough: Once the yeast has shown it’s alive, add the flour and ½ stick of melted butter to a bowl. Then use the dough hook attachment, and mix everything together on low for 2 minutes, or until it starts to form clumps.
You can also do this without a stand mixer by simply mixing these ingredients with a wooden spoon. Once the clumps have started to form add in one egg and let it mix into the dough completely. Then add in the second egg and allow it to mix in until you have a uniform dough.
- Let the dough rise: Get out a separate large bowl and grease the insides with about a tablespoon of canola/vegetable oil. Then place the dough in the center of the bowl and cover it loosely with some plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for an hour or two, then pound it down with your fists.
- Make the cinnamon roll: Flour a flat area, place the dough on it and use your hands to pad it down into a rectangular shape. Then use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough until it is ½ an inch thick and roughly 18×24 in size. Next, pour the stick of melted butter over the dough and use a brush to distribute it evenly.
Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and then sprinkle that over the butter covered dough. Use your hands to press this mixture into the dough.
Finally, roll the dough tightly until you have one long cinnamon roll.
- Cut it into rolls: Trim off any excess at the ends of the roll, and then cut the roll in half. Then cut each half in half so that you have 4 medium long pieces.
Finally cut each quarter into three evenly sized pieces. Place these rolls in a greased 9×13 pan and cover it with plastic wrap.
- Place this in your fridge overnight.
- Next morning take the pan out and let the cinnamon rolls rise at room temperature for an hour or two.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until their tops have become golden brown.
- Make the icing: While the cinnamon rolls are baking add the softened cream cheese, and soften butter to your stand mixer bowl. Mix these together until they are fully combined. Then add in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar and mix those in until they are fully combined. Finally, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until the icing is as thick or thin as you prefer.
- Once the cinnamon rolls have cooked completely take them out of the oven and spread the icing all over the tops of them.
- Serve and enjoy immediately!
Cinnamon Rolls (Overnight) Recipe
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 4 Cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 Cup of whole milk warm (110 f°)
- ½ Stick of unsalted butter melted
- ⅓ Cup of sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 package of dry active yeast
For the cinnamon filling:
- 1 Stick of unsalted butter melted
- 1 Cup of brown sugar
- 4 Teaspoons of ground cinnamon
For cream cheese icing:
- 1 Cup of powdered sugar
- 4 Ounces of cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter softened
- 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 to 6 Tablespoons of whole milk depending on how thick or thin you prefer your icing
Instructions
- Activate the yeast: Get out a large mixing bowl, or simply use the bowl for your stand mixer, and pour in the warm milk, ⅓ cup of sugar and yeast. Stir this together and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast has shown signs of life.
- Make the dough: Once the yeast has shown it’s alive, add the flour and ½ stick of melted butter to the bowl. Then use the dough hook attachment, and mix everything together on low for 2 minutes, or until it starts to form clumps. You can also do this without a stand mixer by simply mixing these ingredients with a wooden spoon. Once the clumps have started to form add in one egg and let it mix into the dough completely. Then add in the second egg and allow it to mix in until you have a uniform dough.
- Let the dough rise: Get out a separate large bowl and grease the insides with about a tablespoon of canola/vegetable oil. Then place the dough in the center of the bowl and cover it loosely with some plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for an hour or two, then pound it down with your fists.
- Make the cinnamon roll: Flour a flat area, place the dough on it and use your hands to pad it down into a rectangular shape. Then use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough until it is ½ an inch thick and roughly 18×24 in size. Next, pour the stick of melted butter over the dough and use a brush to distribute it evenly. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and then sprinkle that over the butter covered dough. Use your hands to press this mixture in. Finally, roll the dough tightly until you have one long cinnamon roll.
- Cut it into rolls: Trim off any excess at the ends of the roll, and then cut the roll in half. Then cut each half in half so that you have 4 medium long pieces. Finally cut each quarter into three evenly sized pieces. Place these rolls in a greased 9×13 pan and cover it with plastic wrap.
- Place this in your fridge overnight.
- Next morning take the pan out and let the cinnamon rolls rise at room temperature for an hour or two
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until their tops have become golden brown.
- Make the icing: While the cinnamon rolls are baking add the softened cream cheese, and soften butter to your stand mixer bowl. Mix these together until they are fully combined. Then add in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar and mix those in until they are fully combined. Finally, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until the icing is as thick or thin as you prefer.
- Once the cinnamon rolls have cooked completely take them out of the oven and spread the icing all over the tops of them.
- Serve and enjoy immediately!
Inspiration from other blogs
From Tastes of Lizzy T
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