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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls are amazing. Â Make the night before and refrigerate. Â Bake in the morning and enjoy!
Cinnamon rolls and the first weekend in October go together at our house. Our church holds a General Conference that is televised each April and October. We stay home from church and watch it in our jammies and eat cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls are required! At least at our house they are.
But this year I decided I didn’t want to have to get up in the morning and make cinnamon rolls. Even if it only took 60 minutes so I decided to make Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. You mix up and form the cinnamon rolls the night before, refrigerate and then wake up and let them sit for about 30-60 minutes to rise a bit and then bake. Doesn’t get much easier than that (o.k., so buying Rhodes Frozen Cinnamon Rolls would be easier but not as good!!)
The process is easy – mix up your dough and let it rise for an hour. If you need some tips on working with yeast check out this post. This dough is a denser dough than you may be use to. It will lighten up as it rises but needs to be a bit denser to hold up in the refrigerator and not overrise.
Roll out dough into a 12 x 14 rectangle (approx.) and lather it with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Roll up and slice. I like to use thread to slice my rolls. Gives a nice clean cut.
Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper and place cut slices in pan or you can just grease the pan. I got 12 nice size cinnamon rolls.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning remove from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for an hour if your house is warm. I like to turn my oven onto 150 degrees F and then turn it off and put the rolls in there to rise. You can cover them gently with a towel.
After they have risen put them in a 350 degree F oven for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. They will rise more as they bake.
The next to the last step is to cover them in frosting. I use a mixture of butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and whipping cream. You can use regular milk if you don’t have whipping cream.
The final step is to eat one!! Or two!
Come on over to our house on Sunday for cinnamon rolls!
Check out more of my favorite cinnamon roll recipes:
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 C milk
- 1/3 C butter
- 2 1/4 tsp of dry active yeast
- 2/3 C white sugar
- 4 1/2 – 5 C flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
Filling
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 C butter
Glaze
- 3 Tbsp butter softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 C powdered sugar
- 2 -3 Tbsp whipping cream or milk
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a pan until it begins to bubble. Remove from heat and add butter. Stir until butter melts.
- When milk is lukewarm add yeast and allow to proof for 10 minutes.
- Put sugar, 3 cups of flour, salt and eggs into a mixer. Add in yeast mixture. Mix.
- Add in remaining flour until dough is no longer sticky. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and soft.
- Oil a large bowl and place dough in bowl, turn to coat dough with oil. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until double in size. About 1 hour.
- Deflate the dough and put onto a floured surface and roll out into a 12×14 rectangle.
- Spread with softened butter.
- Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over dough.
- Roll up dough into log and cut into 12 pieces.
- Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper or grease it. Place dough into pan and cover with pastic wrap and place in refrigerator over night.
- In the morning remove from refrigerator and allow to set in a warm place for an hour. I like to turn my oven to 150 degrees F and then turn off the oven and place the rolls in the oven to rise.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Mix together butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and whipping cream until a nice smooth consistency. Spread over warm rolls.
Camille C. says
So I made these for Christmas morning and they were seriously the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made. My family raved avout them. This recipe is fantastic! I almost gave up because the yeast didn’t proof like it normally does and I thought I had done something wrong because the dough was SO DENSE! But in the morning they rose beautifully and we’re perfect. I always come to your website when I need a fail proof delicious recipes. Thank you thank you!!
Nichole says
When you made them Christmas Eve for Christmas morning, how long were they in the fridge? We have Christmas with the in-laws, then Christmas Eve Service and I would have to makethem in the morning to have time…
Leigh Anne says
Nichole, They don’t have to be refrigerated so if you are going to make them in the morning. Just let them rise for an hour or until double or so and then bake.
Leigh Anne says
Nichole, You might want to check out my 60 minute cinnamon roll recipe if you are going to make them in the morning. https://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/60-minute-cinnamon-rolls/
Kaylin says
I am a Canadian Citizen living in the Netherlands trying to find the best recipes to bring back tastes of home! After a few failed attempts at homemade cinnamon rolls I came across your recipe! This is by far the best cinnamon roll recipe I have ever come across. i was jumping up and down after tasting the end results this is home!!! Thank you!
Leigh Anne says
Kaylin. I am so glad! I love hearing when people use and love my recipes. Thanks so much for letting me know.
Alison says
Hi
The recipe asks for flour. Is this strong white flour or self raising flour?
Thanks
Leigh Anne says
All my recipes use regular all purpose flour unless otherwise noted. Thanks!
Kirsten Gundershaug says
Hi Leigh Anne,
Those rolls look delicious! When a baking recipe calls for milk, which type do you use- whole? skim? Or doesn’t it matter? Thanks,
Kirsten
Leigh Anne says
I usually use 2% which is what I have my fridge!
Whitney Jordan says
These look amazing!! I can’t wait to try them. Cinnamon Rolls are my husband’s very favorite food so I know he’ll be excited to see these on the menu. Thanks for sharing 🙂