Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
In the years since I’ve been writing this blog, someone — who shall remain nameless — has been pestering me for an “easy cinnamon roll” recipe. As my mother will attest, I was raised “a pleaser” and really wanted to comply with this request. But with every cinnamon roll recipe I searched out, “easy” seemed an impossibility. With one or two rises plus jelly roll-like rolling — to say nothing of the fact that this all has to be done hours before you might actually want breakfast — it seemed I was trying to fight a losing battle. And I’m not into that. So the easy cinnamon roll recipe languished.
Anyone who knows me will probably guffaw right out loud with this next sentence, but: I love mornings. Or, shall I say, I love the idea of the morning. And much as I wish I were built to get up and embrace the day with a five-mile jog, my physiology seems to resist this with its every joint, fiber, and ligament. Mornings, my mind and body seem to agree, are for strong coffee, reading in bed, and quiet games of chess. Eventually, it is nice if a steward or lover brings you bagels or pancakes while you’re propped on pillows, but you’ll rarely find me making elaborate breakfasts on a weekend. I have to laze for approximately an hour and half before I am adequately awake.
That is why I have never made cinnamon rolls. My friend Katie makes the best sticky, cinnamon-y, nutty rolls of goodness, but she is, of course, the very essence of a morning person. She doesn’t even need a cup of coffee to come to life, and she is an inspiration to lazy bones like me.
But you can’t fight nature — at least, you can’t if you haven’t a tremendous amount of discipline and self-will. In other words, I can’t. So this cinnamon roll recipe, in which night owls can roll their buns in the evening hours and wake up only with enough energy to make the coffee and shove these in the oven, is heaven-sent.
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
makes 12
I have to admit, I’m rather proud of this recipe. After months and months of searching for the perfect cinnamon roll to suit my needs, I ended up combining a little of this, a little of that, and in one round, managed to mix together what is, for me, the perfect cinnamon roll. No raisins, a powdered sugar glaze rather than cream cheese frosting, and a dough that was a buttery beauty.
dough
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
filling
1 1/3 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup maple sugar (if you can’t get maple sugar, use 2 cups powdered sugar, and you could add some maple flavoring, if desired)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons (or more) whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add eggs and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, adding more flour as needed, about 5 minutes.
Cover the dough and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together filling ingredients.
Roll out dough into a 9×12 inch rectangle. Spread dough evenly with filling mixture. Roll up dough from the long end and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in a 9×12″ baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next morning, remove cinnamon rolls from refrigerator and let sit on the counter for about 30 minutes to take the chill off. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until browned. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together glaze ingredients, adding more milk to thin glaze, if necessary. Remove rolls from oven, and pour glaze over hot cinnamon rolls. Serve warm.
Kristina: Those look marvelous! I’m intrigued by the maple sugar– seasonally appropriate, and I bet it tastes amazing, too.3 years ago
The maple sugar IS amazing. It was one of those whim ingredients, but it smells so delicious but isn’t overpowering in the glaze — just wonderfully complementary.
Honestly, I had to give the whole pan away after Sebastian and I each had one — they were just too dangerously delicious to have around.3 years ago
NIta Boyer: Do you dissolve the yeast first in the lukewarm milk or put it into the dry ingredients just the way it comes in the package?3 years ago
Nita, You put the yeast directly into the dry ingredients. I was suspicious of doing this (I usually like to activate the yeast in water with sugar), but it worked just fine.3 years ago
Lisa (dinner party): Good lord those look amazing. And maple sugar! Swoon.3 years ago
Sophie: MMMMMM……this looks so appetizing!!! Wow!!!3 years ago
Laura [What I Like]: In high school I used to work for a bakery that made Morning Buns…croissant dough wrapped up with cinnamon and sugar. not that it’s the same, but maybe puff pastry (store bought, obviously) might make your life a little easier?3 years ago
Laura, That sounds like a worthy experiment. Great idea!3 years ago
Brenda Leyland: Yum! I could get excited now too about cinnamon buns.
Had to LOL at your description of mornings, and can totally relate! Especially the part about ‘liking’ the idea of mornings, but prefer strong coffee, reading in bed, etc. etc…..3 years ago
Adrienne: I have the fondest memories of cinnamon rolls at this cafe my parents used to take us to after church… I think it was called the Lovin’ Spoonful? Anyway, no cinnamon roll has lived up to that memory, but maybe if I make my own, the straight-out-of-the-oven bit will help. Love the overnight rise idea – who on EARTH wants to wait over an hour for breakfast? Ridiculous.3 years ago
kim: If you weren’t already engaged to Sebastian I’d ask you to marry me. Those look amazing.3 years ago
Yazmena: Oh yum. I too love cinnamon rolls in the morning but hate the work. I have a recipe from sticky buns that allows me to freeze them for up to 2 months so that I can just pull them out, pop them in the oven and make the glaze whenever I want to. But I now I have to try your overnight recipe because a girl can never have enough different versions of a sticky bun, in my opinion.3 years ago
Sara Rose: I need a cinnamon roll RIGHT NOW.3 years ago
Dana McCauley: Who can wait overnight? I’d never sleep!3 years ago
Rachel Cunliffe: I’m worried that I’ve read this recipe! I was one addicted to buying these from a local cafe. Looks absolutely yum!3 years ago
Rebecca: This look amazingly yummy! And I am all for the make ahead the night before thing. I am so not a morning person even though my little ones seem to think that I should be. Why can’t they figure out that 6 am is way too early to be up?3 years ago
Rekaya Gibson: You had me with the first picture. I would love to blog about this and share the recipe with my audience. They would enjoy this. Thanks for sharing!
Rekaya Gibson, Author
The Food Temptress3 years ago
rose: I to would love to wake up to this – except I would use the filling and the glaze- But would make it eaiser by using the frozen bread dough from the freezer section of the store . Just let it get to room temp and roll out the dough and make the filling and the glaze . the same as the first recipe but a little eaiser.3 years ago
clotilde: I, too, have always wondered how anyone could produce freshly baked, yeast-raised goods at breakfast time, and this sounds like the perfect strategy. Plus, who can resist the idea of “rolling their buns in the evening hours”?
3 years ago
Alicia Kachmar: I am so with you on your perfect cinnamon rolls recipe–no raisins + powdered sugar glaze!3 years ago
MrsB: Woman! you’re a genius! x3 years ago
Andrea: I love breakfast and I especially love overnight recipes – I’m going to try these soon. With a mimosa of course. I used to work at a bed and breakfast and have their recipe for stuffed french toast that you prep the night before and bake in the morning. I used to make it every Saturday (bad BAD!)3 years ago
jinto: This is very defficult. Can you recoment a few desserts for 800 students3 years ago
Dalila: Thanks for sharing this recipe!
It looks great and I’m thinking of giving it a try tonight!3 years ago
EB: I am SO with you on this!! No raisins! A sugar glaze! AND I can make these at night to shortcut the morning?! AWESOME3 years ago
rocky: I can’t wait to try it! THANKS3 years ago
Julia: omg this is the cinnamon bun recipe i too have been waiting for!3 years ago
Puddin: If I made this overnight could they stay in the fridge until the next evening? I work during the day and was just wondering if I could bake them after work (8pm)
OR since I’m off today, could I make them up and stick them in the fridge for about 6 hours and bake them tonight?3 years ago
Puddin, Not sure you could leave them in the fridge for 24 hours — they might rise too much (is that possible?) I would go with the 6 hour rise and see how that goes. Good luck and happy baking!3 years ago
Allison Conley: Sarah, I would like to order a pan of these!! They look fabulous! Very pleasing…3 years ago
Mom, You can place an order whenever you like and I will bring them to you. They are best warm!3 years ago
Nan: I made these last night/this morning. While they came out very tasty I have 2 comments. First, the dough was so sticky it was near impossible to knead- no matter how much flour I added. I didn’t want to add a ton of extra flour so I eventually gave up. Also, they didn’t rise at all overnight. They did rise in the oven and turned out very tasty. So was the glaze. Thanks for the recipe!3 years ago
Nan, I’m so bummed that the dough turned out too sticky for you! I don’t know why that would be, but I am glad they turned out tasty in the end.3 years ago
rachael: I just ate my lunch and now I am hungry again…this is what this blog does!3 years ago
Kendra: I made these cinnamon rolls last weekend and they came out perfectly! And the smell! Oh the smell of them baking was enough to warrant day before prep. I ate too many of them… but I’m going to make them again for Easter along with other sinful breakfast treats.
I didn’t find the dough difficult to knead and I am a no-kneading kind of girl– in fact, I was hesitant to make these because I have a fear of kneading. They rose only slightly overnight, but rose dramatically in the oven.
YUM.3 years ago
Kendra, So glad they turned out. I’m trying to remember my experience with the dough as vividly as possible — I may have added more flour as needed, in which case I will adjust the recipe. The smell of them baking is divine, and so perfect for easter! Yay — so, so glad you liked them!3 years ago
Cristina: Every Sunday morning I bake something for my mom and brother and to bring into work for all of my friends, and after getting rather tired of baking the usual cupcakes, brownies, and cookies [no matter how creative], I sat up browsing the internet for new ideas. And then I remembered your cinnamon rolls, and at 12:30 on Saturday night I threw together two batches for the next morning. They were some of the simplest and tastiest delights I’ve had in a long while! After eating 4, my 18 year-old brother told me I was going to make someone a great wife someday, haha. Thanks so much for the recipe! I’m definitely going to add it to my stash of go-to baked goods.3 years ago
Cristina, That is such a great ritual! And I am so glad they turned out! Yay, yay, yay!3 years ago
Tracie: WoWee!! My 13 year old daughter and I had a not-so-good day yesterday, and consoled ourselves by whipping up this recipe last night and sticking it in the fridge. I got up this morning, baked them, and woke her up to the most heavenly smell . . . she drizzled glaze, we made tea and ate cinnamon buns. Need I say that today was a MUCH better day! I think I’ve discovered a new coping mechanism – cinnamon bun therapy!3 years ago
MsGourmet: I think you have struck perfection here!3 years ago
Ellie: I have been looking for a good overnight recipe! Cinnamon buns are a HUGE fave in my house so I make them often. I am always on the look out for a new recipe. The recipe I usually do is very long and high maintenance, so it gets made for afternoon rather than breakfast. Will try these tonight as my DD has a few friends sleeping over and I can just pop these in the oven in the morning end let kids fend for themselves.3 years ago
Tracie, You are an awesome mom. So glad you and your daughter liked them!
I hope it works out for you Ellie!3 years ago
Margaret: Ok, I know I’m way behind the ball here, but I guess it took that long for me to screw up the courage to attack my first ‘yeast’ project. As a person with very little counter space and the tendency to get flour EVERYwhere, I had been avoiding real bread until I move again. But this, and Sarah’s kind encouragement, helped me step up.
Now, my question: yes, of course they are best warm, but is it inevitable that after a day the rolls will get crusty and when you cut them up, the sides will never soften, even when stuck in the toaster oven to warm? I’ve tried this and it hasn’t worked… what else is one to do with all the leftovers? I sent a friend home with 3, gave one to a neighbor, and I still have 5 to work through 2 days later! Help! How to salvage them?2 years ago
Margaret, I guess these are best for a party or a crowd so they can get eaten up as quickly as possible. I sent the leftovers to work with Sebastian and the cast and crew gobbled up what was left — I never heard anything about their crustiness. My best guest would be the toaster oven, but if that didn’t work, I don’t know! I guess you could feed them to the birds!
2 years ago
Linda: Hi,
Will definitely try these!! Have a suggestion for Margaret–I’ve had good luck with other bread by wrapping it in a slightly damp paper towel and microwaving for a very few seconds–kind of steams the moisture back in. Hope this works for these rolls!2 years ago
Karen: Absolutely amazing! I make these gluten-free because our middle child has celiac, and I have to chase away the rest of the family so that he get’s a chance to eat them, too! My friends here in Germany beg me to bring them to birthday parties. You hit the jackpot with this recipe!2 years ago
Katherine: I’ve just made these. They are the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Just out of interest, does the dough freeze?2 years ago
Katherine, I’m so glad you loved these! As for the freezing, the only other yeast dough I’ve ever frozen was pizza dough. I think if you were going to try to freeze these, they’d have to have risen and be in the pan you were going to bake them in…but this is really just my best guess! Let us know how it goes if you do trying freezing.2 years ago
marybelle clymer: would appreciate a gluten free dough recipe for this cinnamon roll recipe please2 years ago
sorry, marybelle, but i am no gluten-free expert! i wouldn’t even begin to know how to change these. my suggestion is to head over to gluten free girl for her recipe. she rocks.2 years ago
Sophie: Sarah, these are AMAZING. I just ate one straight out of the oven and had to tell you.
Instead of maple sugar I used a maple/pecan spread I happen to have and it was delicious. I had to bake these for 35 minutes but that’s my 1950′s oven’s fault. Thanks for this!2 years ago
Lisa: LOVED these rolls! thanks for posting the recipe! i found it by googling overnight cinnamon rolls. so glad i found it!
in my experience, they didn’t rise much overnight, but a lot more once inside the oven. i was a little doubtful because the recipe said to add the yeast to the dry ingredients but it all turned out okay and i will never be doubtful again!2 years ago
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you loved the recipe! When I made these a second time they didn’t rise much in the fridge either, but a trip to the oven did the trick. And I too was dubious about adding the yeast to the dry ingredients, but it really does work. Phew!2 years ago
Maddie N: I just found this the other day and, despite it being summer, I felt compelled to make them! I usually shy away from baking anything that involves dough (thanks to a disastrous bread project), but these turned out perfectly.
Some people were over afterwards, and I’m glad to say they were a marvellous success!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe
2 years ago
Lindsey: Hi – just found these yesterday and made them for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast. Delicious! Thank you
2 years ago
Erica: OK, I even blogged about these, gave credit where credit was due. These were delicious, will be making them again. love love love the recipe and how easy and fun it was, yes I did say fun. I had no problems with the dough rising. I did however run out of confectioner sugar the other day… so I improvised with sugar and water with syrup, boiled and let cool and then spooned it over. made them a little bit stickier but still oh so delicious!2 years ago
Chantal: I loved these! My roomie was having an off-day and I wanted to make her something special for the morning. I recently bought one of Alton Brown’s dvd set and he made overnight cinnamon buns but when I read the reviews everyone was saying the dough was too stiff! Yikes – Alton, thats surprising. But anyways I stumbled on to your blog and gave these a try. They were delicious. Thank you for sharing! I have posted the recipe along with some of my comments to my blog and of course provided a link back to your’s as well!
2 years ago
Emily: My son loves cinnamon rolls but I had never made them before. These seemed so easy I had to give it a try. I made them about 2pm and left them in the fridge overnight. When I awoke at 7am they hadn’t risen AT ALL! I was worried that putting the salt and the yeast in together had killed the yeast, but they rose in the oven and are DELICIOUS! The only thing I might do differently next time is wait 10 minutes or so before pouring on the glaze. The rolls were so hot the glaze just melted into all the cracks and ended up in a pool at the bottom of the pan. Still, it’s easy to scoop it up after taking a cinnamon roll out and put it back on top, or just eat it off the spoon. Thanks so much for the recipe!1 year ago
Sarah: I am so not a baker – unless boxed everything counts paired with the tubs of icing
but have always longed to be a mother that bakes. This recipe made my day. Easy as pie and it rose beautifully for me. The hardest part is being patient but the reward of having them first thing in the morning and the house smelling like it does (now) is so worth it. Even though I have a garden blog, I may have to blog about this one. Thank you!1 year ago
Jessica: Have you ever given Swedish cinnamon rolls a go?
http://honeymoonchild.com/2010/10/06/baby-swedish-cinnamon-buns-kanelbullar/
Cross my heart, easy peasy.1 year ago
I haven’t, Jessica, but I love all things Swedish!1 year ago
Michelle: I’m getting married on Valentine’s Day morning, and have been thinking of what to make for our early breakfast…I’m glad I found your blog this morning because these sound perfect!!
1 year ago
Anna: My dad’s been on a business trip all week so I made these to surprise him for tomorrow morning when he gets home. I haven’t baked them yet, but so far they look great. I added about 3/4 cup more flour than it called for, it was really sticky. Otherwise perfect, with just the right amount of filling
1 year ago
Tamara: Sarah, being a mom of four I had no choice but to turn into a morning person and someone who has to find a way to make a meal at any given time of the day out of whatever was is the fridge or cabinet. So now I am starting all over and trying new things with the grandkids but cooking, after all these years, has really turned into a joy. So much that I don’t mind the time commitment in preparing the food. I still wake at 5 and get ready for work, still have 2 kids at home eating breakfast so I love trying new things but more importantly OVERNIGHT new things.
Many years ago my step mom’s mom made the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had. They were huge, iced perfectly and baked so even. I was amazed and for whatever reason the women would not give out the recipe, not even to her own children. Anyway her recipe was quite an ordeal because they were only made on holidays. I remember her letting them rise at least twice but it could have been 3 times. She would let the dough rise once before rolling then once again after she slice and placed on the baking pan. The time for rising would be a few hours each if memory serves me correctly. Is that possible that the dough would set for a few hours each for rising?>
Your recipe looks very close to tasting the same and so I can’t wait to try it and I am so pleased I came across it this evening and quite by accident. However I still have this burning question, is it necessary to place in fridge overnight for rising? Could they just be left out on the counter top? I am only asking because I don’t remember her placing them in fridge and of course these are 2 different recipes just curious over the chill verus room temp method.
I hope you can help me out and if you have a recipe that is more indepth for those of us who don’t mind the needing and rolling and rising forever please feel free to share that as well.
I am going to try your rolls this weekend when the whole family is here and I shall let you know how I did. Keep up the great blog your site looks awesome. I am so glad I found it even if it was by mistake.
Happy Valentines Day and I hope you get better soon,
Regards ~
Tamara1 year ago
Hi there, Tamara! I’m not exactly a master baker, but I would guess that it would be alright to leave these out on the counter. My only worry would be that they would rise TOO much, that maybe the chill in the fridge gives them a slower rise? In any case, I’m not sure, so if some brave person wants to give it a try or someone who know more about yeast than I do cares to weigh in, please do!
And thanks for your well-wishing–I’m already feeling better!1 year ago
Emily: I’ve got these in the oven right now, waiting for my son and two friends to wake up from a Spring Break sleepover to this special treat! I’ve made them several times before and just wanted to say thank you for all your great recipes! I only just discovered your site a few months ago, but I’m already addicted to the meusli and these cinnamon rolls! Looking forward to exploring more of your recipes in the weeks to come. (PS: I do think they would rise too much overnight at room temp and then possibly deflate in the oven.)1 year ago
K Quinn: Did I ever thank you for going through the trouble of perfecting these? Thank you! I have them prepared for tomorrow’s breakfast.1 year ago
Sara: I just tried your recipe out and they are good! I was skeptical about only having one rise, but they came out fluffy and tall, although more bread-like than the gooey-texture other recipes with two rises have. But they were fast, delicious, and easy, which is what really counts
Thanks!! Ps: I love your blog.38 weeks ago
Lisa: Shoot! I made your recipe last night for the first breakfast of the school year and my dough didn’t rise at. all. I’m a seasoned baker and used fresh yeast, made sure my milk/butter was on the cool side of lukewarm, etc and don’t know where I went wrong! Hopefully, my rolls will bake up nicely like the other poster who had the same issue, despite looking the same as when I put them in the fridge and they will be yummy and lovely anyway.38 weeks ago
Emily: Just wanted to add an update as I’ve made these several times and they’ve always turned out great, so this time I tried half whole wheat pastry flour and made 24 instead of 12. (They’re kind of huge when you make 12, not that there’s anything wrong with that!) Once again, they turned out great! To make 24, I just split the dough in half, rolled to about 12″ x 4″ or 5″, spread on half the filling, and rolled and sliced into 12 pieces, then repeated with the other half of the dough. Baking time was about the same. Thanks again. I just love this recipe!27 weeks ago
Lori: My buns rose a bit in the fridge overnight then puffed up beautifully in the oven. I will probably make 16 instead of 12 next time cause they were ginormous – but ummm, YUM!!!
Thanks so much for this recipe! The dough took almost no time to put together with the help of my Kitchenaid.
Totally worth it! I’ll be making these again! (And again and again…)22 weeks ago