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This Overnight Cinnamon Rolls recipe are the perfect make-ahead breakfast item. These rolls are soft and buttery. They have have a punchy cinnamon flavor and are topped with a fluffy cream cheese frosting. The best part about this recipe is that you can make the dough, assemble the rolls and have them rise in the fridge. The next morning all you have to do is bake!
You can say that I am a cinnamon roll lover. I love pumpkin cinnamon rolls, mocha morning rolls, gingerbread rolls and more!
Cinnamon rolls are a labor of love. They require two rises, making three separate components (the dough, the filling and the frosting), assembling, chilling, slicing, etc. Hence why I like to make the dough, the filling and the frosting the night before. This means we wake up the next morning and we bake!
Ingredients for Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- Flour – This gives structure and body to the rolls.
- Butter – This provides richness and flavor.
- Cinnamon – We cannot have cinnamon rolls without cinnamon.
- Eggs – These provide richness to the dough and make it taste oh so good.
- Active yeast or instant yeast – We need lift and rise and we get it from yeast!
- Brown sugar – Brown sugar and cinnamon are best friends. (PS: If you have rock hard brown sugar, here’s a post on How to Soften Brown Sugar that is very helpful.)
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe card below!
How to Make Cinnamon Rolls Ahead
Doing this all in one day (if you’re not a pro-baker and used to projects) might be a bit aggressive. If you do make these straight through, here’s how the steps will go:
Day #1
- Make the dough. Mix the dough until it’s all sticky and soft.
- Mix up the filling. The cinnamon sugar paste makes for a very neat cinnamon roll.
- Let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
- Make the frosting. I like to get this out of the way so we have it all prepped for the next day!
- Assemble the rolls. Roll out the dough, spread on the filling and then roll up the log and slice the rolls.
- Transfer them to a baking dish. And wrap that dish tightly with plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge to rise overnight.
- *NOTE* The next morning, let the rolls come to room temperature for 1 hour. During this time, they’ll shake off their chill and become soft and fluffy again.
- Bake them and then add the frosting on top!
Tips and Tricks
- Activating yeast can be tricky! You want to wait until it gets nice and foamy. If no foam or bubbles form, you’ll have to start again to ensure activation.
- Instant yeast vs active dry yeast: Active dry yeast has to be activated in liquid until it’s foamy and alive. Instant yeast can be added to dry ingredients. You can use instant yeast with this recipe. To do that, mix into the dry ingredients (you can skip activating it).
- If you like, you don’t have to assemble the rolls. You can mix up the dough, place it in a greased bowl, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise in the fridge overnight.
- For gooey cinnamon rolls: Pour about 1/4 cup of heavy cream to the bottom of the baking dish and spread it around. Then add the cinnamon rolls on top. Or you could drizzle the heavy cream on the top right before baking.
More Cozy Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast
The Fluffiest Pancakes
Breakfast
Breakfast Burritos
Holiday
Buttermilk Biscuits
Dinner
Chilaquiles
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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Overnight cinnamon rolls that are ooey and gooey and soft. Make the dough the night, assemble the rolls the night before and allow it to rise in the fridge overnight. Just bake up the next morning!
Equipment
- 1 9×9-inch baking dish (or 9×13-inch)
- 1 Measuring cup
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1/4 cup lukewarm milk, (about 115F)
- 1 (8g) tablespoon active dry yeast, (see below for instructions on using *instant* yeast)
- 2 3/4 (357g) cups all-purpose flour
- 3 (38g) tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs, beaten in a bowl
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1/2 (113g) cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
Cinnamon Roll Filling:
- 1/2 (113g) cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 (30g) cup ground cinnamon
- 3 (39g) tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
- 3 (38g) tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- Pinch kosher salt
Cream Cheese Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 (200g) cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- To the bowl with of a stand-up mixer (alternatively, you can do this in a large bowl by hand), add the lukewarm milk. Mix in the active dry yeast and allow to stand and activate, about 8 minutes, until foamy and alive!
- To a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. To the bowl with the yeast mixture, add the beaten eggs and vanilla extract; then all at once, add the flour mixture. Attach the dough hook to your mixer and mix on low until the dough starts to become cohesive. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the cubes of butter.
- Knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Alternatively, if you’re doing this by hand, you’ll need to knead the dough for about 5 to 8 minutes. The dough will go from crumbly and separate to completely cohesive and smooth. The dough will be a little bit sticky. If it's super sticky, add another two teaspoons of flour. Remove the dough from the hook and bowl and form it into a ball.
- Transfer the ball of dough to a clean, lightly greased bowl (I used the flour bowl and just wiped it clean with a kitchen towel and then greased it with olive oil). Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for about 30-45 minutes, until super supple and a little less than double in size.
To Make the Filling:
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (with the paddle attachment) or using a medium bowl and a fork, add the butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix and mash until the filling is completely smooth.
To Assemble the Cinnamon Rolls:
- Lightly flour your work surface and place the dough into the center. Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll the dough into a 1/4-inch thick square that measures 15“ x 15“ If it’s not a perfect square, then that’s totally ok.
- Add the filling to the dough and spread into a thin layer, using a butter knife or offset spatula. I smeared the filling pretty close to the edges. Starting from the edge furthest from you, roll the dough towards you, horizontally, into a firm log.
- Taking a piece of dental floss, trim off the ends. Cut the rolls into 1 inch rolls, for about 12 rolls. OR you could do 1 1/2 rolls for 9 rolls. I've done both depending on how many servings I need.
- Transfer to a greased 9 x 9 baking pan (or something comparable). Cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge overnight.
To Make the Cream Cheese Icing:
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (or a large bowl) with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugars, vanilla paste, salt and heavy cream. Beat for about 20 seconds.
To Bake the Rolls:
- The next morning, remove the rolls from the fridge. Allow them to stand on the counter to come to room temperature for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. This will depend on how cold your fridge is. I like to make sure they feel soft and supple. *See below for instructions on assembling the rolls and then allowing them to rise overnight in the fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking dish and transfer to the oven to bake for about 18-20 minutes, until they've puffed up a bit and are medium golden brown.
- When the cinnamon rolls come out of the oven, let them stand for about 5-10 minutes. Then add on the icing to the warm cinnamon rolls.
Notes
Using Instant Yeast:
Instant yeast is different than active dry yeast. Active dry yeast has to be activated in liquid until it’s foamy and alive. Instant yeast can be added to dry ingredients. You can use instant yeast with this recipe. To do that, mix into the dry ingredients (you can skip activating it).
Nutrition
Serving: 12g | Calories: 405kcal | Carbohydrates: 25.7g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9.3g | Saturated Fat: 5.3g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 264mg | Potassium: 81mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3.5g | Calcium: 140mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!
My yeast isn’t getting foamy. Just clumps up in the milk. I’m using lukewarm milk and active dry yeast. What might be the problem?
hmm it sounds like perhaps the yeast maybe is expired?
I made these for Christmas morning and they turned out great! I even screwed up slightly multiple times and they still came out fantastic. Thanks for an awesome recipe!!
love hearing this!
If I don’t eat all the rolls at once, is it possible to freeze the dough and bake it at a later time?
Never tried it but if you do, please report back!
Yes you can.. add the cinnamon filling and cut it into pieces and freeze and if you want to consume it just thaw it before baking.
Haven’t made these yet, but was wondering if you think this recipe would work with my wet active sourdough yeast starter? Or can I only use dry yeast?
have no idea sorry! have never tried it. i would maybe google sour dough started with enriched dough?
Hi! I have a question, can I make them 2 days before baking them? Let’s say I prepare and assemble the cinnamon on a Friday and leave them on the refrigerator for Sunday, can I do that? Or how long can they stay in the fridge?
that should be fine actually! I would just wrap them in plastic wrap (make sure the dough isn’t touching the plastic wrap bc i think it’ll snag the dough) but should be great!
I don’t understand what I did wrong. The ratio of wet and dry doesn’t make sense. I had to add an additional 3 cups of flour to this recipe. The dough was extremely wet with 3 eggs, 1/4c if milk, and half cup of butter to only 2 3/4 cup of flour. Did I do something wrong?
it sounds like you didn’t measure out your flour correctly?
These were dreamy. I told my husband I wanted these for mother’s day last year and he made them all on his own (not a baker!) And they were *chef’s kiss* perfect.
These are the best cinnamon rolls, I make them almost every week. They aren’t too hard to make and are so much less messy then other recipes. The filling is great and the glaze is amazing. The strategy of freezing the dough before cutting is so helpful. They are the perfect texture, love these.
For whatever reason my active yeast just wouldn’t activate (I’d just used a packet last week too – tried adding a bit of the sugar to the lukewarm milk for an extra boost on the second attempt, but no dice) so I went with my instant yeast and hoped for the best. Didn’t increase much in size in the fridge overnight, which wasn’t surprising. But then doing the 45 minute counter sit after slicing they barely grew whatsoever. I did another half hour sitting on the warm stove top while the oven on and that helped some, but nowhere near double. They still turned out delicious and soft but not as large as anticipated, but not sure what the issue was. I’ll probably try again because a friend had good results with this and obviously so have other reviewers.
I have never made cinnamon rolls before and I was pretty happy with how they turned out. The only change I might make next time would be adding a little more butter to the filling mixture or maybe a little less cinnamon. I made them for Christmas morning brunch and it was perfect since most of the work was done the day before! I will definitely make again.