I feel like a cinnamon roll making machine lately! I have been using the same cinnamon roll recipe for a while now, but I really wanted to see if I could successfully make a few changes that would simplify the recipe and also make it more convenient. My old recipe makes A LOT of cinnamon rolls. I really just wanted one pan. Though I’m sure my family would have no problem taking care of more! Also, I wanted to see if I could make the dough the night before, and have the rolls ready to bake in the pan the next morning.
It’s just so nice to be able to pull the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge, and not have to make too much of a mess in the kitchen first thing in the morning. Great for special occasions and holiday breakfasts.
I made these rolls three different times last week trying to get them just right. I brought some to friends, and some to my mom’s group, and then well yah, I ate a bunch myself! I used to be a little ho hum about cinnamon rolls in general, but lately I’m just wanting to dive right into that pan face first!
And this is some serious cream cheese frosting my friends. We are not messing around AT ALL! It’s not too sweet, and it really thick and fluffy too. Oh my, YUM! You could easily cover the whole pan with a thin layer if you half the frosting recipe, but if you love a good thick layer of frosting, make the full recipe and see what I mean!
Can you all guess which part of the roll is my absolute favorite? Oh man, that oh-so-soft and cinnamon-y core! I always save the best for last.
So let me give you a few tips so that your cinnamon rolls with come out just right.
1. You want to make sure that all of the liquid ingredients are warm, but not too hot. Make sure you are using good yeast, like not from two years ago.
2. Use the right amount of flour. This recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups of flour, and then more for rolling out the dough. You really want to go more by feel than by measurement. You want to add just enough flour to make your dough not too sticky to handle, but no more. The softer/stickier your dough is, the more tender your roll will be. But you can’t roll it out properly if it sticks to your work surface, so its a fine balance. Lift the dough up every now and then as your roll it out to make sure it’s not sticking, and add more flour to the counter as you need it.
3. If you haven’t worked with yeast dough very much, you will get better with practice. Don’t be afraid, just jump in there and try it!
Make sure you use a sharp serrated knife when you are cutting your dough, and let the knife do the work as you gently saw back and forth so that you don’t squish the dough. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect. They’ll fill out as the rise and bake.
This is what your dough will look like in the morning after you have let it rise for an hour. The rolls will rise even more when you bake them, so don’t worry if there is quite a bit of space in the pan.
Hope these tips are helpful for you, and that you get a chance to make these and fall in love with them just as we did!
PrintOvernight Cinnamon Rolls With Cream Cheese Frosting
Cinnamon Rolls you can make the night before and bake first thing in the morning! Plus the thickest, fluffiest cream cheese frosting you’ve ever had.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast (1 packet)
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
For the Filling
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2–3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
For the Frosting
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Pour the yeast into a large bowl. Pour warm water over the yeast and stir to dissolve.
- Pour the warm milk over the yeast. You want all your liquid ingredients to feel warm, but not hot.
- Stir in the sugar and beaten egg.
- Add 2 cups of the flour and salt, and then mix well by hand.
- Pour melted (but not too hot) butter in, and mix.
- Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour, and mix by hand until the dough is sticky, but pulls away from the sides of the bowl into one large ball.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours.
- Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a well floured surface. I usually use another 1/4 cup of flour on my work surface, adding some to the top and bottom of the dough as I roll it out to prevent it from sticking to the counter.
- Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick, into the shape of a rectangle measuring 12 by 18 inches.
- Smear your softened butter all over the dough. Then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the butter, taking care to go to the edges.
- Starting with a long edge of the rectangle, roll the dough up.
- Using a sharp serrated knife or dental floss, cut the rolled up dough in half. Cut each half in half again. Then cut each quarter into equal thirds so you have 12 pieces.
- Place each piece into a greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish with the spiral side up.
- Cover the baking dish and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, remove the baking dish from the fridge and let it sit in a warm spot in your kitchen for one hour. I usually turn my oven on for 30 seconds, then I turn it off and let the rolls rise covered in the just warm oven. Or you may have a “bread proof” setting on your oven.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the baking dish on the center rack of your oven, and bake for 24-27 minutes. The tops will be golden brown.
For the Frosting
- Place softened butter and cream cheese into the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk together until smooth and then add powdered sugar and whisk again on low speed. When all of the powdered sugar is mixed in, add heavy cream and whisk on medium high speed for about a minute.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cinnamon Roll
- Calories: 500
- Sugar: 29g
- Sodium: 260mg
- Fat: 27g
- Saturated Fat: 16g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8.2g
- Trans Fat: 0.8g
- Carbohydrates: 60g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6.9g
- Cholesterol: 88mg
These lovely cinnamon rolls are rising and almost ready to bake. We are spending Christmas with our bachelor son and improvising in his kitchen. Last night I accidentally used Bisquick instead of flour in my first batch of cinnamon rolls. (A Senior Moment!!!) Then I made a second batch using all the correct ingredients. Both batches are in baking now. I’ll let you know the results later. Thanks for the recipe. Have a Merry Christmas! Linda@Wetcreek Blog
Oh bummer that you had to start over. Happens to me too! Merry Christmas to you as well!
I made these last night and we ate them this morning and they turned out perfectly. They were so delicious !! Thanks so much for figuring out how to make them the night before, it would be a lot to do in the morning for breakfast.
I’m so glad they turned out so well for you. I made them this morning too!
These are really good! I was concerned that you didn’t knead the dough, but it turned out perfectly. Best recipe I have tried for our Christmas morning cinnamon rolls!
Joan, I’m so happy to hear that you liked the cinnamon rolls! Thanks for letting me know!
I just had to comment and tell you what a fab recipe this is! I have had disastrous experiences with homemade cinnamon rolls in the past and had about given up hope of being able to eat them on Christmas morn. I tried your recipe this year and OMG, amazing! These are the.best.cinnamon.rolls. The dough is so flaky and delicious and the frosting is perfect! I can’t wait to make these next year.
Thank you for sharing your talent!
Lindsey
Lindsey, I’m SO HAPPY that you loved them! Yay!
I switched Christmas breakfast recipes over and over these past few weeks. I ended up with starting this Christmas Eve and we ate them Christmas morning. We loved them! So happy this was the winning recipe.
Isn’t it just the best feeling when a recipe turns out to be as good as you hoped? I’m so happy you liked these Maria! Thank you for letting me know!
Just made these for the first time and they are amazing. Took them out of the oven & glazed about 5 mins ago & alot of them eaten already. I hadn’t used yeast before so followed instructions & worked out well.
That’s great! Working with yeast really isn’t too complicated after you get the hang of it. Thanks for letting me know how they turned out!
Just a little hint I learned from my Grandma- an easy way to cut beautiful and uncrushed rolls is to use dental floss! Place the piece perpendicular to the roll and pull the ends up, cross them over and pull tight. Easy as that and it makes WONDERFUL cuts every time!
Aimie, it’s so funny that you just left me this tip. I made some cinnamon rolls for the freezer yesterday, and I found that the dough was extra soft and wasn’t cutting easily. I had heard that tip before, but I only had mint flavored floss on hand. I decided to try it anyway (I don’t think it flavored the rolls at all) and you are so right, it works perfectly! Thank you for stopping by and saying hi!
Can you please clarify the flout measurement? The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups, but your photo comments say 3 1/2. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Toni, you are going to add two cups of flour, then the melted butter, and then keep reading and you will see another 1 1/2 cups of flour is added. So it is 3 1/2 cups of flour total (plus more for dusting your work surface to roll it out). Didn’t mean to be confusing :0) Hope you enjoy the rolls!
Hi Julie. I made these for breakfast this morning for my 3 girls and hubby. They were delicious! Your instructions and tips made it easy. I followed them exactly and the cinnamon rolls rose nicely in the bowl and in the pan the next morning. They were tender and the icing was heavenly. My family was very Happy and declared them the best I’ve ever made. Honestly, they were way better than the ones I posted on my blog years ago. Thanks for the amazing recipe. I look forward to trying more of your recipes. Have a Great weekend!
This makes my day Rhondi! So glad everyone loved them. Hope you have a great weekend too!
I’ve made these twice now and LOVE how easy it is in the morning. Actually the whole recipe is pretty darn easy. Only thing I do different is use dental floss to cut the rolls instead of a knife. This is a keeper recipe!
I love that dental floss tip! So glad you like this recipe, Sarah. Thanks for letting me know!
I got to this post from another blog I read. I just made these yesterday and just finished eating them. They are amazing. I have never made cinnamon rolls in my life because usually yeast hates me, but these came out fabulous. I varied from your directions only to let my Kitchen Aid to all the kneading (which was the recommendation on the other blog). Next time I am also going to put a little orange zest in the frosting. Cannot wait to make these again. Super delish. Oh and my four kids made vultures look like slow eaters devouring these things! Thank you!!!
Excellent Monica! Love that you love them!
I just want to say THANK YOU for sharing this recipe! My family loved them, so I made them for my coworkers, and WOW… EVERYONE wanted the recipe! Some even said, “best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had”. Of course, I gave everyone a copy of the recipe.. always hate it when people won’t share their recipes. If it’s good, share, share, share! Thank you again, so awesome!!!
Kristin, glad everyone loved them!
Thank you for this, my family always asks for homemade cinnamon rolls for holidays. The recipe I was using was for the bread maker. I have since gotten rid of my old one and won’t be replacing it. I wanted an overnight one so I could take it out before we went to church on Easter to rise. This is the one I’ll be using. I might do a mixture of white and brown sugar to give it a carmelly flavor.
That sounds like a great plan! Hope you all enjoy and have a Happy Easter.
I made these rolls today for Easter breakfast, but they didn’t turn out so well. The texture was really strange. I find it odd that the recipe doesn’t call for any kneading. I also found the frosting a bit on the salty side, and I wonder if it would be a little sweeter if I add a tsp. of vanilla??
Hello! I would like to use this recipe for some friends returning home from vacation. How long do you think the cinnamon rolls could be refrigerated? Thanks for your help!
I have only made it the night before. I think 24 hours ahead would be the most I would try.
I will be making these later today for breakfast at work tomorrow, my question is this, I will be making two batches, one as is, and I would like to make a pecan sticky roll with this recipe, Will this dough work for that as well? Thank you.
Kelly, I think this dough would be great for pecan sticky rolls. If you make them that way please let me know how you liked them and share your recipe!
They must have been a hit because they were the first things gone today. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I used the same dough recipe you posted as is, but when rolled out I sprinkled 3/4 cup brown sugar onto dough after butter then cinnamon sugar mix, and also chopped 1/2 cup pecans and sprinkled onto dough and then rolled as usual. While dough was resting, I put 3/4 each of butter and brown sugar and melted together in small pan. I used two round cake pans, makes for easier turning over when done, grease cake pans and put equal amounts of melted mixture in each. Then rough chop about 3/4 cup pecans, depends on how many you like, and then put even amount in each pan. Cut your rolls as usual, I am definitely a dental floss girl, and put six rolls in each pan. Bake as usual, and turn out on plate while still hot. Looked and tasted wonderful. Thanks again.
This is going on my list of recipes to try! Thanks so much for taking the time to share how you made them!
Can you use rapid rise yeast for this recipe
Hi Rob, I haven’t tested this recipe with rapid rise yeast, so I’m not sure if it would be a good substitute. Sometimes I find that the type of yeast doesn’t make a big difference in the outcome of a recipe, but then other times I feel like it can change the texture of the bread, probably because of too much rise, when I use rapid rise yeast. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
I made them with rapid rise yeast….worked great!
I’m so glad Sue! Thanks for letting me know!
Hi,
I just made 2 pans of your rolls last night (one with raisins for dad, one without!) and they re rising in the oven now. I was just wondering; for the baking, did you use convection? If I do, I can bake two at once, although I may decrease the temperature to 325? Does anyone have any experince with a convection oven for this recipe? I have a second “drawer” oven on my stove, so technically I could do both in a “regular” oven at 350…
Thanks!
Great recipe! I’ve made it at least 6x and it turns out great. This last time, I realized I had no egg after I started so substituted one smashed banana. I can’t tell the difference in the final product–still is fluffy and wonderful.
Oh my goodness what a great tip! So glad you like the recipe Jessica!
This is the first recipe of cinnamon rolls I ever made. And it’s been the best one so far, these are delicious! And the frosting? Heavenly!
Thank you so much!
I’m so glad! There’s nothing quite like a pan of homemade cinnamon rolls! Thanks for letting me know!
Wonderful recipe! These cinnamon rolls are the best – soft and just right! Thanks a lot, I’ve been looking for a recipe like this for a LONG time…
I’m so happy to hear that, Lina. Thanks for letting me know!
Anything with yeast intimidates me. But this looks pretty easy. Can you use a mixer with this or should it be done by hand?
Shirley, I used to feel the same way! Now I really enjoy working with yeast dough. I like to mix this dough by hand because I feel like you will get a more tender roll. A large bowl is helpful so you don’t have to worry about making a mess, and then use those muscles :0) Hope you enjoy!
Perfection!! I have made these 3 times now and they are a hit every time!
Today I’m going to try to make 2 batches and freeze one… we’ll see how that goes. Have any suggestions on the point at which I should freeze the second batch? I was thinking of rolling them up and slicing them then freezing them right away, but I’m also tossing around the idea of letting them rise overnight and then freezing them.
Thanks so much for sharing with us all! I’m a teacher and very busy, but this recipe is easy enough to do in my busy schedule where I only have a few minutes to prep here and there! I’m going to share it with some people at my school this go around and I’m super excited to see their excitement!
Hi Brittany! I’m so glad you like this recipe. I think you could freeze them after you roll them up, but before they rise. I have tried this with a similar roll recipe, and it worked okay, but I do have to say I prefer them when they have not been frozen. Let me know how it goes if you decide to try it.
Juile, I love your sight. Your receipts are easy to read, you have a Happy Thanks Giving and a Merrty Christama,Hazel
Julie, I love your site,and I can’t belive some of your receipted, how amizeing to make. I”m glad to hear that you are a Christrin. Keep up the good workHazel
Thank you for your kind words Hazel! I’m glad you found me!
Julie,
Pinned this recipe a while back because they looked so amazingly soft and perfect. I made them today and I have to tell you they are the best cinnamon rolls EVER! They are perfectly pillowy soft and absolutely melt in your mouth! My family downed them! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be back to your site to try more of your recipes!
Seanna
Thanks Seanna! I’m so glad everyone loved them. Cinnamon rolls are my one of my favorite things in the world to make (and eat!).
I cant wait to try these for our Christmas breakfast this year! Easy and great reviews. I know we will love them! I’m actually wondering where you purchased and what brand your being dish is. It is exactly what I’ve been looking for for a while blue but I can seem to find one like it. Any typos you have on finding one would be awesome! I hope you are having a great time preparing for your Christmas this year! Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Stacy, I have had that dish for a while and it is from Pampered Chef. I looked on the website and it looks like they have a similar dish, but not in the same color. Here is a link if you are interested. Hope you enjoy the cinnamon rolls!
https://www.pamperedchef.com/shop/Bakeware/Stoneware/Rectangular+Baker/1338
Do you think this recipe doubles well? I’m planning to give a few pans to the neighbors 🙂
Thank you!
I haven’t tried doubling this recipe before but I feel like that much dough could be difficult to mix. You could try if you have a large bowl but I think I’d play it safe and just make it twice. Enjoy!
Merry Christmas! I have these in my oven as we speak! I’ve never made (yeast) bread from scratch (not in a bread maker)! They look like yours! I must have done it correct! Thanks! 🙂
Oh yay! Hope you enjoyed, and had a very Merry Christmas!
Great recipe, easy to follow, and delicious!! I used half the frosting as you suggested and they were devoured quickly. They were still soft and yummy cold later in the day. Thank you for a great recipe to add to my annual baking.
Debi, thanks for your comment. I’m so glad you all loved them like we do!