One of my sons loves cinnamon rolls, so I make them fairly often. I have a tried a few different recipes over the years and have one that I use most often. I decided to try this new one because I saw that it won a taste test on one the recipe blogs I follow when compared again 3 other sites that I also consider to have good recipes.
I liked that this is an overnight dough, meaning you make it the day before and rest overnight in the fridge. This helps cut down on the work/time a little bit on the day you want to make them. Other than that it seemed fairly similar to my usual recipe, with perhaps a bit less butter/sugar filling.
Cinnamon rolls can seem intimidating, but they actually are not that difficult. It is key to have a very sharp knife though for cutting the rolls. If your knife is dull it will smash the roll and pull it apart. Freshly made cinnamon rolls smell soooooo good when you bake them. I love my kitchen smelling like that. I’m sure they make a candle for that and I need to get one. 🙂
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 4 large eggs room temp
- 3/4 cup whole milk room temp
- 1/4 cup sugar or honey
- 4 cups AP flour approx
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter room temp, cut into 1 inch pieces
For the filling:
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled
For the icing:
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter room temp
- 8 oz cream cheese room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the dough:
- Grease a bowl or dough rising bucket well. In a stand mixer with dough hook, add the eggs, milk and honey or sugar, then the rest of the ingredients except the butter. Mix on medium until the dough comes together. Add the butter cubes 1 by 1 until they are incorporated. Transfer the sticky dough to the prepared bowl. You will need to use a dough scraper or rubber spatula as it will be very sticky.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. Grease your hands and stretch and fold the dough a few times by pulling outward with both hands, then folding in one side and then the other. Place back in the bowl and wait 30 minutes and repeat. Do this 4 times for total of 2 hours and 4 total foldings.
- Tightly cover the bowl and place in fridge overnight or up to 3 days.
For the filling:
- Combine the sugar, cinnamon and salt. Have the melted butter and a brush nearby.
To assemble:
- Remove dough from the fridge and allow to come to room temp (1-2 hours depending on the temps). Roll dough on a lightly floured counter into a 12×16 rectangle. Brush with butter leaving one long edge butter free and sprinkle with the cinnamon mixture. Roll up with long edge towards you and use the unbuttered dough to seal the roll.
- Cut into 2 equal slices with a sharp knife and place into a greased 9×13 pan. Allow to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size. Bake in the middle position of the oven at 350 until golden brown and cooked in the center. About 20-30 minutes but it depends on your oven. Do not overbake or you will get dry rolls.
For the icing:
- Combine the butter and cream cheese in the stand mixer and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. 5 minutes after the rolls come out of the oven, spread 1/3 of icing over them. This allow some icing to melt into the rolls, making them more tender and delicious. After they cool for another 15 minutes, top with the rest of the icing an serve warm.