These soft overnight cinnamon rolls taste just like Cinnabon cinnamon rolls! They can be prepped the night before and baked in the morning for fluffy cinnamon rolls with rich cream cheese frosting on top.
If you love fluffy homemade cinnamon rolls, then these overnight cinnamon rolls are for you! These big, soft cinnamon rolls are the overnight version of my cinnamon roll recipe.
They taste just like Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, and they’re topped with rich cream cheese frosting that pairs perfectly with the sweet brown sugar butter filling.
There are step-by-step photos and plenty of tips to help you make amazing homemade cinnamon rolls. Best of all, you can prep these overnight cinnamon rolls the night before and bake in the morning, which makes them perfect for weekend and holiday breakfasts alike.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Milk: You can use anything from skim to whole milk. Using whole milk will give you a dough that’s a little softer and a little richer.
- Yeast: You can use either instant yeast or active dry yeast. Just make sure that if you use active dry yeast that the yeast foams. If the yeast doesn’t foam, start over as the rolls won’t rise if it doesn’t foam.
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. You can use unsalted butter if you prefer. To use unsalted butter, increase the salt in the dough by 1/4 teaspoon and add a couple of pinches of salt to the filling.
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work.
How to make homemade overnight cinnamon rolls
Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Dough
Step 1: Add the yeast, warm milk, and part of the sugar to a mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. If the yeast doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.
Step 2: Mix in the eggs, butter, remaining sugar, and vanilla until combined.
Step 3: Add 3 cups of flour and mix in. Continue mixing in flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together. It should be soft and slightly sticky.
Step 4: Cover and let rise until dough has doubled in size.
Step 5: Roll dough into a 12×24-inch rectangle.
Filling, shaping, and baking
Step 6: Mix butter, sugar, and cinnamon together.
Step 7: Spread filling over dough. Roll dough up lengthwise.
Step 8: Cut dough into 12 equal-sized rolls. Place in pan.
Step 9: Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.
Step 10: In the morning, remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature and finish rising (this takes about 30-40 minutes).
Step 11: Once rolls are almost double in size, uncover and bake until golden brown.
Frosting
Step 12: Toward the end of the baking time, beat the butter and cream cheese together. Mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt.
Step 13: Let the baked cinnamon rolls stand for 5 minutes, and then spread the cream cheese frosting over the warm rolls.
Recipe Tips!
- Mixing: You can mix by hand if you prefer. Just add an additional 2 or so minutes to the kneading time.
- Rising: If your kitchen is cool, your rolls will rise slowly. To create a warm spot for the rolls to rise, preheat oven to 350F for exactly 60 seconds. Press cancel. This creates a nice warm spot for the dough to rise.
- Cutting: I like to use a serrated (bread) knife to slice the cinnamon roll dough. This helps to avoid smooshing the rolls as they’re cut.
- Leaking filling: If your filling has leaked out of the baked rolls, immediately place a lid or platter over the pan and carefully invert. This will help the filling to reincorporate into the cinnamon rolls. Just be careful as the filling will be very hot.
- Frosting: Don’t chill the frosting after you make it. The frosting needs to be at room temperature to spread over the warm rolls.
How to freeze
Place the unbaked cinnamon rolls in the prepared baking pan. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then with aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month.
To bake, remove the cinnamon rolls from the freezer the night before you’d like to bake them and place them in the refrigerator. In the morning, place the pan out at room temperature for about 30-40 minutes before baking.
Uncover, and bake according to the baking directions.
Storage
Store any leftover cinnamon rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The cinnamon rolls will keep for up to 3 days when properly stored.
To rewarm, simply heat up the cinnamon roll in the microwave to 10-15 seconds or until warmed through.
More sweet roll recipes!
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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- 9×13 pan
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar divided
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 – 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour properly measured
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2-3 tablespoons ground cinnamon to taste
- 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
Cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounce package cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
Instructions
Cinnamon rolls
- Grease a 9×13-inch glass baking pan. Set aside.
- To make the dough, warm the milk to 105F.
- Add the warm milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Let the yeast sit for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy.3
- Add the remaining sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add 3 cups flour and the salt and stir in.
- Continue adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together and clears the sides of the bowl.
- Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes, or until it’s smooth and just slightly sticky to the touch. If the dough still seems too sticky at this point, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should feel soft and smooth and should feel a little sticky but shouldn’t come off on your finger if you pinch it.
- Cover with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 hour.4
- Toward the end of the rising time, stir the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until well-combined. Set aside.
- Lightly flour your working surface.
- Gently deflate the dough.
- Roll the dough into a 12×24-inch rectangle that’s 1/4-inch thick.
- Spread the filling over the dough. It will be a little crumbly and hard to spread. Just do your best to cover the dough.
- Roll the dough up lengthwise and cut into 12 equal pieces.
- Place the rolls into the prepared baking pan.
- Wrap the pan tightly with plastic wrap and cover with a tea towel or aluminum foil and place them in the refrigerator.
- In the morning, remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature and finish rising. This should take about 30-40 minutes.
- Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and baked through.
Frosting
- Toward the end of the baking time making the frosting.
- Beat the cream cheese and butter until well-combined.
- Mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until well-combined.
- Let the cinnamon rolls stand for about 5 minutes.
- Spread the cream cheese frosting over the warm cinnamon rolls.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Rosemary says
Looks and sounds great!
Kate says
Thanks!