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These Overnight Cinnamon Rolls are soft, tender, and full of cinnamon flavor. Complete with a tangy cream cheese frosting, they can be assembled up to 16 hours in advance, making them perfect for lazy weekends or a holiday breakfast.
You will love this recipe for cinnamon rolls because they are pillowy and rich yet incredibly easy to make and lighter than most recipes. A simple yeasted dough and just 3 tablespoons of butter deliver the same cozy cinnamon-sugar experience you love with fewer calories and less fuss.
Kristen's Keys for Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
For the best results, pay attention to a few key points before beginning this recipe.
- Start with bread dough. You don't need a heavy dough made with butter and eggs to have rich cinnamon rolls. A simple, yeasted dough gives these cinnamon rolls a soft, pillowy texture. Use the recipe provided or take a shortcut and use defrosted frozen bread dough to speed up the prep.
- A pinch of cloves warms it all up. It gives these cinnamon rolls rich depth and bakery style vibes.
- Plan for a morning rise. After chilling the dough overnight, let the cinnamon rolls come to room temperature and get puffy before baking so they bake up soft and fluffy. Depending on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen, plan for 60-90 minutes.
- Don't overbake. Bake just until the tops are lightly golden. We want our cinnamon rolls to be soft, not crispy or dry.
How to Make Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Think of this section as me standing next to you in the kitchen giving you my best tips and helping make the process of making homemade cinnamon rolls easy.
Step One: Prepare Dough
My homemade bread dough is fat-free, egg-free, and dairy-free, making it a great base for anyone dealing with food allergies. But feel free to swap out the homemade dough for store-bought bread dough, which significantly speeds up your time spent in the kitchen.
- In a glass measuring cup, combine yeast, honey, and water together and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture is foamy.
- In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix together flour and salt and then add the yeast mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture together until the dough just comes together and the flour is fully moistened.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until the dough forms a smooth ball. Alternatively, use the dough hook on the stand mixer and mix on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth.
- Place the dough into a bowl and cover it with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
Step Two: Assemble Cinnamon Rolls
Once your dough has doubled in size (or fully thawed) you are ready to roll it out and assemble your cinnamon rolls.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the prepared dough out into a 9x13-inch rectangle and brush the surface of the dough with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.
- Combine sugar, cinnamon, and cloves together in a small bowl and sprinkle that mixture evenly over the buttered dough.
- Roll the dough up lengthwise and cut into 9 even sections.
- Place the assembled cinnamon rolls into a buttered baking dish, cover with tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 16 hours.
Step Three: Prepare Frosting
To keep morning prep work to a minimum, you can opt to prepare the cream cheese frosting in advance as well.
- Whisk or beat softened cream cheese, lemon juice, milk, and powdered sugar together until creamy and smooth.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate overnight.
Step Four: Rise and Bake
When ready to bake, let the cinnamon rolls come to room temperature and get soft and puffy before baking. This can take anywhere from 60-90 minutes.
- Once the rolls are puffy, remove the plastic wrap and brush them a bit of melted butter.
- Bake, uncovered, until JUST lightly golden.
Step Five: Ice and Enjoy
After removing the cinnamon rolls from the oven, give the prepared icing a good whisk, adding a teaspoon or two of milk if needed to reach the consistency desired, and then spread evenly over the warm rolls. Serve immediately.
Recipe Modifications
- Dairy-Free: Use non-dairy butter in place of the butter. For a dairy-free glaze, simply mix powdered sugar with a splash of nondairy milk and a little lemon juice. Simple, yet delicious.
- Skip the Overnight Prep: Let assembled rolls rise in a warm spot until doubled (about 1-1½ hours) and bake as directed.
- Take a Shortcut: Frozen bread dough works great. No one will know. Promise.
More Favorite Brunch Recipes
Just like my recipes for Breakfast Strata, French Toast Casserole, and Ham and Egg Breakfast Casserole, these Overnight Cinnamon Rolls are a make-ahead breakfast suited to holiday mornings and entertaining. In fact, they have been a part of my family's Christmas breakfast menu for nearly 20 years! Complete your brunch spread with one of the following recipes.
Easy Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Video
Ingredients
For Homemade Bread Dough (optional)
- 1 cup warm water, 100-110℉ (38-42℃)
- 1 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, + ½ cup more if needed
For Cinnamon Rolls
- 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, divided
- ⅓ cup light or dark brown sugar, or granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 pound bread dough, using recipe provided or frozen and thawed store-bought dough
For the Cinnamon Roll Frosting
- ½ cup sifted powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon milk, any fat percentage
Instructions
For Cinnamon Roll Dough
- If using frozen store-bought bread dough, place 1 pound of frozen dough into a greased large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let thaw overnight in the refrigerator and skip the directions for homemade dough.
- For homemade dough, mix together 1 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon dry active yeast, and 1 tablespoon honey in a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast is a bit foamy.
- In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine the 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 2 cups all-purpose flour. Pour the foamy yeast mixture into the flour mixture and stir together until the dough just comes together, adding up to an additional ½ cup of flour if needed. Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface or with the dough hook on a stand mixer until the dough forms a smooth ball.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 hour in a warm place, or until doubled in size.
Cinnamon Rolls
- Grease an 8x8 baking dish with 1 tablespoon of melted butter, being sure to brush evenly over the bottom and sides of the pan.
- In a small mixing bowl combine ⅓ cup light or dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the prepared dough into a 9x13-inch rectangle, Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the dough up to the edges.
- Roll the dough up lengthwise. Cut dough into thirds, then each section into thirds again, for a total of 9 cinnamon rolls.
- Place rolls evenly spaced apart in a baking dish and cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or for up to 16 hours.
- To prepare the cream cheese frosting mix together 2 tablespoons full-fat cream cheese, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon milk together. in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. Add ½ cup sifted powdered sugar and whisk until smooth, adding up to ½ cup more powdered sugar to make your glaze as thick as desired. Cover and refrigerate overnight along with the cinnamon rolls.
- In the morning, remove the cinnamon rolls and frosting from the refrigerator. Let the cinnamon rolls rise until puffy and fully come to room temperature. This will take 60-90 minutes depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
- Once the cinnamon rolls have risen, heat the oven to 350℉. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking dish, brush the rolls with the remaining 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and bake for 23-27 minutes, or until just lightly golden.
- Once the cinnamon rolls are baked, give the prepared icing a good whisk, adding a teaspoon or two of milk if needed to reach the consistency desired. Spread over warm cinnamon rolls and serve warm.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe has been adapted from Giada De Laurentiis Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls.
Hi! I am planning to make these later this morning but realized I do not have any white whole wheat flour - I have all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Can I substitute and do half and half of those two to achieve the same result? Thank you!
Hi Katrina! I would use all-purpose for best results--the whole wheat flour could make these dense. White wheat is much lighter. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I love fresh cinnamon rolls in the morning but the rises take too long. This works perfectly. I will definitely use this when family comes to visit. I put extra cinnamon, nuts, and a little drizzle of butter on top of each roll for the last 5 minutes of baking.
I am so glad you enjoyed Debbi. They are a favorite here as well.
What is the sheet type thing you rolled your dough out on?
Parchment paper--works great!
Haven’t made the cinnamon rolls yet but going to for Christmas morning for my precious family. They look amazing!!! Thank you for sharing.
I hope your family enjoys Gwen!
I would really like to try this recipe with store bought bread dough because I'm not brave enough to do the homemade version. Where in the store would I find bread dough? Frozen, boxed? I' ve used Rhodes brand rolls that are frozen and you thaw and let rise. When in the thawing and rising process would you suggest rolling out and filling? I feel like it still has to rise more after assembling and I don't want to compromise the rolls. Do you think it will work?
Hi Thyra! You can find frozen bread dough in the freezer section right next to frozen rolls. Let the dough thaw, then roll, assemble, and let rise again before baking. Enjoy.
Hi! I tried these this morning but they unfortunately didn't come out for me at all. The only change I made was I let the rolls rise in the baking dish an extra 30 minutes the night before (because I forgot to get them out). They looked absolutely beautiful when I put them in the fridge at that point, but they looked really sad and shrunken when I took them out of the fridge in the morning, and they didn't rise any after that. In the end, they came out dense instead of fluffy - the flavor was delicious, but they were inedible 🙁 Do you think just letting them rise extra the night before inhibited the rise the next day? Or might the fact that I am at altitude (I live at 5600' in Boulder) have messed them up? I'd love your thoughts so I could try again - these are so much healthier than the canned kind!
Hi Laura. I do think that letting them rise an extra 30 minutes would inhibit the results desired but your elevation may have factored in as well. I would actually suggest baking after the 60 minute rise and then in the morning reheat in a 250 degree oven until warm. Then glaze and serve. Hope those tips help.
Amazing!!! Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoyed Anita!
I made these today and they were AMAZING. Super light and fluffy, and totally satisfied my cinnamon roll cravings. Thanks so much!
I am so glad you enjoyed so much Zee!