I love having baked goods for breakfast. Cinnamon rolls have always been a favourite of mine but I have to admit I would either buy them from a bakery or use the Pillsbury store bought brand. Getting up hours before everyone wakes up to have them ready for breakfast is just crazy. However, overnight cinnamon rolls solve this problem, all you have to do is wake up, pre-heat the oven, and pop them in!
Last Friday evening, my husband took my son out to play ball hockey so I thought it was the perfect time for my daughter and I to make/surprise the guys with cinnamon rolls. They were a huge hit with my family! I don't think there is a better smell than waking up to the smell of freshly cooked cinnamon rolls.

How to Make These Cinnamon Rolls
Preparing the Dough
Start by warming the milk in a microwave for 40 seconds. Then transfer to a large bowl or bowl of your stand mixer. Add in the yeast and sugar. Gently stir and let rest for 10 minutes or until you seem bubbles form. This will activate the yeast.
Once the yeast is activated Add in egg, egg yolk, salt, and melted butter. Mix with a whisk until ingredients are well combined.
Add the flour into the bowl and mix together. If using a stand mixer add on the dough hook attachment. Once dough comes together knead for 5 minutes. Dough should come together into a nice ball and be slightly sticky. If dough is too sticky to handle add a little more flour. I find bread flour gives the cinnamon rolls a chewier texture but I’ve made them with all purpose flour and they’re still great!
Once dough is kneaded lightly grease your bowl with some vegetable oil. Form dough into a ball and turn dough around in the bowl to make sure the top of the ball gets coated as well. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, place somewhere warm, and let it rise for 1 & 1/2 hour or until doubled in size.
Assembling the Rolls

Once risen roll dough into a 9x 14 inch rectangle and spread butter fully over the dough. Then add the sugar filling on top and mix into the butter by hand.

Tightly roll the dough starting at one of the 14 inch sides. Once dough is in a log shape use a serrated knife cut into 9 equal sized rolls. It's best to measure it out first before cutting.

Place rolls into a greased and parchment lined baking pan. You can use a 9x9 square inch pan or a 9 inch cake pan. I prefer to use a springform cake pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 10-12 hours.

The rolls will rise in the fridge over night. I like to set mine on the counter while I preheat the oven to let them rise a little more. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.

While the rolls are cooking you can make the frosting if you did not make it the night before. After rolls are cooked allow them to cool for about 10 minutes before frosting. This is to make sure all your frosting does not melt away.

If you would prefer to make and bake on the same day just follow the same recipe except instead of letting them rise in the fridge overnight, cover with a dish towel and place somewhere warm to rise for an hour, then follow the rest of the recipe.
Bake them on your own, or bake them with your kids, either way I'm sure you'll love these overnight cinnamon rolls!
If you make these cinnamon rolls you can tag me on Instagram @jessiebakestreats and leave me a review below. I’d love to hear from you!
For more ideas you can follow me on Pinterest.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 3/4 C warm whole milk
- 2 & 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 C white sugar
- 1 egg and 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- 1/4 C melted unsalted butter cooled
- 3 C bread flour all purpose flour works too
- 3/4 tsp salt
Filling
- 2/3 C brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 C butter softened
Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 3 tbsp butter softened
- 1 C powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Warm milk in a microwave for 40 seconds. Then transfer to a large bowl or bowl of your stand mixer.
- Add the yeast and sugar. Gently stir and let rest for 10 minutes or until you seem bubbles form.
- Add in egg, egg yolk, salt, and melted butter. Mix with a whisk or paddle attachment (for stand mixer) until ingredients are well combined.
- Add flour into the bowl and mix together. If using a stand mixer add on the dough hook attachment. Once dough comes together knead for 5 minutes. Dough should come together into a nice ball and be slightly sticky. If dough is too sticky add a little more flour.
- Once dough is kneaded lightly grease your bowl with some vegetable oil. Form dough into a ball and turn dough around in the bowl to make sure the top of the ball gets coated as well. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, place somewhere warm, and let it rise for 1 & 1/2 hour or until doubled in size.
- After dough has risen gently punch it down and transfer to a well floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a 9x14 inch rectangle.
- Use a rubber spatula to spread softened butter over the dough.
- In a small bowl whisk together cinnamon and brown sugar. Once mixed add sugar mixture on top of the buttered dough. Use a rubber spatula to spread the sugar mixture over the butter.
- Starting at the 14 inch sides closest to you, tightly roll dough together to create a log.
- Using a serrated knife, evenly cut dough into 9 rolls.
- Place rolls into either a 9 inch cake pan or 9x9 inch baking pan. Be sure to grease the edges of the pan with butter and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight for 10-12 hours.
- In the morning remove rolls from the fridge about 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat over to 350 F. Remove plastic wrap and bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.
Frosting
- While cinnamon rolls are baking use an electric mixer or stand mixer to combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat mixture until it is smooth and fluffy.
- Once rolls are cooked allow them to cool 10 minutes before adding on the frosting.
- These rolls are best served warm, enjoy!
Notes
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Celeste
These turned out awesome and they were pretty easy to make! I think if (I mean, when!) I make these again, I will make 1.5x the frosting. The amount made with the recipe was enough but I felt like the edges could have used just a touch more. I love that this recipe is to make overnight. I made them for dessert as a request for a birthday dinner, so I ended up letting them sit overnight and all day since I had to work. They still turned out great! The birthday boy loved them and asked me if I used the Cinnabon recipe! The whole family loved them and requested that I make them again!
Jessie M
Thank you for taking the time to write a review. I am so happy your family enjoyed them! You can never go wrong with adding more icing 🙂