Make Ahead Cinnamon Rolls are the perfect choice for making on the weekends and on special holiday mornings!
There isn’t anything much better than waking up on a weekend morning and enjoying a warm and tender, freshly baked cinnamon roll. I love this recipe so much because you can do the bulk of the work in assembling these cinnamon rolls the night before. In the morning, it’s super easy to finish up the recipe and bake these rolls for breakfast or brunch!
How to prepare Make Ahead Cinnamon Rolls:
The first thing you’ll do is make the cinnamon roll dough, knead it a bit, and then put it in a warm place to let it rise. Next you’ll take the risen dough and roll it out into a rectangle, brush it with butter and sprinkle a cinnamon-brown sugar filling on top. The dough is then rolled up and sliced into rolls. The rolls are placed into a 9×13-inch pan. At this point, you’ll cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate the rolls overnight.
The next morning, the rolls are removed from the refrigerator and given a chance to rise. Then they’ll be ready to bake until golden brown!
After baking, the warm rolls are drizzled with a simple, sweet icing. Then they’re ready to pull apart and serve.
This recipe makes twelve rolls, which means you won’t be over-indulging on these sweet treats if you plan to share with others. It’s a wonderful cinnamon roll recipe to surprise your family with. Enjoy!
Here are a few more cinnamon roll recipes you might like to try:
- Amish Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing
- Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls
- No Yeast Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls
- Grandma Billie’s Cinnamon Rolls
- No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing
Make Ahead Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
DOUGH:
- 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 6 ounces buttermilk, at room temperature
- 4 cups (or more) all purpose flour
- 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
FILLING:
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
ICING:
- 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
PREPARE THE DOUGH:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole eggs, sugar, butter and buttermilk. Add about 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours in a warm place.
PREPARE THE FILLING:
- In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.
FORM THE ROLLS:
- Butter a 9x13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18x12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to cream even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1½-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.
- Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3 full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.
BAKE THE ROLLS:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reached 190°F. on an instant read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.
- While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.
Notes
- *If you need to "create" a warm place for your dough to rise, try this: Turn on your oven to 400 degrees and let it warm up for one minute. Turn off the oven after one minute. Turn on the oven light. This creates a warm place for your dough to rise. (don't forget to turn OFF the oven!)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
