These easy Overnight Cinnamon Rolls are made ahead the night before, so you can wake up to fresh, fluffy homemade cinnamon rolls with minimal morning effort. Perfect for Christmas morning, holidays, or weekend brunch.
You'll thank yourself in the morning for Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
You'll thank yourself in the morning for Overnight Cinnamon RollsWhen you do the work the night before, these Overnight Cinnamon Rolls change the breakfast game! In the morning all you have to do is let them come to room temperature, bake, and enjoy. No early morning kneading or waiting around for dough to rise while your stomach growls.
You can use a traditional glaze, or my favorite is the thick and creamy cream cheese frosting. These homemade overnight cinnamon rolls bake up big, fluffy, and ridiculously delicious, perfect for Christmas morning or weekend brunch.
Try more of my breakfast recipes, like Raspberry Scones, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, French Toast Casserole, Blueberry Muffins, and Breakfast Burritos!
How to make Overnight Cinnamon Rolls:
Make Dough: Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with a little sugar, letting it rest for 5 minutes. Add salt, sugar, egg, butter, and 2 cups flour. Add more flour slowly as needed, until the dough pulls away from the bottom and sides of the bowl. The key to bread dough is not adding too much flour. The dough should be smooth and elastic but slightly sticky. Let it rise for 1 ½ hours, or until doubled.
Roll Out and Shape: Punch the dough down then roll into a 20″x18″ rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Now we slather the fillings on–butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar–leaving a ½ inch border. Roll the dough into a tight log, starting at the short end! Slice 1.5 inch thick slices with a serrated knife or dental floss. (Alternately, you could cut the dough into 12 strips, and roll each individual strip up).
Refrigerate Overnight: Arrange the cinnamon rolls in a buttered 9×13 dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Place in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, take the pan out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature and rise for 1 1/2-2 hours, or until doubled.
Bake these make ahead cinnamon rolls at 375 degrees F for 18-23 minutes, until cooked through and golden. Make cream cheese frosting and spread on top of warm rolls and enjoy!
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Recipe
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- Stand Mixer optional
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast*
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar + ½ teaspoon, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 3 ½ – 4 cups bread flour , or all-purpose
Filling:
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese , ½ block softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 6 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Proof Yeast: In a mixer add yeast, warm milk, and ½ teaspoon sugar and gently stir. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to “proof” and the mixture to get foamy on the top (if this does not happen, try again with fresh active yeast).2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast*, 1 cup warm milk
- Make Dough: Add salt, sugar, egg, butter, and 2 cups of flour to the mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until combined. Add another cup of flour and continue mixing. Add more flour as needed until dough pulls away from the bottom and sides of bowl. Mix for 5 minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic but slightly sticky.¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 large egg, ⅓ cup unsalted butter, 3 ½ – 4 cups bread flour
- First Rise: Remove dough to a large greased bowl, cover, and allow it to rise for 1 ½ hours or until doubled in volume.
- Roll and shape: Punch dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured or greased work surface. Roll dough into a 20''x18'' rectangle.
- Fill and cut: Smooth butter over the top of the dough, Mix cinnamon and brown sugar together and sprinkle evenly over the top, leaving about 1/2inch border. Starting at the short end of the dough, roll the dough into a tight “log” and use a sharp serrated knife or some tooth floss to cut the dough into 12 slices about 1.5 inches thick.6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- Refrigerate overnight: Place rolls onto a buttered 9×13'' or rimmed bakers half sheet (18×13''). Cover pan with a lid or tightly with plastic wrap and tinfoil and refrigerate overnight, 8-12 hours. (You could also freeze at this point, if desired. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.)
- Second rise: Remove rolls from the refrigerator and allow to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 ½ – 2 hours.*
- Bake: Bake at 375 degrees F for 18-25 minutes, until golden and cooked through in the center. Spread frosting over warm from the oven rolls.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Add cream cheese to a mixing bowl and beat with electric mixers until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat well until smooth. Add additional milk or powdered sugar to make the frosting thicker, or thinner, as desired. Smooth frosting over cinnamon rolls.4 ounces cream cheese, 2 ½ cups powdered sugar, 6 Tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Notes
- Instant Yeast: to substitute instant yeast, skip the first step of proofing the yeast and add the yeast, 2 cups flour, sugar and salt to stand mixer before adding water, milk, egg, and butter.
- Orange Rolls
- Classic Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Lemon Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe February 2017. Updated December 2021 and December 2025.
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These were EXCELLENT! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
I was making these for an early morning event and didn’t want to get up an extra hour early just to let them rise so I left them out all night and they rose just fine. The house was roughly 66-68°. Then I just baked them as directed. They were delicious!
thank you for this info! i wil use it.
These are amazing. Made them Christmas Eve evening for Christmas morning. They were a huge hit and not hard to make at all. I will definitely be keeping this recipe on speed dial.
I like raisins or cranberries in my cinnamon rolls. Should I mix them into the cinnamon sugar mixture, or just lay them on top before rolling them up? Thank you.
Lay them on top before rolling!
Could you put the buns in the oven as it’s preheating to temp to proof? You would have to add about 20-25 minutes to baking time I think.
I tried twice to make these rolls and just couldn’t get the Yeast to proof. Some direction on how you warmed your milk and for how long would have helped.
The warm milk should just be warm, not at all hot. Also make sure your yeast is fresh.
Ooooh… these turned out fabuously! Will definitely be making them again and again and… My pan (that seemed just right when I put them in) shrunk so they were tall and very cozy, but tasted oh-s0-good! Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Thanks so much, Olivia! I’m so glad you loved them!
I made these and they look perfect, however were a little blander than I prefer. I would make them again, but will use salted butter in the filling and will use a frosting recipe that also contains butter.
Dear Lauren,
I just made the dough, added 4 cups and a dash of flour and it came out very nice. It is a little sticky but that’s how every dough containing active yeast I make tourns out to feel.
Now I have to wait for the dough to rise…
I am making this receipe for my neighbor, she has a birthday party tomorrow. I hope there is enough dough so I can “test-bake” of some cinnamon rolls today ?
Greetings from Germany.
Mareike
They turned out perfectly ?
I am definitely doing this receipe again! They may be made the night before but since they are so delicious I probably can’t wait to bake them the next day next time – they were perfect this time as I did them right away.
Thank you for sharing this receipe!
Just made this dough…way sticky..I wound up adding another 1 1/2 cups to it, and it was still sticky…we shall see!
The roll looks perfect and yummy!