morning

IT’S MOVING WEEK! I can’t believe it’s finally here. After 15 months of construction, 2 years of architectural planning, and 5-1/2 years of limbo living in our rental house, we will finally get to move into our dream house this Friday. I’m beyond excited. I’ve got those night before Christmas/ tomorrow’s my birthday/ going to a surprise party kind of jitters. Basically we’re freaking out with joy over here, okay?

Our dishes and bakeware and utensils are all packed, so we’ve been living off of carry-out and protein bars this past week. I just want to simplify everything else in life so that this move, the holidays, EVERYTHING won’t feel too big of overwhelming. Maybe a week spent eating out of greasy paper bags isn’t the best way to do it, but we’re all doing our best over here. In the meantime, I’ve started dreaming about those first few bakes in my brand spankin’ new kitchen, starting with today’s recipe for overnight cinnamon rolls. I’ve held back on this recipe for a while, because it required lots of testing to determine when and how this recipe was best prepared. Finally, with a little patience and some shopping made simple with my friends at Brandless, I landed a recipe I’m really pleased with.

Brandless is an online retailer that offer quality products at fair prices. Offering everything from gift wrap to coconut oil to dinnerware, Brandless offers hundreds of everyday essentials and better-for-you products at incredibly affordable prices. Living in a rural area often limits my access to the items I need in my home and kitchen, and with Brandless I can receive those products straight to my front door in no time. Sign me up for anything that prevents me from making one more trek to the grocery store.

To prep for the overnight cinnamon rolls, I ordered Brandless’ All-Purpose Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour, Organic Light Brown Sugar, Organic Ground Cinnamon, and Organic Cane Sugar, as well as the cute spice jars and bowl scrapers you see in the photos. With the addition of a few everyday refrigerated items, the rolls were ready for making. This is a sweet yeasted dough that is rolled out and slathered with butter, brown sugar, and heaps of cinnamon. Tight little spirals of dough are allowed to rest in a baking dish over night and are then baked in a hot oven the next morning. The result is an incredibly tender, fluffy roll loaded with flavor and a generous slathering of cream cheese icing. Yes, it’s as beyond as it sounds.

To make the overnight cinnamon rolls we start with the dough. Yeast is sprinkled to dissolve over a mixture of warm milk and water. Eggs, melted butter, and brown sugar come next before the bread flour and all-purpose flour are stirred in with some salt. The dough is kneaded for several minutes until it becomes smooth and slightly tacky. Allow the ball of dough for your overnight cinnamon rolls to rest in a covered bowl on the counter.

Once doubled in size, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover the dough with melted butter and sprinkle on a generous amount of brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough tightly from end to end and then slice it into 1-1/2″ sections to spread out on a lightly greased pan. Cover the pan and place it in the fridge overnight.

The following morning when you’re ready to enjoy your overnight cinnamon rolls, remove the pan from the fridge and preheat the oven. I like to stick my pan right next to the hot oven while it preheats so that it can shed some of its overnight chill. If you’d like your rolls to brown a little extra in the oven you can brush them with a water or milk. Bake in the oven until the edges have just started to bronze and the internal temperature reads 190 degrees F. A thermometer really helps here because overdone rolls are usually drier and more dense rolls too. Ew.

Whip up the icing with a little cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar. You can barely warm the icing for a thin, pourable glaze, or you can leave it thick to spread directly on top of the overnight cinnamon rolls. Your choice. Either way, you’re going to love them.

Give these overnight cinnamon rolls a try and be sure to check out all of the goodies on Brandless.com. I’m so pleased to have found a way to simplify shopping, especially this time of year, and I think you’ll agree if you give it a shot. Whip up a batch of these for Christmas morning and let me know what you think. Happy Wednesday and Happy Baking!

This post is sponsored by Brandless. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that my Wood & Spoon possible!

If you like these overnight cinnamon rolls you should try:

Bananas Foster Cinnamon Rolls

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls

Chocolate Sweet Rolls

Orange Cardamom Rolls

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 12 reviews

• Author: Kate Wood
• Prep Time: 30
• Cook Time: 30
• Total Time: 480
• Yield: 14
• Category: Breakfast

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 cup (240 gm) milk, lukewarm
• ¼ cup (60 gm) water, lukewarm
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 6 tablespoons (85 gm)unsalted butter, melted but not too hot
• 1 large egg plus 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (50 gm) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 gm) sugar
• 2–3/4 cups (385 gm) all-purpose flour
• 1–1/2 cups (210 gm) bread flour
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the filling:

• 5 tablespoons (70 gm) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, if desired
• ¾ cup (150 gm) brown sugar

For the frosting:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• ¼ cup (55 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (115 gm) powdered sugar
• 2+ tablespoons of milk

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Instructions

To prepare the dough:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the milk and water and sprinkle the yeast over top of it. Allow the yeast to dissolve, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter, egg, egg yolks, and brown sugar, and sugar until smooth. In a small bowl, combine the flour, bread flour, and salt. Dump about half of the dry ingredients into the yeast mixture and stir until combined. Pour in the remaining dry ingredients and knead in the bowl using the dough hook attachment until smooth and slightly tacky, about 7 minutes. If you notice your dough isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl or it’s too wet, add flour 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a little dough “tornado” around the dough hook. Once done kneading, place the dough into a large lightly greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap to double in size, about 1-1/2 – 2 hours.
2. Once the dough has risen, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it out into a large rectangle about 11”x21” in size. Pour the melted butter and spread it out over top. Combine the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar and sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough. Starting with one of the long ends, tightly roll the dough from end to end and pinch the edges together to seal. Cut the dough into 1-1/2” sections and lay them out 2” apart in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
3. In the morning, remove the rolls from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Keep the baking dish close to the oven while it preheats to help the rolls come to room temp. Once preheated, bake in the oven for about 22-25 minutes or until the edges are barely golden and the internal temp is 190 degrees. Remove from the oven and prepare your frosting.

To prepare the frosting:

1. Cream the cream cheese and butter in large bowl at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar and milk and beat to combine. Add additional milk to thin out the frosting or more powdered sugar to thicken it. You can also gently warm the frosting to pour over the rolls as a glaze. Cinnamon rolls are best enjoyed warm.