Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

These might just be the prettiest cinnamon rolls I've ever made! The dough was so easy to work with and a new technique --pouring melted butter over the cinnamon rolls made for a beautiful presentation. The great thing about these cinnamon rolls is that you make them the night before, let them rest in the fridge, and then let them rise one final time in the morning. Just plan ahead about 2 hours because even though most of the work is done the night before they still need at least 1 hour to rise, 30 minutes to bake, 15 minutes to cool and then applying the icing. See additional notes at the bottom of my post.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Family Meals Cookbook

Dough

· 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

· ½ cup warm water

· 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

· 4 large eggs

· ¼ cup sugar

· 2 teaspoons kosher salt

· ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature

· ½ cup unsalted butter, melted

· ½ cup sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon cinnamon

To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water, allow to bloom for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in ½ cup of the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot, about 30 minutes.
Add the eggs, sugar, salt, and the remaining 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium speed until smooth, 3-4 minutes. Add the room temperature butter and continue to knead, adding a little flour to reduce stickiness if needed, until the dough is smooth, 10-12 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
Butter a 9-by-13 inch baking dish. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Roll out into a 15-by-10 inch rectangle. Brush the rectangle with half of the melted butter, leaving a 2 inch wide strip uncovered on one long side. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter. Starting at the long side covered with sugar, roll up the rectangle snugly and pinch the seam together. With the seam facing down, cut into 10 equal pieces. Place the pieces, cut side up, in the dish. Brush with the remaining butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator overnight.The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and let rise until half again as high, about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Spread glaze over the warm rolls and serve.

Vanilla Glaze

· 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

· ½ teaspoon kosher salt

· 2 tablespoons butter, melted

· 2 tablespoons whole milk

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a small bowl, sift together the confectioners’ sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, and vanilla and stir in the sugar to form a smooth paste.

Tips- My house was pretty cold so the rolls were taking a lot longer to rise. I just heated my oven to 400 degrees. Turned it off, then put a metal bowl filled with water in the bottom of my oven. After that I put the rolls in with a towel over the top. This worked great and they were done rising in about 20 minutes.

These make HUGE cinnamon rolls. I think I got about 15 out of my dough and they were still very good size.

If you prefer a cream cheese frosting I recommend extended the cooling time so it won't melt your frosting.

Posted by: Sallie