Make-Ahead Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Before you start

Overnight rolls move most of the work to the night before. You mix, rise and shape the dough in the evening, then let the shaped rolls rise very slowly in the refrigerator. The cold rest develops a slightly deeper, more wheaty flavor and frees you from waking up early to knead.

This version has its own personality: a yolk-rich dough, a filling made with browned butter and dark brown sugar, and a maple glaze instead of cream cheese icing. The morning step that people skip is the most important one. Cold dough needs time at room temperature to wake up and puff before it goes in the oven, or the rolls bake tight and dense.

Ingredients

• Dough200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) whole milk — warmed to about 40°C (105°F)
• 85 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter — melted and cooled to warm
• 1 large egg — room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk
• 60 g (5 tbsp) granulated sugar
• 7 g (2¼ tsp) instant yeast
• 450 g (3¾ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp (6 g) fine salt
• Filling85 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter — browned and cooled until soft and spreadable
• 165 g (¾ cup packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• Maple glaze120 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 to 2 tbsp milk

Method

1. Make the brown butter for the filling first: melt 85 g butter over medium heat, swirling, until the milk solids turn nut-brown and smell toasty, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until it is soft and opaque like room-temperature butter, about 30 minutes.
2. For the dough, whisk the warm milk, melted butter, egg, yolk and sugar. Add the yeast, flour and salt and knead with the dough hook on medium-low for 7 to 9 minutes, until smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky.
3. Cover and let the dough rise in a warm spot until about doubled, roughly 75 minutes. Grease the pan.
4. Stir the cooled brown butter with the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a spreadable paste.
5. Roll the dough into a 40 × 30 cm (16 × 12 in) rectangle, spread the filling to the edges except for a 1 cm strip on one long side, and roll up snugly toward that strip. Cut into 12 rolls and arrange them in the pan.
6. Cover the pan tightly and refrigerate right away for 8 to 16 hours. The rolls will rise only partway in the cold.
7. In the morning, set the covered pan on the counter in a warm spot for about 60 minutes, until the rolls look puffy and are touching. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) during the last 20 minutes.
8. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until well browned and the center roll registers 88 to 90°C (190 to 195°F). Chilled dough takes a few minutes longer than freshly risen dough.
9. Whisk the powdered sugar, maple syrup and enough milk to make a pourable glaze. Cool the rolls 10 minutes, then drizzle the glaze over them.

Tips for success

• If the rolls still look tight after an hour in the morning, set the pan in a turned-off oven with a pan of just-boiled water on the rack below for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Use a pan with a tight lid or two layers of plastic wrap; refrigerator air dries the tops and forms a skin.
• Brown butter must cool to a soft solid. Liquid brown butter makes the filling slide out of the swirl.

Substitutions

Brown butter

Regular softened butter is fine and quicker; the filling will taste sweeter and less nutty.

Dark brown sugar

Light brown sugar gives a lighter, less molasses-forward filling.

Maple glaze

Use the cream cheese icing from a classic cinnamon roll recipe, or a simple milk and powdered sugar glaze.

Variations

Apple pie overnight rolls

Scatter 1 small apple, peeled and finely diced, over the filling before rolling.

Bake-the-same-day option

Skip the refrigerator: let shaped rolls rise 35 to 45 minutes at room temperature and bake 25 to 28 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Rolls barely rose overnight

Normal: most of the rise happens in the morning. Give them a full hour or more in a warm place before baking.

Rolls overproofed and collapsed in the fridge

The refrigerator may be too warm or the dough was already over-risen at shaping. Check that the fridge is 4°C (40°F) or below and shape as soon as the first rise doubles.

Dry tops after baking

The pan was not tightly covered overnight. Wrap well, and brush with melted butter before baking if a skin formed.

Storage

Keep glazed rolls covered at room temperature for 1 day, or refrigerate up to 4 days and rewarm briefly. Unbaked shaped rolls can be frozen up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then follow the morning steps.

Safety notes

Do not taste the raw dough, which contains egg and uncooked flour. Keep the refrigerator at 4°C (40°F) or colder for the overnight rest. Contains wheat, milk and egg.