Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I was excited to make these rolls. It's originally from Alton Brown and I like his simple, minimal-effort, yummy recipes. I have been planning on making them since November. I originally wanted to serve them for breakfast on Thanksgiving, but with all the other cooking I was doing these got pushed aside. The recipe has been sitting on the kitchen counte ever since, just calling out to be made. Finally, I made them. All I have to say is Wow! These are beyond incredible. So much better than Cinnabon, because they aren’t as sugary and they don’t give you an instant cavity.

It’s nice to be able to control the amount of sweetness. I added walnuts for additional fat, omega 3s, and slight crunch. Mr. Surly approved as well. We also liked that they weren’t too sugary-sweet and you could put as much (or as little) icing on as desired. I will definitely be making these again. It wasn’t a lot of work, just be sure to plan ahead to give the rolls time to rise overnight.



Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Printer-friendly recipe
Yield: ~12 cinnamon rolls

for the dough:
4 large egg yolks, room temp
1 large whole egg, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temp
20 oz flour (~4 cups), plus additional for dusting
1 pkg (2¼ tsp) instant dry yeast
1 ¼ tsp kosher salt
Vegetable oil or cooking spray

for the filling:
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 Tbsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
(generous) ¼ c finely chopped walnuts

for the icing*:
2-3 Tbsp milk
1 cup powdered sugar
~ ½ tsp lemon juice (opt)

make the dough:
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add ~2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Add all but ¾ 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 be soft and moist but not sticky. Knead/stir until the dough clears the side of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand ~30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl with cooking spray. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly spray the top of the dough with olive oil cooking spray, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 ½ hours.

make the filling:
Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

to assemble:
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 a bit of melted butter, leaving a ¾ inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a ¾-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 create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 ½ -inch rolls. (I only sliced 6 rolls, and froze the rest of the dough). Arrange rolls cut side down in a buttered/greased baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

to bake:
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, allow the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; ~30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown (or til the internal temperature reaches 190F) ~25-30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing* by whisking ingredients until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.

*note: since I only baked about half the rolls, I just added ½ c powdered sugar with 3 ½ tsp milk and ½ tsp fresh lemon juice.





Source: slightly adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally from Food Network