Is there anything better than a soft and gooey homemade cinnamon roll topped with a cream cheese frosting? These cinnamon rolls are better than Cinnabon and can be prepped ahead of time for an easy overnight cinnamon roll.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls have been the quintessential morning treat whenever we have a crew together for branding or preg-checking our cattle. If it were up to my husband (and father-in-law) I would make these cinnamon rolls every week, and really they are simple enough that I could!

There is nothing better than waking up in the morning with warm fresh from the oven cinnamon rolls, so I love using the overnight option for those early mornings. I can sleep in, but make it seem like I’ve been up for hours making homemade cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Roll Ingredients

Cinnamon rolls have a few simple ingredients that I typically have on hand.

All Purpose Flour: I like the lightness that all purpose flour gives my rolls. You can also use bread flour for a chewier roll.
Milk: I use whole milk, but any milk can be swapped out in this recipe. I like the richness that whole milk adds.
Egg: The egg really helps to give a softness and richness to your dough.
Butter: In the roll itself and in the frosting. Unsalted or salted works!
Sugar: We just use a little bit to help activate the yeast. I prefer a not so sweet dough in my cinnamon roll and keep the sweetness in the filling and frosting.
Yeast: I typically use regular active yeast, however you can use rapid rise yeast and half each of the rise times.
Brown Sugar: I really don’t think that cinnamon rolls taste the same with anything other than the caramel flavor that brown sugar gives to your roll filling.
Cinnamon: Is it a cinnamon roll without cinnamon?
Cream Cheese: Cream cheese frosting makes cinnamon rolls that much better! You cannot compete with the taste.
Powdered Sugar: Adds sweetness to your frosting.

Tools for Making Cinnamon Rolls

Stand Mixer: I really love using my kitchen aid stand mixer for kneading the dough. It takes some of the hard work out of knead. However, you don’t NEED one to make cinnamon rolls. You can totally knead by hand.
Large Mixing Bowl: I love my large Mason Cash bowl for mixing my bowl and letting the dough rise if I’m not using my stand mixer. Plus it is so pretty.
Rolling Pin: I love my marble rolling pin.

How to Make Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls can be a little daunting if you have never made them before. However, don’t let the process scare you! Once you do it once, then twice, then you become addicted and just can’t stop!

We can break down the process into three main parts. Making the dough, filling and rolling, and the delicious cream cheese frosting. All in time is about 3 hours, BUT you will not be hands on working with the rolls for 3 hours. There is a lot of wait time when it comes to making cinnamon rolls, which is why I love to make my cinnamon rolls overnight.

In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and 1/4 cup warm milk. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
In a large bowl (or your stand mixer) combine flour, salt, egg, butter, yeast mixture, and 3/4 cup milk. Begin mixing adding in additional milk as needed. You want your dough to be able to pull away from the bowl. If you do add too much milk, add a little bit of flour.
Knead the dough four 5-10 minutes, until the dough passes the windowpane test.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour (or until doubled in size).
Pour dough onto a lightly floured counter and roll into an 18″ long rectangle.
Spread remaining butter onto the rectangle and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll the dough into a log and cut into 1.5″ slices, place onto a baking sheet.
Cover the dough lightly with a clean cloth and let rise for an additional hour.
Preheat oven to 350.
Remove cloth and bake the cinnamon rolls for 20-25 minutes.
While the rolls are baking add butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar to a bowl and mix until well combined.
Let rolls cool slightly, then spread the cream cheese frosting onto the warm cinnamon rolls.
Dive in and enjoy!

How to Make Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

After you roll and cut the dough cover the rolls in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge and allow to rise for an hour before baking per the original instructions. Alternatively, you can place in the freezer and allow to rise overnight before baking.