Easy Overnight Cinnamon Buns

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Introduction

Imagine waking up to the smell of warm cinnamon filling your home—without the fuss of a long baking process in the morning. This easy overnight cinnamon bun recipe will make your mornings feel like a special treat with minimal effort when you’re half-asleep.

What we love about this recipe is that you can start it anytime the day before and pause it until you are ready to bake it in the morning, making it great for busy school days or lazy brunch mornings. It truly is a make-a-head delight that everyone will enjoy.

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Table of Contents

• Why Make Overnight Cinnamon Buns
• Ingredients and Tools
• Timeline and Step by Step
• Frosting and Filling Ideas
• Serving and Storage
• Frequently Asked Questions

Why Make Overnight Cinnamon Buns?

1. Saves Morning Prep Time: Prepping the cinnamon buns the afternoon or evening before, you can experience freshly baked pastries without all the mess and work in the morning. I have thrown these together while working on other kitchen projects the day before and just left them to rest in the fridge until the next morning. This way, I make a mess once and don’t have to wake up at 3 am to get cinnamon buns ready before school. I only need 30 minutes to bake them, and we are good to go.
2. Perfect for Special Occasions: This recipe is perfect for busy weekday mornings and is also helpful around the holidays when planning lots of get-togethers and brunches. With overnight cinnamon buns, you can check cinnamon buns off your to-do list a day (or week) ahead of time.
3. Incredible Fresh Flavor: Adding a fresh-baked treat to your morning coffee run is tempting because those fresh pastries are so delicious, and they just don’t taste the same when baked the night before. Prepping your cinnamon bun dough the night before gives you the same fresh-baked flavour without all the effort in the morning.

Ingredients and Tools

• Active dry yeast
• Sugar
• Milk
• Water
• Lard
• Eggs
• Salt
• All Purpose Flour
• Filling
  • Brown Sugar and Cinnamon
  • Apples
  • Pumpkin puree
  • Pumpkin Spice
• Icing:
  • Cream Cheese
  • Vanilla
  • Icing Sugar
  • Milk

Tools

• Baking dishes
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Stand mixer
• large and small mixing bowls
• unflavoured floss
• serrated knife

Timeline and Step-by-Step

3pm Prepare the Dough (the day before)

Set up stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Warm the milk and water, and add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar to the milk and water and allow to bloom for 10 minutes.

Mix in lard, salt and eggs. Once well combined, begin adding flour 1 cup at a time until a smooth dough is formed. Allow the dough to be kneaded with a dough hook for 5 -10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and allow to rise 2-3 hours (until doubled in size).

NOTE: After the dough has risen it can be punched down and placed in the fridge overnight and filled in the morning or filled right away and then left to have a final fridge rise overnight.

2. Create the Cinnamon Filling

This is the time when you can really get creative with you cinnamon buns, you can choose to go the traditional brown sugar and cinnamon, or spread pumpkin puree over the dough and sprinkle with pumpkin spice. Maybe you want something extra decadent and spread chocolate spread and marshmallows or something savoury and add garlic butter and cheese. The options are endless!

Today, we are going to talk about the traditional cinnamon and sugar. I prefer the proportion of 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon to 1/4 cup of brown sugar. This can be adjusted to you personal taste whether you like them more sweet or spicy.

Because this recipe makes a large batch of cinnamon buns I like to make my filling in smaller batches as the dough will be split in two to be rolled and filled. This way one set of buns doesn’t end up with more filling than the other.

3. Roll, Cut, and Arrange

Divide the dough in half and roll one half into a rectangle 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface.

Spread filling evenly over the dough and then roll over the long edge.

Cut the rolls either with a very sharp or serrated knife or unflavoured dental floss, beginning by cutting in half and then the halves in half, continuing like that until there are about a dozen rolls a half inch thick.

Place the buns well spaced in the baking dish. They will bake best if they have space to rise in the oven. 9-12 in a 9×13 dish is what I have found to be best.

Repeat with the second half of the dough.

4. Refrigerate Overnight

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rise in the fridge overnight.

5. Bake in the Morning

Remove the buns from the fridge and allow them to warm slightly while the oven preheats to 375F

Once the oven is preheated, bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Frosting and Filling Ideas

Classic Cream Cheese Frosting: In the stand mixer combine soft cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla and whisk until smooth

Simple Vanilla Glaze: in a small bowl add icing sugar and slowly add a splash of vanilla, a milk while mixing. Be careful and add milk a tablespoon at a time, otherwise, the glaze will be too milky and more sugar will need to be added.

Geeting creative with fillings can really fun! Here are some we have enjoyed

• Cinnamon and brown sugar
• Pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice
• Apple slices, brown sugar and apple pie spice
• pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese

Serving and Storing Tips

These buns are best served warm, but if you have left overs over and keep in the fridge up to a week. They can be warmed up again in the oven at 350F for 5-10 minutes on a baking sheet.

Recipe FAQ

1. Can I freeze the cinnamon buns before baking?
   • Absolutely! After rolling, cutting, and arranging them in the pan, wrap them tightly and freeze. When you’re ready to bake, thaw them in the fridge overnight and proceed with the baking instructions in the morning.
2. Can I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?
   • Yes, if you’re using instant yeast, you don’t need to dissolve it in water first—just add it to the dry ingredients. It might rise a bit faster, so keep an eye on it during the proofing process.
3. How can I store leftovers?
   • Leftover cinnamon buns can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to a week. For best results, reheat them in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds to restore softness.

Conclusion

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram and Facebook!

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