Ooey Gooey Overnight Cinnamon Bun Rolls

"Soft, fluffy, buttery cinnamon rolls you can begin ahead of time. Save time in the morning and have everyone wake up to warm, fresh, cinnamon goodness!"  - Sally's Baking Addiction
That is totally enough to make me run to the store to grab the ingredients.

I actually never paid much attention to cinnamon buns, but I do love the way they smell each time I walked past the store that sells them in the mall.   Maybe it was all that sweetness that is so cloying?  Well anyways, after baking these babies I think I have another family favorites added to my cookbook.

The dough is made the night before. Allow it to rise, roll it up tightly, slice into rolls, cover tightly, and stuff into the refrigerator.  The next morning, remove the rolls from the refrigerator and let it rise somewhere warm for 1-2 hours before baking.  See! It's that easy!

Your family will love you so much as they wake up to  warm, fluffy, fresh, ooey gooey cinnamon rolls.  The best part is that amazing smell.  My husband V stumbled into the kitchen saying, Mmmm, I smelled this all the way from the bedroom.

I mainly make cakes and rarely make pastries so I'm not familiar with yeast but I know now that Red Star is a pretty good brand and its Platinum Instant active yeast is the bomb, rises quicker and puffs up more in size than it's regular instant active yeast.  Maybe that's where the fluffiness comes from
/ >.^


Ooey Gooey Overnight Cinnamon Bun Rolls
 - recipe directly from Sally's Baking Addiction

Yield: 12 large rolls

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 12 - 15 hours (overnight)

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 cup (240ml) whole milk
• 2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons Red Start Platinum yeast (2 standard size packets)
• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 4 pieces
• 2 large eggs, room temperature preferred
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 and 1/2 cups (558g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting/rolling

Filling

• 6 Tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon (I will put 2 next time I want more cinnamon taste)

Cream Cheese Icing

• 2 ounces (about 1/4 cup or 56g) full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) confectioners' sugar
• 3 Tablespoons (45ml) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Make The Dough: In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until lukewarm (no need to use a thermometer, but to be precise: about 95 degrees F). Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a stand electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (OR you can use a handheld mixer OR no mixer, but a stand mixer is ideal). With a spoon, manually stir in the sugar and yeast. Cover with a towel and let sit until the yeast is foamy, about 5-10 minutes. This is called proofing your yeast. If the yeast does not dissolve and foam, start over with fresh active yeast. On low speed, beat in the softened butter until it is slightly broken up. Next add the eggs, one at a time, and then the salt. The butter won't really be mixing into the mixture, so don't be alarmed if it stays in pieces. On low speed, gradually add the flour. Once it is all added, beat on medium speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is soft and supple, about 6 minutes longer. *If you do not have a stand-mixer with a hook attachment, knead the dough by hand in this step. Good Luck with that cause it's gonna be torture. 
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap, a paper towel, or aluminum foil and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours. Here's what I do: turn the oven on to 300F degrees. Turn the oven off. Stick the covered dough inside the oven and allow it to rise in this warm environment.
3. Butter/grease/spray with nonstick spray the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, then line with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll into a 13x18 inch rectangle. I used a ruler for accuracy. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick, even at the corners.
4.  For The Filling: Spread the softened butter all over the dough. Don't skimp-- you want it all on there. In a small bowl, toss the cinnamon and sugar together until combined and then sprinkle evenly over the dough. Tightly roll up the dough to form an 18-inch-long log. If some filling spills out, that's ok, just sprinkle it on top of the rolls. Cut into 12 even rolls (about 1.5 inches in width each). Arrange them in the prepared baking pan, cut sides up. Cover the rolls very tightly with aluminum foil (no rolls exposed, please-- this dries out your dough) and stick in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.*

   

   Proofed and ready to go into the oven! yay!

5. Remove rolls from the refrigerator and let rise in a warm place just as you did in step 2 (I preheat oven to 200F, turn off, stuff buns in) until they are puffy, about 1-2 hours. Mine usually take 1 and 1/2 hours.
6. After the rolls have risen, preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Bake for about 25 minutes, until they are golden brown. About halfway through the bake time, I like to cover the rolls loosely with aluminum foil so the tops don't brown too much. (I forgot to cover until last 10 minutes of the baking time so my tops were a bit more brown)  Remove pan from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes as you make the icing.
7.  Make The Icing: In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Using a knife, spread the icing over the warm rolls and serve immediately.
8. Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days-- I prefer this over storing in the refrigerator. I find that dries them out, but do what you like best. Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up before enjoying.