Easy Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Easy overnight cinnamon rolls

I like recipes where you do just a little bit of preparation the night before and the ingredients do most of the work while you’re sleeping. This is one of those recipes, and the results are amazingly delicious for such a little bit of effort. All you have to do is put frozen rolls in a pan, make a simple sauce (butter, cinnamon, sugar, pudding mix and optional pecans), pour the sauce over the frozen rolls and cover them overnight. The next morning, pop the pan in the oven and your home will be filled with the delicious smell of bread and cinnamon.  Your reward is home-made cinnamon rolls — warm, puffy pull-apart rolls covered with the gooey topping — addictive with tea, coffee, milk … anything really.

They are also quite beautiful on a plate — in the few nano-seconds before they are devoured — so these rolls are great to serve guests you want to impress (and fatten up.) If they do cool off, microwave them for a few seconds for best taste. And don’t feel guilty abut the second one — or the third or fourth; it is impossible to stop at one.

This recipe is from Grand Rapids Dessert Examiner.

• Frozen white dinner rolls - 15 – 20
• Vanilla pudding mix (not instant) - 1 package
• Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
• Cinnamon - 1/2  tsp.
• Butter - 1/2 cup
• Pecan pieces - 1/2 - 3/4 cup (optional but HIGHLY recommended)

1. Grease a bundt pan (you could probably use any type of cake pan).
2. Place frozen rolls on the bottom of the pan, so they are side by side (do not pile them).
3. Sprinkle the rolls with the pecan pieces.
4. In a small saucepan, melt  the butter. Lower the heat as low as possible and add the pudding powder, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
5. Stir well, and then pour the warm mixture evenly over the frozen rolls. It looks pretty pathetic now, but the transformation will be dramatic; the yeast in the rolls will be hard at work all night while you are sleeping.
6. Cover the rolls with a towel and let sit on the counter overnight.
7. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
8. Remove the towel and you’ll see that the dough has risen very high, all the roll are puffy and crowded together all cozy, and the topping has disappeared underneath the dough. Don’t worry; it’s still there and there’s plenty of it.
9. Cook the rolls for 25 minutes or until they are medium brown on top.
10. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then while still warm, invert the rolls onto a plate. (you may need to slide a knife around the edges first.)

Easy overnight cinnamon rolls

Tags: bread, breakfast, cinnamon, pecans