Overnight Cinnamon Buns

 
A favorite breakfast treat here at the farmhouse is cinnamon buns.  The sad fact of the matter, however, is that we rarely get to enjoy them before lunchtime due to the lengthy rises required.  I decided I would make the dough and assemble the rolls the night before and put them in the refrigerator overnight for their second rise.  In the morning they were plump and ready for the oven.  No fuss no muss.  The aroma of the buns filled the entire house and worked a lot better than the alarm clock to get sleepy bodies out of bed.  The buns were excellent.  Perfectly sweet, tender and gooey.

The following recipe is adapted from the Best Recipe Baking book. 



You'll Need:

Dough
1/2 cup milk
8 Tb. (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 envelope)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg plus 2 yolks
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Icing
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tb. corn syrup
2 Tb. heavy cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt

Filling
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tb. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

The Night Before

Getting Started:

Put yeast into a large bowl with warm water.  Let stand 5-10 minutes until foamy.

Melt butter and milk together.  Set aside until mixture is warm but not hot.

Now You're Cookin':

Add sugar and eggs to the yeast mixture and stir to combine.

Add milk and butter mixture to the yeast mixture and stir to combine.

Add 4 cups of flour, 2 cups at a time, to the combined wet ingredients and stir to combine after each addition.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.  Add up to 1/4 cup flour if necessary.

Put dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Combine all filling ingredients for the filling of your choosing in a small bowl until the mixture is homogenous.

Butter a 9"x13" baking dish (or 2 8"x8" baking pans).

Punch down dough and roll out into a 12"x16" rectangle with the long side facing you.


Sprinkle filling over the dough and and roll up tightly.  Press the end to seal.

Cut dough into 12 even pieces and arrange in the prepared baking pan(s).

Cover baking dish with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to rise overnight (at least 8 hours).

The Next Morning

Getting Started:

Remove cinnamon buns and cream cheese from the refrigerator and let sit ar room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Now You're Cookin':

Combine all icing ingredients and whisk together with a fork until thoroughly combined with no lumps remaining.

Bake cinnamon buns for 25-30 minutes.  The tops will be golden and the buns will have expanded to fill the pan.

Let cinnamon buns cool for 5 minutes then spread icing over the top of the buns with a spoon.