I've experimented with a lot of different recipes over the years - getting just the right cinnamon roll is a hard mission, let me tell you - but this is the one. Splattered and scribbled on, tweaked and improved, I think this recipe has the right combination of everything. Many friends now call it a family fave too, so I know it's a keeper.

These cinnamon rolls are adapted to rise overnight in the refrigerator because it’s easier and more pleasant than trying to get the project done at very early morning hours. Enjoy!

Dough: cinnamon rolls
1 c. milk
5 tbls. butter, room temp
1 egg
3 c. AP flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast

Filling:
8 tbls. butter, soft
1 tbls. cinnamon
1/2 c. brown sugar

  1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Then, off heat, whisk in the milk just to warm. Whisk in egg.
  2. Mix dry ingredients (including yeast) in a large bowl or the bowl of your standing mixer.
  3. Add warm milk mixture and stir. Mix or knead with dough hook for a few minutes, until you have a buttery, smooth dough.
  4. Put dough in a large, buttered bowl. Cover with towel and let rise for an hour.
  5. Mix the softened butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Set aside.
  6. On a floured board or counter top, roll and spread the risen dough into a large rectangle. Spread filling on rectangle, leaving about a half inch of bare dough on the bottom (long) edge. Roll the dough up from the top to the bottom, using that bare edge to seal it.
  7. Slice into 12 rolls of even thickness.* Place, swirl side up, in a 9X13 pan. Leave space between each roll because they will, of course, expand.
  8. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.
  9. In the morning, let the dough warm on the counter top for about an hour.
  10. Bake for 35-45 minutes at 350F.

Optional add ons:
Sauce in pan: This is my preferred variation. Melt 5 tbls. butter and mix with a 1/2 c. cream and 1/2 c. brown sugar. Spread it in the bottom of your baking pan. (See the * in the above recipe.) Place rolls on top of the sauce and bake.
Cream cheese frosting: Whip 3 oz. room temperature cream cheese with 1 tbls. milk and 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Spread on individual buns after baking.
Nuts: Add nuts to the top of the sauce in the bottom of your pan. Then place the rolls on top. Or….serve toasted nuts sprinkled over top. Or…if you live in a house with definite nut lovers, chop nuts finely and add them to the cinnamon filling before rolling up the dough.
White fondant glaze: Mix 4 c. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 to 3/4 c. milk. Drizzle over entire pan of buns after baking in a pretty pattern. (Get daring and substitute a tbls. spoon of orange juice for the vanilla. You can also play with orange zest in your dough.)

Now and later variation:
After slicing the rolls, split them between two pans. Wrap one pan tightly and freeze for later. Wrap one pan as indicated and place in fridge. To bake cinnamon rolls from the freezer, place the frozen, wrapped rolls in the refrigerator overnight. Then bake as normal, beginning at step 9. (If, like me, you like the sauce in the pan variation, put the sauce in before adding the rolls.)

I want them NOW variation:
Don't want to wait until the next day? After slicing the rolls (step 7), go ahead and let them rise for 1 hour under a towel on the counter. Bake as usual.