These gooey made from scratch cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting are a Christmas morning tradition at our house.
I have been wanting to share this cinnamon roll recipe with you for a long time. We make these every Christmas, but these perfectly soft and cinnamon-y rolls of deliciousness don’t have to be just for the holidays.
How about just happy Saturday cinnamon rolls! Or brunch cinnamon rolls? Everyone loves a lazy weekend brunch. Who can say no to sticky cinnamon rolls smothered with cream cheese icing?
Disclaimer: This post does contain affiliate links. Please see my Affiliate Link Policy All opinions are my own.
At our house, Christmas Eve dinner was usually the big holiday dinner.
Christmas Eve dinner always included a big batch of my Aunt Donna’s Dinner Rolls. These rolls are famous in our family – and in a little town in Illinois where another one of my aunts, My Aunt Marilyn, is the owner of several restaurants where these rolls are proudly featured.
Why am I talking about these dinner rolls in a cinnamon roll post? Stay with me. It’ll all make sense in a minute.
For Christmas Eve dinner my mom always makes a batch of my Aunt Donna’s dinner rolls. The recipe makes about 16 rolls. She would use half of the recipe for dinner rolls.
Then mom would take half of the dough and make Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. These are the kind of overnight cinnamon rolls that you stick in the fridge and then bake the next morning.
Making homemade cinnamon rolls from dough that you have already made for some dinner rolls is a serious pro move.
It only takes a few extra minutes to roll out some dough and add the butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Then just cut them into 8 rolls and put them into a greased baking pan.
Cover the pre-prepped cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Who’s the best mom EVER? Don’t forget to whip up that cinnamon roll icing.
In the morning while we were all opening presents, my mom would take the rolls out of the fridge and preheat the oven. While the oven was preheating, the rolls would have a chance to rise (this usually takes about 40 minutes).
PRO-TIP: Set the baking dish with the rolls in them on a baking sheet. Cover the rolls with a towel and set the whole thing on top of the stove as your oven preheats. This gives the rolls a little warmth so that they can rise faster. OR if you have a proof setting on your oven, like I do on my Breville Toaster Oven, you can use that.
My brother and I would scarf down these sweet rolls in the afterglow of tearing through all of our presents. What a special holiday memory.
Moms are great!
Now that I am one myself I realize how much work and effort goes into all of these special holiday memories. They don’t just make themselves!
Thankfully these rolls can be an easy addition to your holiday plans. Maybe they will even be part of your family’s special memories as well.
Just imagine the cinnamon-y baked goodness of these babies baking in the oven.
Cinnamon rolls before frosting. You can also add chopped pecans to the cinnamon and sugar mixture inside.
I baked a half batch of cinnamon rolls for this post.
This worked out perfectly since I was also working on the post for my Aunt Donna’s Dinner Rolls.
Much like my mother does on Christmas Eve, I made a full batch of rolls and then took half of the dough to create some dinner rolls. For our small family, on a non-holiday weekend, this left the perfect amount of dough for the cinnamon rolls above.
What is a gooey cinnamon roll without cream cheese icing?
This perfect cream cheese icing is delicious! It’s rich and creamy without being too sweet.
I use this same cream cheese icing for everything that calls for it. It’s delicious on my Gluten-Free Carrot Cake, and on the Glass Shard Cupcakes that I make at Halloween. Not to mention Kit’s Banana Cake.
I may have put a little too much icing on the rolls in the photo above, but who’s complaining?
The cinnamon rolls above were still warm when I photographed them, so the icing kept melting off. [That’s my excuse for using so much – and I’m sticking to it!]
Feel free to use as much or as little cinnamon roll icing as you want. If you only like a little bit of icing you could easily halve the amounts noted in the recipe.
Also keep in mind that this recipe gives the measurements for a full batch of cinnamon rolls, which is sixteen.
I know you will enjoy these easy gooey cinnamon rolls made from scratch. The best part is, both elements of this recipe are true keepers. The cream cheese icing is one I pull out all the time. And of course, the basic dinner roll recipe is a family favorite.
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Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Rolls
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup melted butter
- 2 ¼ tsp yeast 1 packet
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cups all purpose flour plus more if needed
Filling
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 4 oz butter softened
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp heavy cream or half and half
Instructions
Rolls
- Using a stand mixer, beat the eggs until they are fluffy and light yellow.
- Add the sugar and beat again.
- Add the butter and beat again.
- Add the salt, the water, and the yeast. Beat again.
- Switch to a dough hook.
- Add half of the flour and mix until just incorporated.
- Add the remainder of the flour. Beat until the dough comes together. The dough will be soft.
- If the dough is too sticky add a little bit more flour.
- Put the dough in an oiled bowl, and cover with a clean towel. Let rise until the dough has doubled in size. (About 2 hours.)
- Punch the dough down and roll out 9 x 13-inch rectangle, on a lightly floured surface.
- Spread softened butter on the rolled out dough. Leave a ½ inch space at the top unbuttered so it can seal when rolled.
- Sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon and then roll up into a jelly roll shape.
- Cut the rolled dough into 16 rolls. Make them even by cutting the large roll in half, then the two remaining rolls in half, then half each of those four halves in half, and so on. I use dental floss for this.
OVERNIGHT CINNAMON ROLLS
- Place the rolls in a 9 x 13-inch cake pan and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- In the morning take the rolls out of the refrigerator. I usually place the covered pan on a baking sheet and let it warm on top of the over as the oven is preheating to 425℉. This helps the rolls to rise a little faster.
- Let them rise for about 40 minutes up to two hours.
- Bake at 425℉ for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
BAKE SAME DAY CINNAMON ROLLS
- Place the rolls in a 9 x 13-inch cake pan and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Let them rise for about 2 hours. You can speed this up if you have a proof setting on your oven. You can proof the rolls until they have doubled in size.
- Bake at 425℉ for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
Frosting
- Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy.
- Add sugar, vanilla, and cream.
- Spread on warm cinnamon rolls.
Notes
Nutrition
So easy to prep these cinnamon rolls and licking every bite of the delicious cream cheese icing!