Now that Easter is in the books, it’s time to start thinking about Mother’s day. I think every mom deserves to have this easy cinnamon roll recipe in her back pocket to make the morning extra special! Now, if you have a husband and children who know their way around the kitchen and love to shower you with a delicious morning brunch in the comfort of your bed…text me sometime, I want to know your secret.
However, if you’re like me, and you love the thought that goes into the rubbery eggs and dry toast, but not the actual taste, join me! You can make this easy cinnamon roll recipe weeks in advance, then detail it with heating instructions and pop it in the freezer. Then you just have to drop a few heavy hints to the hubster, and let the heavenly smell of sugary carbs ease you awake on your special day.
Try and make the dough the day before rolling the rolls. It only takes about 20 minutes.
Your dough should look like this. I had to use my hands to kneed in the last couple cups of flour. But just until incorporated! Cover the pot (I would suggest Saran wrap instead of the pot lid) and let it rest in the fridge overnight.
Cut the dough into thirds and roll out one of the sections into a rectangle. Seriously though, does anyone really achieve the rectangle shape? It’s usually an awkward oval at best for me. Moving on. Slather that puppy in butter, like a Paula Dean amount of butter, and sprinkle heavily distribute your cinnamon sugar mixture. Rub it into the layer of butter so they can be an ooey-gooey duo upon baking. Roll up tightly.
Use dental floss to cut rounds and place onto a large greased pan.
Let the cinnamon rolls rise for 2-3 hours until double in size. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, and prep your cream cheese frosting. The key to this frosting is to whip the butter and cream cheese together for 2-3 minutes prior to adding your remaining ingredients. And another minute on high after you’ve added the ingredients and scraped the bowl.
BEHOLD.
If you are not aware, there are two ways to eat a cinnamon roll 1.With melted frosting 2.With firm frosting. And let me tell you, the decision is a heart-wrenching one to make. For picture purposes, I let the cinnamon rolls cool before applying the frosting. But usually I slap on a couple coats before I even turn the oven timer off. The frosting melts into the cinnamon sugar and the rest is history.
My favorite part about this easy cinnamon roll recipe is that it makes ALOT! So you can have a pan for today and a pan to freeze for Mother’s Day!
So while you are licking your plate and reaching for second helping, you can prep your Mother’s Day breakfast!
Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe – Freezer Directions:
1. Follow all the steps up until baking (yes, you let them rise).
2. Select the pan that you are going to freeze and par-bake them. Meaning, bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and let cool.
4. Place rolls into a large ziplock freezer bag (or in quart bags for smaller batches, I like batches of four) and place in the freezer.
5. Reserve a portion of the frosting into a small ziplock bag and freeze with each batch.
6. The night before serving, take rolls out and place on a baking sheet. Cover with saran wrap and place in the fridge to thaw along with the frosting.
7. The next morning preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes. Watch closely!
8. Cut the tip of the frosting bag and pipe it on to the cinnamon rolls.
I know you will love these cinnamon rolls as much as we do around here. Try them out and let me know what you think! I’ve included an easy to follow printable recipe below!
And if you want to make your day extra easy, try prepping one of these slow cooker freezer meals to grab out of the freezer and pop in the crock pot, then you can spend the rest of your day making your kids give you foot massages.
Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe {Freezer Friendly}
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 cup Water
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 cup cold water
- 4 eggs slightly beaten
- 2 packages yeast (or 4 1/2 teaspoons)
- 7 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1/3 cup cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2-3 tbsp milk
Instructions
Cinnamon Rolls
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add butter, sugar, and salt. Heat through until sugar is dissolved.
- Add the cold water to the mixture. Mix to cool it down slightly.
- Take 1/2 cup of this water-sugar-butter mixture and add to a separate small bowl. When it's luke warm - or around 110 °F (not too hot or you'll kill your yeast) sprinkle yeast in and mix gently to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is foamy. While waiting, beat eggs in a separate small bowl and add them to the main dough mixture.
- Stir in yeast and then the flour and mix until gently combined
- Cover the pan tightly and let rest in the fridge overnight.
- When ready to roll out, divide dough into thirds. Flour surface and roll dough into a rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Spread each rectangle with softened butter.
- In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon, and add it on top of the butter, being sure to leave enough to repeat with each section of dough.
- Roll up like a jelly-roll and use floss to wrap around a 1 1/2 inch section, pull cross-wise to cut through the dough.
- Place in a greased baking sheet and cover loosely with greased saran wrap. Let raise for 2-3 hours until doubled in size. Bake one sheet at a time at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream together softened butter and cream cheese on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add remaining ingredients and beat on high again until soft and light. Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.
Notes
1. Follow all the steps and let the dough rise 2-3 hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
2. Lable a freezer bag with cooking directions. Place the cinnamon rolls one by one in a single layer. Add the frosting to a smaller ziplock and add to the bag. Freeze for up to 6 weeks.
3.The night before baking, individually place rolls onto a greased pan. Cover and place in the fridge to thaw along with the frosting.
4. In the morning bake pan at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Snip one edge of the frosting bag and pipe onto warm cinnamon rolls.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Val says
I am making to freeze.
I just got to the step to put the dough in the fridge overnight.
So in the morning ill roll out and cut, THEN? Let them rise 2-3 hours before baking 10 minutes?
Krista says
Val, I think the recipe is saying to bake the cinnamon rolls ahead of time, and then let them cool before placing them in the freezer. Then the 10 minutes of baking is just to warm them up. ☺
Vanessa says
These cinnamon rolls turned out beautifuly. I followed the recipe to a t however I did have to cook them for about 20 minutes. I cooked one pan and froze the other two. My only complaint about the recipe is that it is hard to be patient while waiting on the dough.
Cathy Garrett says
Will be making these for Thanksgiving. Do you have good recipe for yeast dinner rolls ?
Tiffany says
Hi Carrie,
My dough turned out really wet and I had to add a lot of extra flour to roll out. I wonder if it is because of the previous comment:
For the yeast activation, the recipe says to add the yeast to 1/2cup warmed water, but the ingredient list doesn’t list this measurement of water. Do you mean that the yeast should be added to a 1/2 cup of the boiled/cooled water mixture?
Please let me know if I need to add more flour or if I need to use the 1/2 cup from other water. Thanks so much!
Karrie says
The yeast would be added to 1/2 cup of the cooled mixture, I just updated the recipe to show this. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know this needed clarification! If your dough is too sticky add a little more flour until you get the right consistency.
Natalie says
I wanted thus recipe to work. I followed all all directions to a T. Unfortunately, the rolls were dense and even crunchy in this outside. I tried to troubleshoot what may have gone wrong. Since my yeast was proofed and bubbled as it should, I believe that it was the lack of kneading/rising.
Donna says
2 tsp packages yeast (or 4 1/2)…I don’t understand this measurement. Is it 2 tsps. of yeast? Thanks!
Karrie says
Hi, it’s 2 packages or 4 1/2 teapsoons. Sorry for the confusion.
Mary says
For the yeast activation, the recipe says to add the yeast to 1/2cup warmed water, but the ingredient list doesn’t list this measurement of water. Do you mean that the yeast should be added to a 1/2 cup of the boiled/cooled water mixture?
Carol says
Is this Strong White flour i.e for bread making or all purpose flour (plain in U.K)
Happy.MoneySaver says
All purpose flour!
julianne says
this looks awesome! and 15 minutes to cinnamon rolls on the weekend? yes, please!
Laura says
These look delicious!
Adriana says
These look delicious! I always vote for the warm frosting! These seem to always be at the top of my pregnancy cravings… I could eat one right now!
Michelle says
I would love to try these, it looks like one of the yummiest recipes!
MML says
This looks delicious!!
denise n says
these look worthy of a try!