Make the night before...bake in the morning!
Overnight Nutella Cinnamon Rolls need to be on your brunch menu.
Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth.
It’s fortunate when asked to bring a dessert to an event {hello, I have a million to choose from}, but it is seriously unfortunate when you come home with leftovers. I try hard to have others take them from me. This past weekend I left a bag of cookies at a friend’s house on purpose just so they wouldn’t tempt me at home.
I would eat one after each meal!
My brother and sister are the same way. My mom is a great baker. She can flat out beat anyone in a taste test when it comes to cakes, cookies, cheesecakes, brownies, the list goes on and on. So we grew up with it. Desserts are in our blood.
We live and breathe for celebrations when a dessert is served {umm, hello, most meals if we have the choice}. And do you know one of our favorites?
Cinnamon Rolls.
Because obviously they double as breakfast and dessert. Bingo!
Up until about 3 years ago I had not attempted a homemade cinnamon roll on my own. I was famous for cracking open that can of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. I still think those are delicious by the way. But, the yeast version kinda freaked me out. I pictured myself elbow deep in dough and a splitting headache for at least 3 hours of my morning life.
Frankly, that didn’t sound the least bit of fun.
All that rising time. Letting it rest. Blah, blah, blah. But when I finally got the guts to give them a shot I realized they weren’t nearly as scary as I thought. In fact, they were pretty easy. Just follow the directions and you’ll be fine.
I have a super duper One Hour Cinnamon Roll for all of you wanting to ease into this process. Please give them a try. In the fall, when pumpkin is all the rage, people often request my Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls. Those don’t even require yeast!
When dreaming up yet another cinnamon roll recipe, I wanted to do something different. First off, I wanted them to include chocolate. I love the flavor of Nutella, so this was a no-brainer. Second, my mornings are kinda hectic. Everyone seems to want to eat NOW and we are usually time pressed to get somewhere. So….I decided to make them the night before. Genius, right?
Enter in my Overnight Nutella Cinnamon Rolls.
And the frosting? Yeah, that is chocolately too. It had to be! If you love chocolate and you love a good cinnamon roll, you will do back flips for these.
And yes, again, I had to hand deliver half of these to a friend. She has two young boys and loves food just about as much as I do {the main reason why we get along so well}, so imagine her face when I walked in with these beauties.
Give these a shot. Remember you do all the work the night before. Your morning will simply consist of pulling them out of the fridge, giving them an hour to rise and come to room temperature and then frosting them to your heart’s content.
Crap. Now I want another one.
See what I’ve done? I sit here and type out my thoughts about these things and that darn dessert craving comes back stabbing me in the heart.
Overnight Nutella Cinnamon Rolls
For the dough:
1 pkt. dry active yeast
4 T. warm water
1 c. warm milk or heavy cream
¼ c. sugar
1 beaten egg
3 ½ c. flour
½ t. salt
6 T. melted unsalted butter
1 pkt. dry active yeast
4 T. warm water
1 c. warm milk or heavy cream
¼ c. sugar
1 beaten egg
3 ½ c. flour
½ t. salt
6 T. melted unsalted butter
For the filling:
½ stick butter, softened
¾ c. Nutella
½ stick butter, softened
¾ c. Nutella
For the frosting:
4 T. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
¾ c. Nutella
¼ c. milk or heavy cream
4 T. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
¾ c. Nutella
¼ c. milk or heavy cream
1. In a large bowl combine the yeast and warm water to dissolve.
2. Add in the warm milk.
3. Stir in the sugar and beaten egg.
4. Add in 2 cups of the flour and salt, mixing well.
5. Pour in the melted butter and combine.
6. Add in the remaining flour and mix until sticky and pulling away from the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 90 minutes.
7. Flour your counter and turn out the dough. Add more flour to the dough and the rolling pin so it does not stick. Roll out ¼ inch thick into a rectangle size.
8. Spread the softened butter over the dough, followed by the Nutella. Roll up the dough from the long edges. Using a serrated knife cut the dough into 1 inch slices. {12-14 rolls}.
9. Place each piece into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
10. In the morning, remove from the fridge one hour prior to baking, letting it sit in a warm area of your home. {I like to set mine on my dryer if it is running}. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
11. After an hour, bake for 25 minutes or until just golden brown.
12. The night before also make the frosting. Using a stand or hand held mixer combine the softened butter, cream cheese and Nutella until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar to combine. Refigerate until morning. Set out one hour prior to frosting.
2. Add in the warm milk.
3. Stir in the sugar and beaten egg.
4. Add in 2 cups of the flour and salt, mixing well.
5. Pour in the melted butter and combine.
6. Add in the remaining flour and mix until sticky and pulling away from the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 90 minutes.
7. Flour your counter and turn out the dough. Add more flour to the dough and the rolling pin so it does not stick. Roll out ¼ inch thick into a rectangle size.
8. Spread the softened butter over the dough, followed by the Nutella. Roll up the dough from the long edges. Using a serrated knife cut the dough into 1 inch slices. {12-14 rolls}.
9. Place each piece into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
10. In the morning, remove from the fridge one hour prior to baking, letting it sit in a warm area of your home. {I like to set mine on my dryer if it is running}. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
11. After an hour, bake for 25 minutes or until just golden brown.
12. The night before also make the frosting. Using a stand or hand held mixer combine the softened butter, cream cheese and Nutella until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar to combine. Refigerate until morning. Set out one hour prior to frosting.
I have some other family dessert recipes that pretty much rock this world. Here are a few of our favorites!
Classic Coconut Cake
Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting
Rhubarb Custard Dessert
Out-of-this-World Monster Cookies
Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting
Rhubarb Custard Dessert
Out-of-this-World Monster Cookies
