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Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

Gingerbread cinnamon rolls are very similar to traditional cinnamon rolls, but the dough is flavored with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. The final rise occurs overnight, so they can be baked first thing in the morning!

A plateful of iced gingerbread cinnamon rolls
Welcome to #ChristmasSweetsWeek 2019! Co-hosted by Terri from Love and Confections and Christie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures! What better way to celebrate the holidays than with food and fun? 25 bloggers from around the country have come together to share some of their favorite sweet Christmas recipes!! Deck the halls and get ready for very merry sweet treats, like fudge, cookies, Christmas morning breakfasts, layer cakes, cocoa, and more! Follow along on social media with our #ChristmasSweetsWeek hashtag. Happy Holidays!
A collage of steps for forming gingerbread cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon rolls have been a holiday breakfast tradition in my family for a long time. My mom would buy the ones from the refrigerated section in the grocery store, and she and my dad would eat one each while watching my brother and I open our gifts.

Gingerbread cinnamon rolls are very similar to traditional cinnamon rolls, but the dough is flavored with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. The final rise occurs overnight, so they can be baked first thing in the morning!

In culinary school, I learned how to make them from scratch. I also started to experiment with different flavors. And I thought, if I can have strawberry sweet rolls in spring, why not gingerbread cinnamon rolls at Christmas?

And really, there's not much difference between these cinnamon rolls and the regular kind! The gingerbread flavor in the dough comes from molasses and spices like ginger, cloves and cinnamon.

A plateful of un-iced gingerbread cinnamon rolls

For a final finish, instead of the usual simple sugar or cream cheese frosting, I added some cinnamon to the cream cheese (my preferred cinnamon roll frosting).

I like a good, thick frosting on top of my cinnamon rolls, so I didn't add any cream to mine, as it was nice and spreadable as-is, but if you prefer more of a drizzle, you might want to add a half-teaspoonful or so of cream or half-and-half.

A plateful of iced gingerbtead cinnamon rolls

While the title of this recipe is overnight cinnamon rolls, you can bake these the same day you make the dough. I've included those directions in a note below the recipe instructions.

Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

Yield: 12 rolls
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Rising Time: 10 hours
Total Time: 10 hours 55 minutes

Gingerbread cinnamon rolls are very similar to traditional cinnamon rolls, but the dough is flavored with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. The final rise occurs overnight, so they can be baked first thing in the morning!

Ingredients

For the rolls

  • 1 pkg instant yeast
  • ½ cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
  • ¼ cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
  • 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus more as needed
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup molasses
  • 2 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon salt

For the filling

  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the icing

  • 4 oz cream cheese, at room-temperature
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Heavy cream as needed, for thinning

Instructions

  1. In a heatproof glass measuring cup, combine the warm milk and water. Add the yeast and stir briefly. Let sit for 10 minutes.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine molasses, brown sugar, egg, oil, salt, yeast mixture and 1 ½ cups flour; beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment until smooth. Stir in the remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). If the dough doesn't clear the slides of the bowl, add up to ½ cup more flour.
  3. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead for 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a bowl greased with nonstick cooking spray. Spritz the top of the dough with the spray, then cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and let sit in a draft-free area until doubled, about 1 hour.
  4. For filling, mix sugars and spices in a small bowl. Punch down the dough in the bowl, then turn onto a lightly floured surface. Press or roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 12x8-in. rectangle. Brush with the melted butter to within ½ in. of edges; sprinkle with sugar mixture. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side furthest from you; pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 slices.
  5. Place in a greased 13x9-in. baking pan, cut side down. Cover securely with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rise overnight (at least 8 hours).
  6. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and enough milk to reach desired consistency; spread over warm rolls.
  7. The next morning, remove the pan of rolls from the oven and let rise in a warm area for 60 to 75 minutes.
  8. Thirty minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the rolls until golden brown and appear dry on top, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let the rolls cool for about 10 minutes.
  9. While the rolls are cooling, whisk together the icing ingredients. Spread on the rolls before serving.

Notes

You don't have to let these rolls rise overnight. If you want to bake the same day, after placing the rolls in the 13x9-inch pan, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise for an hour, until roughly doubled in size. Thirty minutes into the rise, start preheating your oven, then bake as directed in Step 8 of the recipe.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 325Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 146mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 1gSugar: 26gProtein: 5g

I am not a certified nutritionist. This nutrition information is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only.

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Enjoy these #ChristmasSweetsWeek recipes from our bloggers:

Christmas Beverages:
Fluffernutter Latte from The Kitchen Prep
Hansel and Gretel Gingerbread Latte from Blogghetti
Mexicoco from YumGoggle
S'mores Hot Chocolate from For the Love of Food

Christmas Breakfasts:
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Daily Dish Recipes
Flaky Nutella Christmas Tree from Shockingly Delicious
Gingerbread Sweet Rolls from The Redhead Baker
Grinch Pancakes from Katie's Cucina
Mini Chocolate Peppermint Baked Donuts from It Bakes Me Happy

Christmas Pastries and Desserts:
Angel Sugar Crisps from Jolene's Recipe Journal
Chocolate Cherry Loaf from Seduction In The Kitchen
Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups from Sweet Beginnings
Peppermint Chunk Cookies from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Snowman Cupcakes from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
Toy Soldier Frosted Brownies from Big Bear's Wife
Vegan Gingerbread Layer Cake from The Baking Fairy

Christmas Candies:
Bourbon Balls from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Chocolate Peppermint Truffles from Family Around the Table
Christmas Crack (Saltine Toffee) from Palatable Pastime
Gingerbread Fudge from Love and Confections
Slow Cooker Chocolate Peanut Candy from Cheese Curd In Paradise
Spiced Pecans with a Rum Glaze from Karen's Kitchen Stories
Star Crunch Inspired Bars from Our Good Life

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Anna

Friday 6th of December 2019

These gingerbread cinnamon rolls look so yummy! I like gingerbread so much, especially with cinnamon. It gives me a little Christmas atmosphere! I have my own recipes as well, I'm thinking of sharing them later on my blog. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe, Coleen!

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