Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I baked cinnamon rolls from scratch for the very first time over the holidays, something I have been wanting to do for a very long time. I used Alton Brown's 'overnight' recipe that calls for preparing them the day before and baking them off in the morning. I loved the comforting feeling upon waking up and having them there waiting for me to pop into the oven. Such convenience. And then to have the entire house fill with that welcoming smell of cinnamon dough was blissful.

But in all honesty I wasn't 'wowed' by them the way I wanted to be. The roll itself was kind of bland - even after I had doctored it up by adding Cinnamon right into the raw dough. If you know me - you know I have a hard time following a recipe exactly as written. I also added chopped walnuts to the filling which was a delicious touch and doubled the icing recipe also adding more cinnamon (because you can never have too much of a good thing) and a dash of vanilla.

I was looking for something extra special; something to impress; and these failed to do that for me. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't refuse one if offered. They weren't terrible tasting or anything, but I won't make them again. They did solicit "oohs" and "mmms" from family members. And I'm happy because I can finally cross them off that long 'to do' list of mine...

Print Alton Brown's recipe

My changes:

-Add one teaspoon of Cinnamon to the dough at the beginning along with the butter and eggs.

-Sprinkle a cup of chopped walnuts over the cinnamon filling before rolling up.

-Add a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of vanilla to the icing. Double the icing recipe if you like a lot like I do!

I have to give a shout-out and a thank-you to the generous people over at Red Ape Cinnamon who sent me this cute little jar of cinnamon to try out. I have been using it in everything (they don't call me Cinnamon Girl for nothing) sprinkling it in my hot tea, oatmeal, and Greek yogurt. I used it for all my holiday baking including my Butterscotch Blondies. Red Ape Cinnamon is a robust Korintje cinnamon from Sumatra and is sustainably harvested from Cassia Cinnamon trees that are at least 20 years old. The Volatile Oil (V.O.) content is much higher in older trees resulting in a higher quality cinnamon. The best part is that 5% of profits from sales of their cinnamon is donated to programs dedicated to the protection and restoration of orangutan (a.k.a. The Red Ape) habitat in Indonesia.