How to Make Cinnamon Rolls Ahead of Time
Ever wondered how to make cinnamon rolls ahead of time? This simple and quick tutorial is for you!
By and large, one of the most frequent questions I get (especially around the holidays!) is:
Can I make these {insert name of favorite cinnamon roll recipe here} ahead of time?

Overnight? Months ahead of time?
And if so, WHAT THE HECK DO I DO AND HOW DO I DO IT?
As in, give me all the details to ensure fluffy, perfect cinnamon rolls the morning of, please and thank you.
Well, today, I have your back! I’m giving you the down low on how to make cinnamon rolls ahead of time. The simplicity of this process might surprise you.
Keep in mind that this overnight/make-ahead method I’m showing you today can be used for most any yeasted roll recipe – sweet or not.
Monkey Bread. Divine Breadsticks. Dinner Rolls.
There are just a few little key tricks/tips to keep in mind, and before you know it, you’ll be pulling out piping hot, fluffy, cinnamon rolls and other baked goods in the morning without having to stay up all night…AND looking like a rock star doing it.
Step One: make your cinnamon roll recipe of choice.
Here are just a few of my favorite cinnamon roll recipes. Many of them have step-by-step photos on the post for making the dough, shaping, etc.
Step Two: place the shaped rolls on the pan specified in the recipe.
I almost always use large, rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper and lightly greased with cooking spray.
For average-sized cinnamon rolls, I place about 12 rolls per pan with enough space in between the rolls for rising (but close enough that they’ll bake up with sides touching).
And like I mention in many of my cinnamon roll posts, you can see from the picture below that I usually grab the end of the cinnamon roll and tuck it under the roll so they stay nice and tight while baking.
Now here’s an important step: If you are making them ahead of time, don’t let them rise at room temperature right now like you normally would for the recipe!
Step Three: cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and immediately pop them in the refrigerator.
They can stay in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours (the longer they are refrigerated, the more the filling might liquify and seep out of the rolls – that may happen to a minor extent anyway, so don’t panic).
You’ll probably notice that when you take the rolls out of the refrigerator to bake, they’ll look puffier and more risen than when they went in.
That’s normal! And good.
Sometimes they’ll rise a lot, sometimes hardly at all. Varying factors: recipe used, warmth of the dough, time in the refrigerator, temperature of the fridge, etc.
Step Four: take the cinnamon rolls out in time to come to room temperature and fully rise before baking.
Usually that means the rolls need to have time to double in size from the original shape (for most recipes) before they go in the oven.
In my kitchen, that generally takes about 2-3 hours after they come out of the refrigerator, give or take.
Once they’re ready, remove the plastic wrap and bake them according to the recipe!
Bonus Tip: here’s one extra hack I’ve used when I don’t want to get out of bed at 4 a.m.
You know, for those mornings when cinnamon rolls need to be baked, frosted and edible by 7:30 or 8:00 a.m.
Sometimes, instead of taking them out 2-3 hours in advance, I take them straight out of the fridge, take off the plastic wrap, and pop them in the cold oven so they can do a “quick come to room temperature and rise” while the oven preheats.
I still bake them for about the same amount of time in the recipe (starting the time after the oven has preheated), but if you’re new to this method, I’d recommend checking on them a minute or two early, because each oven operates a little differently temperature-wise.
This lazy method isn’t completely foolproof. A lot depends on your oven, if it preheats in a standard way or if it has a “rapid preheat” function (that won’t work quite as well).
It also doesn’t produce maybe the same degree of light and fluffy cinnamon roll that the slow rise will do, but I might be the only one to notice the negligible differences. My family has never noticed a thing (shocker!).
For true, I-need-to-look-like-a-rockstar-occasions, I employ the ol’ set my alarm and drag myself out of bed early plan (or just make sure I don’t have to have cinnamon rolls ready by 8 a.m!). Sometimes the ultimate sacrifice of sleep is worth it, but I’m not going to lie, this easy hack has saved me a couple times, too.
A note about freezing
At this point, you can freeze the unbaked rolls instead of refrigerating.
You can freeze them right on the tray and a) keep them on the tray in the freezer OR pop them off the tray once frozen and store them in a ziploc bag in the freezer.
I also find that sometimes the yeast flavor can be more pronounced after freezing and then thawing and baking. I don’t recommend keeping them in the freezer any longer than 3-4 weeks.
Pro Tip: I hardly ever freeze unbaked sweet breads or rolls because of a hack my Aunt Marilyn taught me that I’ve mentioned before. Bake and frost the cinnamon rolls per the recipe and then place individual cooled rolls in a quart-sized freezer bag. Close the bag (yes, it’s a little messy) and freeze.
When ready to eat, remove the roll from the bag (it’s easier than it seems – it will pop right out!) and warm on a plate in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Hot, fresh, single-serve cinnamon rolls whenever you like. Dangerous!
I know all this info about how to make cinnamon rolls ahead of time isn’t really rocket science type stuff. Most of you probably already follow a similar method.
But I thought it would be handy to have a placeholder tutorial like this so that when I get questions…or when you wonder about the meaning of life and cinnamon rolls…I have a easy, helpful place to point you.
Now what are you waiting for!
Go make some cinnamon rolls!
And as always, leave any additional questions or comments below. I’ll add to this tutorial, if needed, as questions come up!
And one more time, in case you missed it, here’s that handy dandy list of my favorite sweet roll recipes:
1-2 min. To warm frozen baked cinnamon rolls are an overkill. Edges get hard. Know your microwave. In mine, 30-45 sec. Would suffice.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this post. It answers all the questions I had, while allowing me to use my own favorite recipe. Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much! Your tips and recipes always make me look like a rock star in the kitchen. All I have to do is tell my family “it’s from Mel” and they know it will be good!
Thank you so much, Erin!
Is it possible to let them partially rise and then refrigerate so that they won’t need as much time to complete rise to bake fresh in the morning and go?
It’s possible, but by doing that, there’s a chance they can over proof and then fall – so I think it’s best to pop them in the refrigerator before they start rising.
Thank you so much! This definitely came in handy to prep for family parties ahead of time!!
Question about doing this with your Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns….would I go ahead and make the caramel pecan sauce and place the buns on there before refrigerating? I would think you would have to; otherwise, the buns would be “disturbed” by moving them in the morning to the sauced pan, right? I just worry about refrigerating the caramel sticky sauce and it getting too cold and heavy before baking.
That’s a good question, Frances. I haven’t made the caramel sticky buns ahead of time like that, but I think it should work just fine (yes, assemble the rolls in the pan with the caramel sauce on the bottom).
If you freeze them before the last rise, how long should i plan on letting them rise after taking them out of the freezer?
It really depends on temperature of your kitchen, but I would plan on 4-6 hours for frozen cinnamon rolls.
Nice.
My recipe has to raise once before rolling them out and filling them. Can I raise them the once and then put it in the fridge? Roll them out tomorrow???
Yes, that should work.
Hi,
So I made my cinnamon rolls last night around 9:30pm that’s Thursday and rolled.. but put them in the refrigerator. I want to bake Saturday night right now it’s 8:44 am Friday morning. Could I still put them in the freezer? What do you suggest. Because if I leave them in the fridge until tomorrow they would have been there for more 24hrs
Sorry the delayed response. What did you end up doing?
If covered very well, can baked cinnamon rolls be frozen in pan. I have a 4 at glass pan I’ve used in the past but have never frozen.
Having several family members for Christmas breakfast.
Thinking I could take rolls out of freezer the night before.
Or would covered very well rolls keep ok if made and baked the afternoon of December 23, and not frozen?
Yes, you can freeze the baked cinnamon rolls! I freeze the frosted and baked rolls in individual bags all the time and they reheat beautifully in the microwave for a warm, gooey cinnamon roll. If you are wanting to serve them on Christmas morning, I’d probably bake, frost, and refrigerate tightly covered and then warm them lightly in the oven Christmas morning.
I would like to do your fridge overnight method. When I take them out of the fridge to rise do I leave the plastic wrap on or take it off ? Just in the raising process. Thanks
I leave the plastic wrap on while they rise.
I am making cinnamon rolls to take to my children’s house Christmas morning. We will need to be at their house by 7 AM to watch the grandkids open gifts from Santa. So should I make the rolls that day ahead and reheat them on Christmas morning? Otherwise I would have to get up at 3 AM to let the rolls rise and then bake them. We live in a very cold climate so I wouldn’t think taking them out in the cold to bake them at my son’s will work.
Baking them the day before and reheating the day of seems to make more sense in your situation!