Freeze and Bake Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas Morning
These cinnamon rolls bake up soft, fluffy, and perfectly gooey, with buttery cinnamon sugar swirled through every bite. The maple cream cheese frosting melts into the warm spirals and turns them into the dreamiest holiday breakfast.
There is nothing better than waking up on Christmas morning to the smell of warm cinnamon rolls, and this recipe has officially become my secret to keeping the morning peaceful and slow. I prep the rolls ahead of time, freeze the trays, and then all I have to do is pop them straight into the oven while the kids are opening stockings. It feels like such a gift to myself.
These rolls are super soft and tender thanks to freshly milled hard red wheat flour (I love this counter top NutruMill for milling fresh flour) and a rich milk dough with coconut oil. If you’re used to fresh milled baking, you know how sometimes the dough can feel a little dense. Not with these. Letting the dough chill overnight relaxes the gluten and turns everything silky and workable, which makes the rolling and slicing so much easier.
I also love that this recipe makes two full trays. One tray goes straight to the freezer for Christmas morning, and the other is my “bake now” tray for whenever my family inevitably gets too excited to wait. My kids can smell these from a mile away.
The maple cream cheese frosting is unreal on these warm rolls. It melts just enough to drip into all the spirals. I usually make the frosting the morning of because it comes together fast, but you can also make it ahead and keep it chilled.
The Process
Once the dough chills overnight, it’s so forgiving. I roll it out into a big rectangle on my counter and brush on the melted butter. The cinnamon sugar butter layer goes right on top, and it smells incredible. I roll it up and use a bench scraper to slice the log into even pieces. You’ll get roughly 20 rolls, and I scatter about 10 into each 9Ă—13 tray (I love these casserole dishes). I used one 9×13 foil tray and another slightly smaller casserole dish for eating right away.
I like to butter my trays so nothing sticks, especially since these are going into the freezer. After a short proof, I then bake these fully before they fo in the freezer. The trays get wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and foil so they stay fresh for up to two months. It feels amazing knowing I’ve already done the work ahead of time.
On the morning you want to bake them, just pull a tray from the freezer, uncover it, and let it thaw on the counter. Warm them on the oven for about about 15 minutes at 350. While they bake, I whip up the frosting and set it aside. The second those rolls come out of the oven, I spread the frosting over the warm tops so it melts into a glossy layer.
If you want a Christmas morning breakfast that feels special without the rush, these cinnamon rolls deliver every single time. Prep ahead, bake fresh, and enjoy the slow moments with your family while the oven does all the work for you.
Tips
- Fresh milled wheat absorbs more liquid, so the dough will look soft at first. It tightens up after the overnight rest.
- The overnight chill makes the dough easier to roll and slice.
- If you want to frost for both trays, double the frosting recipe.
- If you want to make, bake, and serve these fresh without freezing, just plan to make the dough the day before. Finish rolling out the dough, shaping, and baking the next morning. It’s really pretty simple!
👇🏻 View the full walkthrough of the recipe below on my YouTube channel
Freeze-and-Bake Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas Morning
Ingredients
Method
- Warm the milk, coconut oil, and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches about 95 to 100 F. If the temp is higher, be sure to let it cool down until it's warm to the touch and not above 100 F.
- Sprinkle in the yeast and let it sit 5 to 10 minutes until it looks foamy.
- Stir in 4 cups of freshly milled flour. Cover and let it rise for about an hour until puffy.
- Mix the remaining half cup of flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the dough and stir to combine.
- Cover again and chill overnight or up to two days. If the dough rises high, just punch it down.
- Line two 9Ă—13 freezer safe casserole trays with parchment.
- Flour your counter and roll the dough into a big rectangle about 30 inches wide and 12 inches tall.
- Brush the melted butter over the dough, leaving a small border at the far edge.
- Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon evenly.
- Roll the dough into a tight log and pinch the seam.
- Slice into roughly 20 rolls and arrange about 10 in each tray, leaving a bit of space for them to expand.
- Let the trays proof for 40 minutes.
- After proofing, bake at 375 F for about 20 minutes until lightly golden.
- Ice while warm.
- Bake the rolls almost completely before freezing. Try to pull them out of the oven when they look slightly underbaked. Let them cool, cover with plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze. You can freeze them without baking, but par baking is my preference. Remove trays from the freezer and take off the plastic and foil.
- Let them thaw on the counter 1 to 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Bake about 15 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden and warmed through.
- Whisk together powdered sugar, maple flavoring, butter, cream cheese, and salt until smooth.
- Spread generously over warm cinnamon rolls.
Video
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Hi! I’m excited to try this recipe! One question I have is in the description above it states the dough will make 20 rolls, and in the recipe section it states it will make 30 rolls. Can you clarify so I make them the proper size? My 12 year old twin daughters and I are obsessed with watching your YouTube channel 🙂 Thank you!
These should make 20 rolls, so 10 in each dish. Thanks for pointing that out, I will fix that now! So glad you guys love my videos, feels great to know people watch them!
Circling back to say my family and I all agree these are the best cinnamon rolls we’ve ever had! made a batch with hard red and hard white, and to my surprise we all liked the hard red the best. I modified slightly by omitting the baking powder and baking soda, and adding all of the flour at once and letting dough rest for 30 minutes before proceeding. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!!
This made my day! I love that you tested both hard red and hard white and even found a favorite. Hard red surprises people in the best way. Your tweaks sound really thoughtful too, especially the rest time. I’m so glad this one earned keeper status for your family. Thank you so much for coming back to share 🤍
These were absolutely delicious! I’ve tried many cinnamon roll recipes but this is the best one I’ve tried by far. Even my husband, who is very picky about cinnamon rolls, love these. I love the fact that they are made with fresh milled flour! I’ve got my extra batch in the freezer for Christmas Day. Can’t wait to see how those are baked out of the freezer!
Winning over a picky cinnamon roll critic is a big deal. I’m so glad you loved them and that you’re using fresh milled flour too. Baking them straight from the freezer on Christmas Day is the best part. I’d love to hear how they turn out then. Thank you so much for sharing!
Directions were easy to follow and the result is delicious. It is not Christine’s fault that some of my rolls were irregular shapes, I’m clearly not competent rolling out and cutting. But the end result was delicious! One pan of nearly perfect rolls are going in my freezer and my family will enjoy the “odd ones” today! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
That made me smile so much. The odd shaped rolls always taste the best anyway. I love that you’re freezing a pan for later and enjoying the rest today. Thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind comment and I’m so glad your family loved them ❤️
Look amazing, would it be the same amount of flour if its not freshly milled?
Yes, you can use the same amount. If you’re using regular all purpose flour, just watch the dough as you mix it. Fresh milled flour tends to absorb a bit more liquid, so with store bought flour you may need a tablespoon or two less flour or a tiny splash more liquid. Go by how the dough feels and you’ll be just fine.
The maple extract and cream cheese frosting really make these cinnamon rolls extra special. These turned out great! Next time I’ll place the individual rolls closer together in the pans so they rise more and spread out less when baking. Just like in the video, I had to proof in a warm oven to get them to rise before baking. Thank you for another great recipe!
Thank you, glad you liked the maple twist as much as I did!
Hi! I wanted to flag an issue with the written instructions for this recipe. The directions don’t mention removing the milk from heat and letting it cool before adding the yeast. I followed the written steps and ended up wasting milk because the yeast was added while the milk was still hot.
After watching the video, I saw that you do remove the milk from heat and let it cool before adding the yeast. It would really help to have that step clearly written in the instructions to avoid confusion.
Hi There, thank you for letting me know, and sorry to hear about that! While I did give the temp instructions in the recipe, I can see how that could be confusing. Mine ended up getting too hot which is why I let it cool, but you want it warm to the touch around 90-100 F.
These were great! My 4 year old and I made them a couple weeks before Christmas and then froze to bake Christmas morning. They were amazing. My family, in laws and dad all loved them. The only thing I did differently was mix the white sugar with brown 50/50 and I added a little bit of heavy cream over the cinnamon rolls before baking. But honestly I think those changes were not even necessary. And would have been wonderful as is.
I love that you made these with your 4 year old and baked them on Christmas morning. That’s such a special memory and I’m so glad everyone loved them. Your tweaks sound delicious too. Thank you so much for baking along with me. ❤️
These were amazing! My husband, who isn’t a huge freshly milled flour fan, devourd them! I love your channel and have a list of recipes I plan on trying. The tomato soup is next!
That’s the best compliment, especially when someone isn’t usually a freshly milled flour fan. I’m so glad he loved them and that they were a hit in your house. Thank you so much for watching and for your kind words. I hope you love the tomato soup just as much!
These are the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made! I tried this recipe on Christmas morning and my whole family loved them. I used regular all purpose flour and made them immediately rather than freezing them, and they were absolutely fluffy and delicious. This will be my go-to recipe for sure!
This is exactly why I love sharing recipes. I’m so happy they turned out fluffy and delicious and that your family enjoyed them on Christmas morning. Thank you for making this part of your holiday.💜
Curious, could the recipe be modified to use sourdough? If so, can you provide you recommendations?
It’s definitely possible but would require some testing before I gave you my recommendations. My first thought is to add the bubbly sourdough starter at the beginning, instead of the yeast, and follow the same process, however let it sit out longer before you place it in the fridge overnight to bulk ferment.