Easy Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Time: overnight; 15 minutes prep; 25 minutes baking

Music Selection: Alannah Myles – Love Is

Love Is – Cinnamon buns in the morning with a huge cup of hot coffee and a quiet house, before the kids are up! I love that little bit of quiet time, before they all get up and start pulling apart the cinnamon rolls. Then our day gets fun and noisy as we laugh at each other and our quirky ways before heading off for the day! Then it gets quiet again and I play “Love Is” one more time and I wish they were back and it was noisy again…

Ingredients

1 frozen roll of bread dough

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup raisins

3 Tbsp cinnamon

¼ c butter plus 3 Tbsp butter

Butter/olive oil/spray for casserole pan

Optional: ¼ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:

The night before (or according to frozen dough instructions), take frozen dough and place in greased bread tin. Cover with a cloth and let rise all night.

In the morning, flour your surface and roll out the dough to a 12 inch by 15 inch rectangle.

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and 2 Tbsp of cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, melt the 3 Tbsp of butter in the microwave.

Brush butter lightly over the dough. Just a light layer, otherwise the rolls will be soggy. Then spread on the brown sugar/cinnamon evenlyto all corners of the dough. Sprinkle the raisins and nuts on top.

Taking the long side of the dough, roll the dough into a 15 inch log. Do not roll too tight. Push in the ends so it is even. Then, cut the log into 10 equal rounds.

In a greased casserole dish, brush out the remaining ¼ cup of butter (or you can melt it and pour it on the bottom). Sprinkle the ¼ cup of brown sugar and remaining 1 Tbsp of cinnamon on the bottom of the dish. Then, lay the 10 circles of dough with space between them so they can rise. Cover the dish with a cloth and leave in a warm spot for another 45 -60 minutes (if you have the time to let them double in size). One technique I use: I heat a cup ofwater, with a dry, clean dishtowel in the microwave for one minute. I remove the cup of water, place the buns in the microwave and cover the dough with the warm cloth. Let it rise in the microwave, but do not turn on the microwave.

Heat oven to 350 °F. Remove towel from dough and bake for 23 – 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then put a large plate or serving tray on top of the buns, with hot pads or oven mitts, carefully clip the buns over so the gooey, yummy sauce coats the buns!