Freezer-Friendly Cinnamon Rolls & Holiday Baking Giveaway

Having freezer-friendly cinnamon rolls on hand is the perfect solution when company's in town for the holidays {or on any busy morning!}. Just pop them from the freezer into the oven and they're ready to go. I'm also sharing a fantastic baking giveaway with some bloggy friends, too {that mixer would be fantastic for these cinnamon rolls!}. Annnd, there's a whole lot of other fabulous recipes to bake below, too!

In all my life, I've never met a soul who doesn't love a good cinnamon roll. If you don't like them, we may need to chat. I mean...really. Cinnamon, brown sugar and butter rolled up into yeasty dough and baked? Then, topped with a cream cheese frosting that will make you go weak in the knees. Oh man...so delicious.

But, sometimes the thought of making homemade cinnamon rolls is a bit overwhelming... especially in light of the fact that these are, technically, a "morning food". Who wants to get up in the middle of the night to knead dough and let it rise? Not this girl. I reworked an old recipe into something that will freeze beautifully...so you can make them any time of day. And still enjoy them at breakfast! Make some now to stick in the freezer for the crazy holiday season. Check out the recipe {AND GIVEAWAY} below.

As I mentioned above, my friends and I are hosting this awesome Holiday Baking Giveaway!

Check out all of the awesomeness you could win:

A White 4.5 Quart KitchenAid Stand Mixer, a signed copy of Dessert Mash-Ups written by the fabulous Dorothy Kern of Crazy for Crust, lots of goodies to bake with and $150 in PayPal cash to shop for your ingredients! Enter through the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't forget about these yummy cinnamon rolls>>>

Freezer-Friendly Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough
- 1 cup warm water

- 3 small envelopes of yeast

- 3 tablespoons of sugar

- 1/2 cup of butter

- 1/2 cup of honey

- 2 1/2 cups whole milk

- 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt

- 4 cups all-purpose flour

- 5 cups whole wheat flour

Filling:

- 1/2 cup butter, softened 

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Icing:

- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

- 3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp. vanilla

- 1/4 cup cream

Directions:

Combine warm {almost hot} water, yeast and sugar in a large glass bowl. Mix well and set aside for about 10 minutes to let the yeast activate. When it's ready to go, it will be frothy and bubbly.

Over low to medium heat, melt your butter {1/2 cup} in a saucepan. Add to it the honey, salt and milk. Do not let it boil, but stir consistently to keep milk from scalding. Heat it thoroughly and then pour into the frothy yeast mix and combine. Add a cup of flour at a time to this mixture {I alternate adding all-purpose and wheat}. Combine with a wooden spoon and then turn out onto a floured surface to work some more. Knead for about ten minutes until well combined. 

Spray a large glass bowl with nonstick spray {I usually rinse out the bowl from the yeast/flour mix and reuse it}. Place dough in it and cover with a clean dish cloth. Let it rise for an hour, until doubled in size. 

Punch down your dough and turn out onto floured surface again. Knead it until it's completely free of air bubbles and lumps. Divide dough in half.

On a floured surface, roll out your dough to about a 12"x15" rectangle. Spread 1/2 stick of softened butter on the rectangle. Combine the brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Liberally sprinkle on the buttered dough. Roll your dough into a tight log, lengthwise. Repeat with the other half of your dough.

Use waxed dental floss to cut the cinnamon rolls into one inch sections.

It's cinnamon roll perfection, y'all.

If you decide not to freeze them and to enjoy them right away, allow them to rise for half an hour and then bake for 20 minutes {give or take} in a 350 degree oven.

For the frosting:

Beat your cream cheese with a hand mixer until nice and smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar, about half a cup at a time. Add vanilla. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time until frosting reaches the desired consistency you'd like.

Spread frosting on still warm cinnamon rolls {or pipe it on them using a plastic bag}.

To freeze:

Skip the second rise. Place cut cinnamon roll dough slices about an inch apart from one another on a cookie sheet. Place in freezer for three hours. Remove dough rolls and place into a plastic freezer bag or container. Place back in the freezer until ready to use.

To bake from frozen:

Place cinnamon rolls into a greased casserole dish, sides touching. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes {no need to thaw before baking}. Frost immediately and serve. 

Please note: frosting does not freeze well. It's simple to make the morning of, though.

I love having these on hand during the holidays when family is staying with us. They think I must've gotten up at 4 am just to make them breakfast {wink}. And of course, the house will smell divine when these babies are baking. They gets all the sleepyheads out of bed.

Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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