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Overnight Olive Oil Cinnamon Rolls

A lighter and more complex on classic cinnamon rolls, these boast olive oil in the dough and filling, as well as warm spices like cardamom and nutmeg. They bake up into soft and warm little pillows.

  • Yield: 9 medium rolls 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

For the dough:

  • 3/4 cup milk, warmed
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
  • 2 eggs, room temp
  • 3 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

For the filling:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt

For the icing:

  • 4 tbsp milk
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions

  1. Make the dough. Mix together warmed milk, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cover and allow the yeast to bloom for 10-15 minutes until frothy. Add olive oil, salt, flour, and eggs. With a mixer fitted with the bread hook (or your hands), mix on medium-high for about 5 minutes until the dough comes together, becomes elastic, and bounces back when poked. If kneading by hand, it will take about 10 minutes.
  2. Turn the dough out into a bowl coated with olive oil, cover, and allow to proof in a warm place for about 2 hours, until tripled in size. For notes on the proofing process, see my Tips + Tricks page.
  3. Turn proofed dough out on a floured surface. Shape the dough by stretching and rolling into a rectangle, roughly 18 inches x 10 inches in size. I like to use a bench scraper to keep the sides straight and the shape more squared off.
  4. Make your filling. In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, olive oil, spices, and salt with a spatula until combined. The mixture will resemble wet sand. Spread/sprinkle the filling over the dough in a uniform layer.
  5. Roll your dough (starting on long side) to make a long log. Using a serrated knife (or my favorite, unflavored dental floss), cut the dough log into 9 even pieces. Arrange cinnamon rolls in a greased 9×9 square pan or 9 inch cake pan. Cover and put in the fridge to rise at least 8 hours or overnight.
  6. In the morning, remove rolls from the fridge and allow to rise at warm room temperature for 30 minutes-1 hour. Rolls will have puffed up slightly.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover rolls and bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes. If browning quickly, tent with tin foil halfway through bake time.
  8. Make the icing. Whisk together lemon juice, vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar until smooth. Spoon/drizzle icing all over warm cinnamon rolls.
  9. Serve warm! Cinnamon rolls keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days, or can be frozen for 1 month.

Notes

  • I used extra virgin olive oil for olive oil in this recipe.
  • Author: Caroline Crockett