Fluffy Overnight Apple Butter Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
If you’re a lover of warm, comforting flavors, then these Fluffy Overnight Apple Butter Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls are the best thing you’ll ever taste–seriously! Not only are they super thick, fluffy, tender, brioche-like rolls, but they come completely bursting with apple butter flavor and smothered in a rich, but light eggnog cream cheese glaze.
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 427kcal
Ingredients
Overnight Apple Butter Dough:
- 3 cups Organic All-purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill; See Notes!)
- 2 cups Artisan Bread flour (I use Bob's Red Mill; See Notes!)
- 1 packet Rapid Rise Yeast (That's 2 ¼ tsps!)
- ½ cup Homemade Apple Butter (See Notes!)
- ½ cup organic brown sugar + 1 Tbsp (I use Sugar in the Raw)
- 1 ¼ cup Almond milk (You can use your fave plant-based milk OR whole milk!)
- ¼ cup WARM water
- 2 large eggs, room temp.
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (That's 4 Tbsps!)
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of allspice
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Filling:
- 4-5 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted
- 3 Tbsps Homemade Apple Butter (See Notes!)
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup organic brown sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw)
Eggnog Cream Cheese Glaze:
- 4-5 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
- 4 oz. organic cream cheese, at room temp. (That's ½ a pack!; I use Organic Valley)
- 2-3 Tbsps high quality eggnog, warmed slightly (I use Organic Valley)
- 2 Tbsps unsalted butter, softened
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Overnight Apple Butter Dough:
- Start by combining the yeast and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and then slowly pouring in the warm water, while stirring everything together. Allow 10 minutes for the mixture to sit and the yeast to activate (It'll become foamy when done right!).
- Meanwhile, melt the butter and milk together over the stove top on low to medium heat, stirring frequently until the butter has fully melted. NOTE: You don't want the mixture to get too hot or boil! Set aside and let it cool until WARM.
- Add lukewarm butter-milk mixture to yeast and mix until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time and continue mixing on low speed until well combined. Add in apple butter and mix until well combined.
- Next, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, brown sugar, sea salt and spices to the wet ingredients and mix on low-speed until well combined.
- Change “mixer head” to kneading accessory and knead dough for 5-10 minutes on medium-high speed until dough ball becomes smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed with 2 fingers. NOTE: If dough is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until texture is achieved!
- Once dough ball is perfectly kneaded, add it to a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit and rise for 1 hour to an hour + 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, you can work on the filling!
The Filling:
- Melt butter and mix in the apple butter and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon and brown sugar and set aside as well.
- Once the hour has gone by and your dough has risen (about double it's original size), flour a flat surface and place the dough on it and using a rolling-pin, roll it out to a rectangle (approximately 9"x14), trimming the edges if needed. NOTE: Try not to make the dough too thin or else rolling it up will be hard to do!
- Then, generously brush apple butter-melted butter mixture overtop of dough and spoon the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the butter. NOTE: I also use a 'pastry brush' to sweep sugar mixture evenly across the dough to ensure that every bite is sweet!
- Tightly roll dough (long-ways) and using a pastry cutter, cut dough into 1.5" rolls, placing each roll (cut side down) into a large baking dish (lined with parchment paper!).
- Then place plastic wrap (and foil for security) over the baking dish with rolls and place your prepped rolls in the refrigerator to chill overnight (minimum of 8 hours).
- Once they've been chilled overnight, remove rolls from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature + rise for 1-2 hours. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and brush the tops of the rolls with a little more of the apple butter-melted butter mixture and then bake them for approximately 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven.
- While all the baking magic is happening, make the Eggnog Cream Cheese Glaze and set aside.
Eggnog Cream Cheese Glaze:
- Simply combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer & beat together on medium-high speed until fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, and eggnog, continuing to mix on medium speed until you reach the desired consistency. **Add more eggnog (1 tablespoon at a time if too thick) or powdered sugar (for more thickness).*
- Remove the rolls from oven and wait 15-20 minutes or so (until it completely cools), and then spread the glaze atop the rolls using a rubber spatula.
- Bon Appetit!
Notes
- TO STORE: Cinnamon Rolls can be kept fresh at room temperature when tightly wrapped or sealed for up to 3 days. Fresh for up to 1 week in the Refrigerator. Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months.
- RAPID (INSTANT) RISE YEAST VS. ACTIVE DRY YEAST: If you’re not using the Rapid Rise Yeast for this recipe, please know that the rise time will be twice as long (about 3 hours) since regular Active Yeast doesn’t work as quickly.
- HOMEMADE APPLE BUTTER: To see how to make this easy apple butter, see the post above!
- STORE APPLE BUTTER: Store leftover apple butter in a tightly sealed mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. Can be frozen for up to 1 year.
- FLOUR: If you don’t have bread flour, you can always just use all-purpose flour entirely instead.
Nutrition
Calories: 427kcal | Carbohydrates: 108g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 136mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 479IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg