This cinnamon roll breakfast casserole is what happens when lazy-girl brunch meets holiday chaos. The smell alone could convince Santa to call in a personal day. Warm, gooey, sticky-sweet, and dangerously easy-like the kind of comfort food that forgives you for oversleeping and still makes you look like you had it all planned. You can even assemble it the night before you plan to serve it.
Table of Contents
❤️ Why we love this lazy-girl cinnamon roll breakfast casserole
- Built with actual cinnamon rolls, not sad bread cubes pretending to be special. This is overnight breakfast casserole decadence in its final form.
- Cream cheese melts into every nook like it's signing a long-term lease. No dry pockets. No flavorless corners. Not on your watch.
- Brown sugar, vanilla, and butter swirl together into a caramel-soaked situation that could probably summon a small crowd with just the smell.
- The texture walks that perfect line: custardy on the bottom, gooey in the middle, golden on top-like French toast and a Cinnabon had a glorious, sugar-laced baby.
- Make-ahead magic. Assemble the night before. Bake it now, serve it later. Bake it now and serve it fresh - no matter how you do it you'll impress everyone like you didn't spend most of last night cussing at wrapping paper.
Letting it rest overnight makes the custard soak deep into the cinnamon roll pieces, so the texture is richer, the spice is deeper, and the cream cheese gets dreamy-soft. It's less "coffee-and-sugar-rush breakfast" and more "Sunday brunch at a fancy inn with questionable wallpaper."
Want the secrets that didn't make it into the post? The free printable cinnamon roll breakfast casserole cheat sheet has all the good stuff; the swaps I actually use, the timing tweaks that save a chaotic morning, the "fix it fast" notes for soggy middles, and the one little trick that makes the top bake up crackly and golden every single time.
📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 24.8 ounces refrigerated cinnamon rolls, icing reserved, 2 cans
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 4 eggs
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped and toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish like you mean it-spray, butter, or both.
- Cut each cinnamon roll into quarters and scatter the pieces evenly in the dish.
- Add the cream cheese cubes, tucking them between cinnamon roll pieces so each bite gets a surprise pocket of creamy goodness.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter until smooth.
- Pour the custard evenly over the cinnamon rolls. If you're using pecans, sprinkle them on top.
- Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and the center is just set. (If it jiggles more than you on a Friday night, give it a few more minutes.) It should read 180℉-190℉ when done.
For Overnight Cinnamon Roll Casserole
- Assemble it completely up through step 6 (the point where you've poured the custard over and sprinkled pecans).
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate overnight-8 to 12 hours is the sweet spot.
- The next morning, pull it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for 20-30 minutes while the oven preheats to 350°F. This takes the chill off and helps it bake evenly.
- Bake as directed, but add about 5 extra minutes to the cook time since it's starting cold.
Icing
- Warm the reserved icing in the microwave for about 15 seconds until pourable.
- Drizzle it all over the warm casserole, watch it melt into the nooks and crannies, and try not to eat half the pan immediately.
Slow cooker instructions
- Add all the ingredients except the icing to a greased slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 3-4 hours and watch the edges. It should read 180℉-190℉ on an instant read thermometer when done.
Notes
- Cut cinnamon rolls is equal sized pieces.
- Let the rolls soak. Five minutes in the pan before baking helps everything puff, rise, and act civilized.
- Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🧾 Ingredients you'll need for this overnight cinnamon roll casserole
This isn't one of those ingredient lists that sends you wandering the store like a lost Victorian orphan. These simple pantry staples melt together into the kind of breakfast goodness that feels like it took all morning - without actually taking all morning.
- Refrigerated cinnamon rolls - the heroes of this story. Pop that can like it owes you money.
- Cream cheese - the silky, dreamy glue that holds your morning together.
- Eggs - the tiny protein workhorses keeping this whole casserole from becoming a lawless goo.
- Cream - yes, real cream. We're not here for diet food or regrets.
- Brown sugar - the caramel-kissed sweetness that makes the casserole taste like Christmas morning hugged you back.
- Vanilla - the whisper of magic that convinces everyone you planned ahead.
- Cinnamon - because subtlety is for people who don't bake casseroles for breakfast.
- Butter - melted, generous, and morally correct.
- Salt - just enough to keep the sweetness from running wild.
- Pecans - optional, but they add that little "oh wow" moment that makes guests think you're fancy.
🔪 How to make this family-friendly breakfast recipe
Time to work some breakfast magic. Nothing fancy, nothing fussy - just you, a baking dish, and a plan to turn canned cinnamon rolls into a casserole so good it'll make the angels clutch their pearls. Follow along and try not to eat half the ingredients before they hit the oven. I believe in you… even if your self-control is questionable at best. This sounds fancier than it is - trust me, you've got this.
- Toss those chopped cinnamon rolls and little cream cheese cubes into your greased casserole dish like you're feeding the village on Christmas morning.
- Whisk the eggs, cream, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and melted butter together until it's smooth as a used car salesman. Pour that silky mixture all over the cinnamon rolls and let it soak in like Southern gossip.
- Scatter pecans over the top and bake until everything is puffed, golden, and the kitchen smells like breakfast on the farm.
- Hit it with the icing packet while it's still hot and serve it before someone in your house starts "taste-testing" pieces straight from the pan..
👩🍳 Just the FAQs
Got questions? Of course you do - this casserole inspires curiosity and chaos. Here's everything people usually ask before, during, and after they fall in love with it. If your question isn't here, be sure to download the cheat sheet or holler at me in the comments and I'll wrangle it.
Absolutely. Assemble it, cover it tight, and chill it overnight. In the morning, let it sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes so it doesn't go into the oven ice-cold and throw a tantrum. Then bake as directed.
Yes. That's the whole point. The refrigerated ones puff, bake, and soak up the custard like little sugar-soaked angels. Homemade rolls will work, but they change the texture and the bake time. Use the tubes.
Because it's underbaked. Tent with foil and keep going. Every oven is a diva. You want the center set but still soft - not raw-dough gooey, but not dry cornbread either. It will read 180-190F on an instant read thermometer when the casserole is done.
📚 More brunch casseroles for the holidays and beyond
If you're already in breakfast-casserole mode, you might as well keep the party rolling with more holiday breakfast ideas. My Crockpot Christmas Breakfast Casserole is the set-it-and-forget-it miracle that cooks while you sleep like the exhausted holiday legend you are. The Breakfast Burrito Casserole? That one hits the table like a protein-packed love letter to every Tex-Mex craving you've ever had before noon.
And don't you dare skip the Christmas Crockpot Monkey Bread - it's sticky, buttery chaos in a dish, the kind of breakfast that turns grown adults feral and makes neighbors "just happen" to drop by. If your morning needs comfort, carbs, or an excuse to ignore the gift wrap explosion in the living room, these three will carry you through.
This cinnamon roll breakfast casserole is the kind of holiday magic that takes zero effort but makes you look like you planned everything. It's warm, gooey, festive, and wildly forgiving-even if your morning patience is not. Whether you're feeding a hungry crew, bribing sleepy teenagers out of bed, or just treating yourself because you survived another year, this casserole shows up golden, bubbling, and smelling like a Hallmark movie with better plot.
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