Ma Trupe here! I need to tell you guys something. I love to bake. I have baked so many things in my life and I love it. It makes my heart smile to watch someone bite into something amazing that I’ve made. That look of pure joy as the first bite of deliciousness hits their tastebuds – there’s very few things that are better than that.
Right now, I am doing keto. Trying to get healthy and stay that way, so I bake mostly for my family these days. It’s really challenging to not sample fresh bread, cookies, scones,….well, everything really. But one of my biggest challenges came when I decided to make apple pie cinnamon rolls.
We had an abundance of produce and I hate to see things go to waste. Waste not, want not, right? So, I was trying to find ways to use up all these delicious apples. I had already made applesauce so I was thinking about making pie filling. It was a baking day I was also looking at cinnamon roll recipes (because they are Pa’s favorite dessert). And then, with a little help from my bff Thelma, a revelation! Apple pie cinnamon rolls! Yaaasssss.
I googled a few recipes and they all looked amazing. I ended up picking one and tweaking it a bit because that’s how I (cinnamon) roll. The result was the most magical cinnamon rolls I have ever created. Without further ado, the recipe:
Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls
Course: Breakfast, Dessert12
Rolls45
minutes25
minutesImagine warm apple pie, rolled up in a cinnamon bun! So warm and delicious. Perfect any time of year for breakfast or dessert!
Ingredients
- Dough
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1.5 Tbsp of active dry yeast (or two packets)
1 stick of butter, softened (1/2 cup)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
4.5 – 5 cups all-purpose flour
- Apple pie filling
1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup)
1/2 – 1 cup brown sugar
1.5 – 2 Tbsp cinnamon
2-3 medium apples, cored and chopped small
- Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp sea salt
- Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp heavy cream
1/4 c Salted Caramel Sauce
- Special Equipment
Stand mixer
Dough hook
Heat resistant rubber spatula
Directions
- Start the Cinnamon Roll Dough
- Warm your milk on the stove top in a small pot. You want it to be warm to the touch, but not too hot – not bubbling at all. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Pour this into your stand mixer bowl and then sprinkle in the yeast. Stir it up a little and then let it sit for about 5 minutes. If it doesn’t get foamy and start to smell yeasty, you may have either killed the yeast or the yeast is bad. Dump this and try again.
- Using the dough hook, stir your yeast mixture on low. Add the butter in 4 additions. Then add the eggs one at a time. Mix until the butter is broken up. You may need to mix by hand a bit on this step.
- Add the salt and flour to the stand mixer. Start with 4.5 cups of flour. Mix with the dough hook until a soft, supple dough forms. It should pull away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. If it doesn’t come together, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough forms. Allow the mixer to knead the dough for 4-6 minutes on medium speed.
- Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Spray the bowl of the stand mixer lightly with non-stick spray. Form the dough into a ball and return to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic, Beeswax wrap, or a clean tea towel. You want the dough to sit in a warm, dry spot for 1-2 hours. You can warm the oven to 150-200, turn it off, And then place the bowl in there.
- While the dough is rising, make the Salted Caramel.
- Salted Caramel
- Add your sugar to a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Using a heat resistant rubber spatula, stir constantly(!!!) until melted completely. While it melts, it will turn to a thick amber-colored liquid.
- Immediately add the butter to the melted sugar. When added, it will cause the sugar to bubble a lot, so BE CAREFUL!
- Stir until the butter is completely melted. Then slowly stir in the heavy cream. This will cause the mixture to bubble and rise again. BE CAREFUL! Allow it to boil for 1 minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salt. Feel free to adjust the amount of salt to your taste.
- Allow the caramel to set and cool. It will thicken as it cools. Save 1/4 cup for this recipe, and store the rest in an airtight container for future use.
- Make The Rolls
- Once your dough has doubled in size, it’s time to continue. First, spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Or grease with butter.
- Turn the dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly greased or floured work surface. Gently deflate with your hands as you go. Then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12×18 inch rectangle keeping the thickness even.
- Okay, now the good part. Take your softened butter. The whole stick, and spread it on your dough. All the way to the edges. I use my hands to do this, but a butter knife works too.
- Once you’ve covered the dough in butter, sprinkle on the sugar, followed by the cinnamon. Add more as needed to cover the whole surface. Finally, spread you apple pieces all over the surface as well.
- Now, roll that bad boy up. Starting on a long side, roll the dough into a TIGHT, 18 inch log. You want this to be tight so the filling stays in. Pinch the seam and roll the log so the seam is on the bottom.
- Cut your log into 12-16 rolls. If you do 16, your pan will be stuffed full. Twelve rolls leaves plenty of room for rising. Move the rolls to your prepared pan as you cut them.
- Cover the pan with a clean, dry tea towel and allow the rolls to rise for 30-60 minutes; they need to double in size again!
- Bake the rolls at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes – or until golden brown. If you check the rolls and they are getting too dark, tent the pan with foil.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes
- The Icing
- Whisk together (by hand, or with a mixer) all of the icing ingredients. You can add more/less heavy cream to make the icing thinner/thicker.
- Drizzle the icing all over the cinnamon rolls for an amazing topping.
- I recommend serving these warm, but you can cover them and store in the fridge for 5 days. They are delicious cold, room temperature, really any way you eat these, they are delicious!