Bite into these warm, fluffy cinnamon rolls stuffed with buttery apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon- topped with deliciously smooth frosting! These are a sure to become a fall tradition and one of your favorite “just because I’m craving it” recipes.
My Obsession with the Taste of Fall: Apples, Cinnamon, Pumpkin!
Give me all the apples, cinnamon, pumpkin, warm soup, campfire food….I am obsessed with the taste of fall this season! I do not remember getting this much in the fall spirit before now but here we are. Maybe it is apart of my growing desire to embrace every season- seasons of life, seasons of motherhood, the literal seasons. I want to embrace them all!
Because that is where I am in life, that also translate to the blog- because here we are all about real life!
So whether you are here to just snatch a good recipe or you are looking for a community to join while embracing all the seasons yourself, welcome. Here on our cozy little space on the internet we are all about giving you resources to enjoy all the seasons of life with recipes, homemaking, and encouragement through motherhood! Be sure to join our email list so you do not miss out on new posts, updates, and all the resources. (P.s.- we honor your inbox! No over-emailing, spam, or junk- EVER!)
Choosing Your Apples for Baking This Season
Don’t get me wrong- you could probably use just about any apple variety and these apple cinnamon rolls would still taste delicious! However, when you are choosing apples for baking this season here is some guidance for choosing the best for your recipes…
- Sweet varieties like Macintosh, Fuji, and Red Delicious tend to become overly mushy when using them to bake with for pies, apple rolls, etc. These are better suited for apple butters and sauces because they break down more than other varieties.
- Sour, tart apples like Green Apples and Granny Smith have great texture but they lack the sweetness you want in baking.
- So the best answer is a sweet/mildly tart variety such as- Honey Crisp, Golden Delicious, or Pink Lady.
- If you are having trouble finding certain varieties you can also mix and match a sweet apple with a sour apple and achieve great results!
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The texture is key! Personally my favorite is Honey Crisp. Not only are they great unbaked but they hold up well throughout the baking process and tend to achieve the perfect flavor when mixed with all the things- cinnamon, apple spice, brown sugar, etc.
Want another apple recipe to try this fall? Go check out my recipe for sourdough apple cinnamon muffins!
How to Make a Better Cinnamon Roll
I have tried a LOT of cinnamon roll recipes over the years and it took me a while to achieve results that were truly satisfying. Problems like- overly yeasty rolls, too dense, rubbery, and other flops just about made me give up the cinnamon roll game for good. These are some things I learned that helped me get a better result with my homemade cinnamon rolls…
- Trust the rising process, not the amount of yeast! Overdoing the yeast can really mess with the flavor of your rolls. If you have had issues with getting dough to rise you may be thinking, “I’ll just use more yeast next time.” In my experience more yeast is rarely the answer! Instead focus on fixing your rise problems.
- Troubleshooting rise problems. If the rises on your cinnamon roll dough are taking forever or you just are not getting a good rise at all here are a few ways to fix that. Temperature- the best rises are achieved in a warm place. In my experience, anywhere from 72-80 degrees is best. If your house is not that warm try placing your dough to rise in a high place like on top of the refrigerator. Or your stovetop while the oven is heated to about 350 degrees. If you still are not achieving good results heat your oven to 200 for about 10 minutes. Turn it off and let it cool for about 10 minutes. This will create a warm environment for your dough to rise in without baking it or overly warming the dough.
- You want a slightly wet, sticky dough. Yes, this makes it a bit of a pain to work with but the results are worth it! If your dough is overly worked and dry you are going to have another dense cinnamon roll not worth eating. If you are having trouble working with the sticky dough try wetting your hands. This will prevent it from sticking to you. Flour the surface and rolling pin well to prevent sticking to surfaces.
- Butter! I really thing the key to a good cinnamon roll is all in the butter. You just are not going to achieve a good, flakey, chewy roll without all the butter! And the technique is everything. Cutting in the butter like this recipe explains will give your rolls that perfect texture.
Apple Cinnamon Roll Sidekick
Apple cinnamon rolls are best paired with a cup of coffee! You can check out this blog post with five of my favorite at home coffee recipes. Hot or iced, a cup of coffee takes this dessert to the next level!
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Ingredients List for Apple Cinnamon Rolls
As with all my more recent recipes I love to include an ingredient list so you know at one glance what you need to make this recipe. This list can double as a grocery list, simply screen shot and head to the store!
- Active dry yeast (1 tbsp- purchase jar for best results; not packets)
- Whole milk (1 1/2 cup)
- Cane sugar (or regular; 3/4 cup)
- 2 eggs
- vanilla (optional if unavailable; 1 tsp)
- baking powder (5 tsp)
- salt (1 tsp)
- flour (4 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp)
- butter (1 cup; 2 sticks)
- brown sugar (1/2 cup + 3 tbsp)
- cinnamon (2 1/2 tsp)
- 3-4 apples (honey crisp, pink lady, or golden delicious for best results)
Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- 2 9×13 pans
Ingredients
Roll Dough Ingredients
- 1 tbsp active, dry yeast
- 1½ cup warm milk or water
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cold, grated butter
Apple Filling Ingredients
- 3-4 large apples honey crisp, pink lady, or golden delicious are best
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Brown Sugar Filling Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Frosting
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 3-4 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Begin by combining yeast and warm milk. Allow to dissolve completely, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla to stand mixer bowl. (You can mix by hand or with a hand mixer as well.)
- Add baking powder, salt, and two cups of flour to mixer and mix on low speed with a dough hook. Add 1/2 cup of flour and bits of grated butter at a time until the rest has been incorporated. Dough should be slightly sticky, barely pulling away from the edges of the bowl.
- Roll dough into a ball on a well floured surface. Wetting your hands may help transfer the sticky dough. Place dough in a bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place about 2 hours.
- While dough is rising, peel and slice apples.
- Dice apples and heat in a skillet on medium-low heat. Add butter. Once apples are cooked and chewy (takes about 15 minutes) add brown sugar and cinnamon. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Next, make your brown sugar mixture. Combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl.
- After apples have cooled add them to the brown sugar mixture.
- After dough has risen roll it out to about 1/4 in thickness on a well floured surface. (Flour the rolling pin as well to keep dough from sticking.)
- Spread the apple/brown sugar mixture across the surface of the rolled out dough.
- Using a bench scraper or a pizza cutter cut the dough into approximately 1 ½ x 8 inch strips. SEE PICTURE.
- Roll the strips and place in a greased 9×13 pan, allowing space in between rolls for rising.
- Allow rolls to rise about one hour or until nearly doubled.
- Bake at 350 ℉ for about 20-30 minutes.
- Allow rolls to cool 15-20. While rolls are cooling make frosting by combining confectioner's sugar and milk with a hand mixer. Pour over cooled rolls.
