Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling
Best For: Breakfast, Dessert
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Resting Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 cinnamon rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- ¼ cup warm water
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 packet (2¼ tsp) instant dry yeast
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup milk of choice (unsweetened if non-dairy)
- 1 large egg
Apple Pie Filling
- 2 large apples, peeled and diced (we like Honeycrisp or Pink Lady®)
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp milk of choice (unsweetened if non-dairy)
Directions
Dough
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In a small mixing bowl, whisk together warm water, brown sugar, and yeast. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside to activate. You will know your yeast is activated when little bubbles appear on the surface of the mixture.
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In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt, butter, milk, and egg.
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Once yeast is activated, add to the other ingredients and stir until a dough forms.
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Cover a clean, flat surface with flour, and knead the dough for 3 minutes. Dough will be sticky, so continue to add flour to your hands and the surface as needed.
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Return dough to the bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel to rise for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, make the filling.
Apple Pie Filling
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In a medium-sized mixing bowl, use a whisk or hand mixer to cream together butter, sugar, and cinnamon.
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Fold diced apples into butter/sugar/cinnamon mixture and stir until evenly coated.
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Once dough has doubled in size, add more flour to your work surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out into a rectangle, about 9 in. x 12 in.
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Pour apple pie filling onto the dough and use a spatula to spread it out evenly over the surface, leaving about ½ in. border on all sides.
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Working from the shorter side, use two hands to tightly roll the dough away from you, until you’re left with a cylinder, about 12 in. long.
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Slice the cylinder into 6 equal parts, about 2 in. wide each, to create 6 individual cinnamon rolls.
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Add the cinnamon rolls to 9 in. x 13 in. baking dish, leaving about an inch in between each roll.
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Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow the rolls to rest for about 90 minutes or until they double in size. Note: You will notice some liquid in your pan from the juice in the apples, but that’s okay! It will add moisture to your cinnamon rolls.
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Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops of the rolls are golden brown.
Icing
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
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While whisking, slowly pour in milk until a thick glaze forms. You want it to easily run off of the whisk without being too thin. You may not need all 3 Tbsp of milk to reach the right consistency.
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Cool cinnamon rolls in the baking dish for 10 minutes before topping with icing.