by Holly
This easy favorite puts a fresh apple twist on a favorite cinnamon roll recipe!
A tender dough is smothered in butter, cinnamon, and our favorite apple topping. It’s all rolled up and baked until tender. Top with a quick glaze or your favorite cream cheese frosting for a delicious treat.
A Twist on a Favorite
Who doesn’t love apple pie in the morning?
These apple cinnamon rolls taste just like fresh apple pie, filled with cinnamon-sugared apples, fragrant and perfect for serving with a steaming cup of coffee
Ingredients
DOUGH This recipe is made with homemade dough and while it takes a bit of time, it’s not difficult to make.
FILLING We make homemade apple pie filling in minutes, this gives the best flavor. Canned apple pie filling can be used in a pinch.
SUGAR & SPICE Cinnamon sugar and the glaze are just as important as the apples and the dough, so don’t skimp on the seasonings! If you have it, swap out some of the cinnamon for apple pie spice.
How to Make Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Prepare the apple filling. If using canned, chop the apples smaller.
- Prepare the dough per recipe below and let rise for 1 hour.
- After rising, roll into a rectangle, brush with butter, & sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top.
- Spread apple filling over top, roll the dough into a log.
- Carefully slice the rolls into 12 pieces and place them in a baking dish.
- Rise until fluffy and bake according to the recipe.
To Serve
- Let the rolls cool a few minutes in the pan.
- While cooling, make the glaze in a small zippered bag. Snip off one end and drizzle the glaze over the tops. Serve warm.
How to Store Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Keep apple cinnamon rolls in an airtight container at room temperature and they’ll be good for about 3 days.
- Baked rolls can be frozen as long as they are wrapped tightly and placed in a zippered bag with the date labeled on the outside. Toss one into a backpack or briefcase and they’ll be thawed in a couple of hours!
- Freeze unbaked rolls in the baking dish and wrap them with plastic with the date written on the outside. They’ll keep in the freezer for about 2 months. Let them thaw overnight and bake in the morning!
Delicious Apple Dishes
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal – hearty & healthy
- Homemade Apple Crumble – ready in under an hour
- Apple Cheese Danish Bars – so quick & easy
- Apple Dumplings – serve with ice cream
- Warm Apple Bread – a reader favorite
Did you love these Apple Cinnamon Rolls? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Prep Time 45 minutes
Servings 12 rolls
Ingredients
- 1 batch Quick Stovetop Apple Pie Filling or 1 can (21 ounces) apple pie filling
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Glaze
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tablespoon water
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
Dough
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast or 2 ¼ teaspoon
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar plus 1 teaspoon
- ¾ cup milk
- ⅓ cup butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 4 to 4 ½ cups all purpose flour divided
Instructions
- Grease a 9x13" pan and set aside. Chop the apples in the filling and set aside.
Dough
- Combine water, yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl. Let sit 10 minutes or until foamy.
- Combine milk, butter, remaining sugar, and salt in a saucepan and heat to 120-130°F. Place 2 cups flour in a stand mixer. Add eggs, milk mixture and yeast mixture. Mix until combined.
- Using a dough hook, add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time to form a soft dough that pulls away from the side of the bowl. You may not use all of the flour.
- Remove dough from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic (approx. 8 mins).
- Place in a greased bowl in a warm spot and cover with a towel for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- On a floured surface, roll out bread dough into an 18″x9″ rectangle.
Assembly
- Cover the dough with a thin layer of butter. In a small bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle it over the rolled dough. Top with apple filling.
- Roll the dough into a log (it should be 18″ long). Slice into 12 pieces. Place the rolls in the pan and cover with parchment paper and a dishtowel. Place in a warm area to rise (about 60 minutes).
- Once risen, preheat oven to 375°F. Bake 22-27 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly.
- In a small zippered bag, mix the glaze ingredients together. Snip off the corner and drizzle over top.
- Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Today I gave this recipe a try. First of all, I used my bread machine for the dough….worked beautifully! The apple pie filling turned out so scrumptious, and everything was going great, and then like another person experienced, cutting slices of the filled dough was seemingly a major disaster…..the filling was oozing out all over my pastry cloth and I just had to arrange the unravelling dough in spirals as best I could, scooping filling off the cloth and onto and between the dough….but I persisted and finally stuck the whole mess into the oven, praying for the best. And guess what….it came out looking absolutely beautiful! The dough rose up through the filling and created what looks more like a coffee cake, but who cares? Even more importantly, it tastes wonderful! Drizzling it with the vanilla frosting made it look something you’d get at a bakery. A yummy recipe, and one I’ll make again, just with a different expectation in mind!
Thank you for sharing Vicki! So glad you enjoyed the apple cinnamon rolls!
Changed vanilla to lemon in the glaze out standing
Curious. Why wouldn’t you use the CinnaBon recipe and just add apple mixture? Too sweet?
I haven’t tried it but I can’t see any reason it wouldn’t work.
I’m new to making homemade cinnamon rolls, and this was an epic failure for me haha :( everything was going great until I dumped the apple filling on, spread it out, and then tried filling it up.. it was oozing everywhere :/ maybe it was how I was rolling it up? Maybe the filling had to much sauce? I got it rolled into a log but when I went to cut it in half, the filling was just pouring out and the roll I cut was flattened.. it was an aweful mess lol.. I just threw the logs into a couple 9×13 pans and hoping for the best when it bakes.. an apple pie cinnamon log HAHA!!.. maybe next time just take the apples out of the sauce stuff? Help!! What am I doing wrong? These look soo delicious and I want to eat them lol :)
It is possible that your apples had more sauce so were more slippery and messy. Taking the apples out of the sauce should help.
Apple rolls sound delicious, will try…..
This is a terrific recipe. My family is in love!!
I’m glad your family loved this!
Should the butter be melted for this recipe?
No, if the butter is softened it should mix in just fine.
can i substitute thinly sliced fresh apples instead of pie filling ?
I’ve only tried it as written so I can’t say for sure.
This looks soooo good! Could it be made in a 9 x 13 pan instead?
I think a 9×13 might be too big for a single recipe. You might be better to try a 9×9 or 8×8 square pan.
Just pulled these babies out of the oven, glazed them, and couldn’t resist trying…. WOW!!!!
The only change i made was i used a sweet bun recipe for the dough rather than bought bread dough. I personally like making my own dough, and it a touch sweeter than bread dough. Will definitely keep this recipe close! Thanks for sharing!
Oh boy !! This looks really good. Gonna have to make it!!
I love this recipe and can’t wait to try it! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
I wonder if these an be frozen and how long they will last in the fridge.
I have not tried freezing them so I can’t say for sure. The would last about 2 days in the fridge (but they never last that long in my house!) ;)
These look fantastic! I definitely want to try them.
These look so easy and yet so yummy. Definitely trying these.
Hugs,
Bev
Hold me back! These look delish! :)
This looks delicious and perfect for these cool fall mornings.
I can’t even begin to describe how amazing these look! I bet they’d be perfect for snuggling up with on a cool fall morning.