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
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 extract
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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I wasn’t sure this was going to turn out. The dough was great and the apple pie filling was great until I put them together and the pie filling was making a huge mess all over the counter. I rolled it up best I could and sliced it into 12 pieces. More pie filling oozed out and each piece was not holding together but I got all 12 pieces into the pan. After it baked for 27 minutes no more mess and the rolls were absolutely wonderful. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be making it again even though it was really messy to put together.
I made these last summer with apples from our tree. They were delicious! I want to take them to a friend’s place next weekend but need to make in advance. I see you offered two options for freezing. Which do you recommend for best results? Thanks!!
They both work well it just depends on what you prefer. If you want to serve fresh baked warm rolls then you can freeze them unbaked and follow those instructions but if you want a quick snack then freezing them baked is a great option.
Thanks so much for the quick reply!
Thank you for a new twist to cin-buns. I had one x-tra large egg, I made about a 3/4 recipe in my bread maker, on the dough cycle. So tasty, light +
fluffy. I grated the 2 apples (gala) I had on hand. I will try it again with a more flavorful apple. They looked almost as nice as yours. Thank you.
Sounds delicious. Thanks for leaving a comment, Darrel!
The dough was beautiful. Unfortunately like many others I ended up with a goopy mess. I let the filling chill but it still oozed out and became a disaster. Should’ve done the Cinnabon recipe instead. A lot of work to toss it.
I am so sorry to hear that, Cindy. Thank you for trying this recipe.
It’s a 5 star recipe for sure!!!!