Cozy up with these cinnamon rolls with apple pie filling! These soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls are filled with an apple pie filling and covered in a maple syrup icing.
Sweater weather to me means cinnamon rolls! After making my brioche cinnamon rolls last year, I knew I wanted to make an apple pie version!
I've made some changes to that cinnamon roll base recipe to make it much softer and fluffier, thanks to adding an extra egg and butter.
The apple pie filling for these cinnamon rolls is cooked before being added to the dough. I've then covered them in a delish maple icing, but you can use a classic cream cheese frosting if you prefer!
If you love apple recipes, you have to try my apple crisp cheesecake, apple waffles, apple oat crumble pie and mini apple pies with puff pastry!
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Why you'll love these cinnamon rolls with apple pie filling!
- Perfect Treat: These cinnamon rolls make the perfect Fall treat! Or how about making them for Christmas morning?
- The Best Combo: Think of this recipe as a traditional apple pie mixed with homemade cinnamon rolls!
- Soft Cinnamon Rolls: The extra egg is going to give you pillowy cinnamon rolls, no dry cinnamon rolls here!
- Apple Pie Filling: The apple filling is made from Granny Smith apples, sugar, and cinnamon, just like a classic apple pie!
- Make in Advance: You can make the apple pie filling in advance.
- Heavy Cream: Just before baking, the cinnamon rolls are drizzled in warm heavy cream. This is going to give you the softest cinnamon rolls ever!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour: I'm using all-purpose flour for these cinnamon rolls.
- Unsalted Butter: I always use unsalted butter in my recipes, this helps control the level of salt!
- Spices: Adding a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg to the dough is going to make your dough lightly spiced.
- Heavy Cream: Pour some heavy cream over the cinnamon rolls just before baking to give you gooey cinnamon rolls.
- Apples: I'm using Granny Smith apples because I prefer my apple pie filling to be slightly sour and tart! You can also use Honeycrisp apples or Gala apples.
- Cornstarch: Add some cornstarch to the apple pie filling to thicken it up.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Make your apple pie filling. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced apples, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and cinnamon and cook for 5-8 minutes.
Step 2: Pour the apple pie filling into a large bowl and stir in the cornstarch. Let cool completely.
Step 3: Warm up your milk, if it's too hot it will kill the yeast so have it be lukewarm. Add the yeast and stir. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, until you see some bubbles and foam.
Step 4: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. On low speed, add the eggs, butter, and milk mixture. Beat on low speed for 2-3 minutes, then increase the speed to medium.
Take the dough out and lightly oil it. Place the dough back in and cover with clingfilm. Let sit until doubled in size, about an hour to an hour and a half.
Step 5: Take the dough out and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to be 18x12 inches. Use a pastry brush to brush the softened butter over the dough, leaving a ¼-inch border. Whisk together the light brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle that over.
Use a spoon to spoon out the apple pie filling over the cinnamon sugar. Roll the dough up from the long side.
Step 6: Butter a 9x13-inch pan. Use dental floss or a knife to cut the cinnamon log into 12 equal pieces and place it in the buttered dish.
Step 7: Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap for 1 hour so it can rise. After 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 350ºFahrenheit.
Step 8: Just before baking, warm up the heavy cream in the microwave. Pour over the cinnamon rolls and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
Whisk together the maple icing ingredients and pour over the warm cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!
Expert Tips & Tricks
- I always recommend using a kitchen scale! It makes such a big difference to your baking, and it's so easy to add too much flour to your cinnamon rolls, giving you dry rolls.
- I recommend letting the apple pie filling chill completely before adding to the dough. When adding to the dough, leave any extra liquid in the bowl.
- This is going to be messy when you roll up the cinnamon roll dough, keep that in mind!
- If you're finding it hard to cut into slices, I recommend using dental floss to slice into rolls.
- I prefer brushing the dough with softened butter instead of melted butter. I've found the melted butter tends to leak out when I roll up the dough!
- If you prefer a cream cheese icing, check out this brioch cinnamon roll recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make the apple pie filling the day before, just place it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
While you're waiting for the apple cinnamon rolls to rise just before baking, some of the filling is going to leak out into the bottom of the pan. But don't worry! This cinnamon mixture with the heavy cream is going to create a caramel syrup at the bottom of the cinnamon buns!
Yes, you can freeze these cinnamon rolls. Let them cool completely then place them in a ziplock bag or freezer-friendly tupperware. When ready to eat, let them defrost in the fridge overnight. Warm them up in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes.
After the second rise, poke the buns with your finger. It should bounce back but leave a bit of an indent. If there is no indentation at all then you need to let the dough rise for a bit longer.
Storage
Wrap up these cinnamon rolls with apple pie fillings or place them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Reheat in the microwave.
Try these breakfast recipes next!
Have you made this recipe? Please rate the recipe below! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @alpineella and Pinterest!
Recipe
Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie FIlling
Equipment
- 9x13 baking tray
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature, cut into squares
- pinch ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- ½ cup heavy cream
Cinnamon Filling
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
Apple Pie Filling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 apples peeled and diced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Maple Icing
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
Apple Pie Filling
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Add the diced apples, salt, cinnamon, lemon juice and sugar and stir to combine.⅓ cup granulated white sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 4 apples, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Cook for 5-8 minutes, the apples should have softened up.
- Pour the apple filling into a bowl and mix in the cornstarch. Let cool completely.1 tablespoon cornstarch
Cinnamon Rolls
- Warm up your milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, you just want it to be lukewarm. Too hot and it will kill the yeast! Pour the milk into a medium bowl and add the yeast, stirring to combine. Leave for 5-10 minutes until it has foamed and there are bubbles1 cup whole milk, 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar and mix to combine.5 cups all purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, pinch ground cinnamon, pinch ground nutmeg
- Pour the milk, butter and eggs into the stand mixer bowl bowl, and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes. Raise the speed to medium and mix for another 3 minutes. Your dough should be smooth and not too sticky.6 tablespoon unsalted butter, 2 large eggs
- Take the dough out of the bowl and oil it, then scrape the dough back into it. Cover it loosely with clingfilm and let it rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about an hour to an hour and a half.
- Butter a 9x13 baking dish.
- Turn your dough onto a floured work surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll it into a large rectangle, measuring 18 inches (46cm) long, and 12 inches wide (30.5cm).
- Mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Use a pastry brush to brush over the softened butter, leaving a ¼ inch margin, then sprinkle over the cinnamon mixture.½ cup light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, pinch salt, ¼ cup unsalted butter
- Use a spoon to spoon over the chilled apple pie filling (leaving behind any liquid in the bowl). I recommend using an offset spatula to cover the dough.
- From the long side, roll it into a tight spiral. Because of the apple pie filling it might be quite messy! Cut it into 12 pieces using either unflavored dental floss or a serrated knife. Place them into your buttered dish.
- Cover loosely with clingfilm and let rise for about an hour. You’ll know the dough is ready when you poke it, it bounces back but leaves a bit of a dent. If the indentation doesn’t stay, it needs longer.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Warm the heavy cream in a small saucepan. Just before putting it into the oven, pour your warm heavy cream on top of the rolls, and in the spaces between the rolls. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.½ cup heavy cream
Frosting
- In a large bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, milk, and maple syrup. Pour over the warm cinnamon rolls.2 tablespoons whole milk, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 2 cups confectioners' sugar
Erin
This was my first time making cinnamon rolls, and I will just say my skills can only improve from here! I definitely killed the yeast by heating up the milk too much, so I had to bake the rolls for an hour and they were not fluffy. 100% my fault as I knew the yeast didn’t foam but was impatient! The flavors are SO good, I can’t wait to make these again and ensure my yeast and milk has foamed first!
Ella
Thanks so much for your review! I have definitely been there with being impatient 😅