These soft and gooey Cinnamon Apple Rolls are filled with a delicious cinnamon-apple filling and topped with a brown sugar glaze. They're the perfect breakfast treat, or a decadent dessert.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
The fresh smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven is intoxicating. And when those rolls are filled with sweet, juicy apples, it's even better. Apple cinnamon rolls are the perfect fall treat, and they're easy to make at home.
- Delicious. Incredibly delicious and flavorful, and sure to impress your family.
- Relatively easy to make. Even if you're not a seasoned baker, you can still make these delicious rolls. Our step by step tutorial makes it easy to follow along and make them right the very first time.
- Versatile. Wonderful any time, can be served for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Filling Ingredients
This recipe is for the best apple cinnamon rolls you'll ever eat. I'll also include tips for making them perfectly, as well as some variations and substitutions you can try.
Full ingredient amounts and preparation instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Cinnamon Apple Rolls
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to make apple cinnamon rolls and the brown sugar glaze:
Prepare The Cinnamon Roll Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.
- Stir in the egg, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Gradually add the flour, mixing until a dough forms.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-7 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Prepare The Apple Filling
- While the dough is rising, prepare the apple filling. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chopped walnuts together in a bowl. Wash, peel, core, and dice the apples.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out into a 14 x 20 inch rectangle and brush with the melted butter.
- Spread the cinnamon sugar and walnut mixture evenly over the dough.
- Spread the diced apple filling evenly over the dough.
- Starting from the long side, roll the dough up tightly, and the roll into 12 equal pieces.
Bake Until Golden Brown
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking pan or casserole dish with shortening, butter, or non stick baking spray.
- Place the rolls in the prepared 9 x 13 inch baking pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let double in size.
- Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the rolls cool slightly before glazing.
Optional Brown Sugar Glaze
To make the optional brown sugar glaze, simply melt the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a small pan, or the microwave. When the brown sugar is melted, drizzle over the apple cinnamon rolls.
Serving Suggestions
Cinnamon apple rolls are best served warm and fresh out of the oven. You can top them with your favorite frosting, such as our Easy Cream Cheese Frosting or a maple glaze.
And, of course they go great with hot coffee, tea, or hot chocolate!
Related Recipes
- Irish Soda Bread with Raisins
- Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread
- Banana Toffee Bread Pudding
- Tsoureki Bread with Red Easter Eggs
- Italian Panettone (Christmas Bread)
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few substitutions and variations making this cinnamon apple rolls recipe:
- Instead of using active dry yeast, you can use instant yeast. Use the same amount.
- If you don't have brown sugar, you can substitute granulated sugar.
- If you don't have any cinnamon, you can use another spice, such as apple pie or pumpkin pie spice, or even ground cardamom.
- To make a different flavor of frosting, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla almond extract.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Below are some of my favorite pieces of equipment that I use when making this cinnamon apple rolls recipe.
- 9x13 Baking Pan
- Ceramic 9x13 Casserole Dish
Storage Options
- These cinnamon apple rolls can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- You can also freeze the rolls for up to 2 months. Thaw the rolls overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- To reheat the rolls, bake them at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, or until heated through.
Tips for Success
- Make sure to use warm water when proofing the yeast. This will help the yeast activate and the dough rise properly.
- For extra fluffy cinnamon rolls, use bread flour instead of all purpose flour.
- Let the rolls rise in a warm place, but not too hot. A warm oven turned off works well.
- Don't over bake the rolls. They should be golden brown, but not too dark.
Frequently Asked Questions
When they are slightly warm, slather on some cream cheese frosting. Then, when cool, add a second frosting coating.
To prevent your cinnamon rolls from getting dry, make sure you don't over bake them. They should be golden brown, but not too dark. Also, bread flour makes fluffier, softer cinnamon rolls than all purpose flour.
More Bread Recipes
- Bread Machine Sandwich Bread Recipe (Soft White Loaf)
- Traditional Irish Blaa Rolls (Waterford Blaa Recipe)
- Roasted Garlic Focaccia
- Rosca de Reyes Wreath Bread
Get the Recipe!
Apple Filled Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- 9x13 inch Baking Pan - Metal
Ingredients
Sweet Yeast Dough
- 1 envelope Dry yeast - use dry active yeast or dry instant yeast
- ½ teaspoon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Brown sugar
- ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
- 1 cup Milk warmed to 100 to 115 degrees F
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2¾ cup Flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Homemade Apple Pie Filling
- 3 tablespoon Butter
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- 1 cup Walnuts or pecans, chopped
- 3 medium Apples peeled, cored, and diced small
Brown Sugar Glaze
- 3 tablespoon Butter
- 2 tablespoon Cream
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar - Dark or light. dark or light
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract or Maple extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.1 envelope Dry yeast -, ½ teaspoon Sugar, 1 cup Milk
- Stir in the egg, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and salt. Gradually add the flour, mixing until a dough forms⅓ cup Vegetable oil , 1 Egg, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon Salt, 2¾ cup Flour
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-7 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the apple filling. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chopped walnuts together in a bowl. Wash, peel, core, and dice the apples.1 tablespoon Brown sugar, 2 teaspoon Cinnamon , ½ teaspoon Nutmeg, 1 cup Walnuts, 3 medium Apples, ½ cup Brown sugar
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out into a 14 x 20 inch rectangle and brush with the melted butter.3 tablespoon Butter
- Spread the cinnamon sugar and walnut mixture evenly over the dough. Spread the diced apple filling evenly over the dough.
- Starting from the long side, roll the dough up tightly, and the roll into 12 equal pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking pan or casserole dish with shortening, butter, or non stick baking spray.
- Place the rolls in the prepared 9 x 13 inch baking pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let double in size.
- Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the rolls cool slightly before glazing.
Make The Brown Sugar Glaze
- To make the optional brown sugar glaze, simply melt the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a small pan, or the microwave. When the brown sugar is melted, drizzle over the apple cinnamon rolls.3 tablespoon Butter, 2 tablespoon Cream, ⅓ cup Brown Sugar - Dark or light., ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
Notes
- Make sure to use warm water when proofing the yeast. This will help the yeast activate and the dough rise properly.
- For extra fluffy cinnamon rolls, use bread flour instead of all purpose flour.
- Let the rolls rise in a warm place, but not too hot. A warm oven turned off works well.
- Don't over bake the rolls. They should be golden brown, but not too dark.
