Cinnamon Rolls With Apple Pie Filling

Pillowy soft, yeast risen cinnamon rolls baked with apple pie filling are even better than you'll believe. Sweet, tart cinnamon spiced apple pie filling make these the ultimate brunch dish.

This post is sponsored by Cosmic Crisp apples but all opinions and thoughts are my own.

What Inspired this recipe

I love a warm cinnamon roll with coffee on a Sunday morning. I love leftover apple pie with coffee on a Sunday morning too...so why not combine the two! The meeting up of these two well-loved treats is something so special, I guarantee you'll be making these again and again.

These are naturally sweet and slightly tart from Cosmic Crisp apples. The dough is so tender, moist and soft while remaining fluffy and light. This is a homemade, from scratch recipe though I will offer some optional shortcuts if you need to save time.

And, if you love these cinnamon rolls, you’ll also love my Apple Cardamom cake, hearty apple oatmeal cake and my light and airy apple beignet recipes.

Recipe Ingredients

Cosmic Crisp apples - I’ve been working with Cosmic Crisp apples for awhile now and love them. They are delicious for fresh eating and also for baking. Naturally slower to brown than other apples, they hold up well to baking with a nice tart-sweet flavor and are the recommended apples for this recipe.

Cinnamon – The best and most classic flavor with apples, cinnamon is my choice for these apple pie rolls.

Yeast – Traditional active yeast is used for this recipe.

See recipe card for quantities.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Don't be daunted by all the photos, there are just 4 main steps. Make the dough, make the apple pie filling, roll the dough with the filling and then bake. I've just added lots of photos to make these cinnamon rolls with apple pie filling foolproof 🙂

Cinnamon Roll Dough

1. In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), mix warm water, yeast and sugar. Let it sit 10 minutes until yeast is dissolved and starts to foam or bubble indicating it is active.

2. Beat together eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and salt then add this to your yeast mixture.

3. Pour in flour and mix slowly (by hand or with dough hook attachment in stand mixer) until it starts to come together.

4. Continue to knead for 10 minutes. You can knead by hand on your counter or in stand mixer with dough hook.

5. Once dough has been kneaded, (place back in bowl if you kneaded by hand) cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise. Let it rise 4 hours. At this point you can make the rolls or place it, covered, in your fridge overnight and make rolls in the morning.

Here is what your dough will look like when it's ready. It is soft yet firm and very slightly sticky.

Apple Pie Filling

1. Peel, core and chop your Cosmic Crisp apples into a ¼" dice.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat.
3. Add diced apples, stir to coat.
4. Put lid on, stirring occasionally until apples are softened, about 6 minutes.
5. Add in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, stir to combine and turn heat up to medium.
6. Continue to cook until thick and syrupy, approximately 8 minutes. Then set apple pie filling aside to cool completely.
   You can make this ahead by a day and keep covered once cooled, until ready to use.
   

Assembly

Butter or grease a 9" x 13" baking dish and do the same to a clean area of countertop where you will roll out your dough.

1. Pour cinnamon bun dough out of bowl onto greased counter and roll or press into a rectangle that is approximately 16" x 12" with the longer edge horizontal in front of you.
2. Spread apple pie mixture over the dough rectangle.
3. Leave 1" bare on the side closest to you and 2" bare on the opposite side.
4. Starting at the side closest, lift and roll the dough over itself.
5. Continue rolling until you get to last 2".
6. Pull the last 2" up to top of roll and pinch in place. Preheat oven to 350'F.
7. Lightly score the dough roll into 12 equal sections.
8. Cut using a buttered knife. Place the 12 cut rolls into the baking dish in 3 rows of 4.
9. This will likely be messy but that's ok. Spoon spilled apple pie filling back into the centers of the rolls and let rise another 30-40 minutes while the oven preheats.
   

Put in preheated oven and bake, turning once in the middle, for 30 minutes or until cinnamon rolls are lightly and evenly browned on top.

Icing

While cinnamon rolls are baking, whisk together icing sugar, vanilla and water to a thin but not too runny consistency.

Once rolls are baked, cool in pan 10 minutes and then drizzle icing over top or spread with a spatula and enjoy.

Hint:

If dough is sticking too much to the countertop, use a buttered thin spatula to help lift it up and over.

Expert Tips

Prevent soggy cinnamon rolls – Cooking the apple pie filling before using helps thicken the filling and reduce water content from apples. This is important so that the dough bakes up fluffy and not soggy.

Fresh spices – Keeping fresh spices makes a big difference in your baking. If your cinnamon has been languishing in your back cupboard for a year or longer, consider buying some fresh and tossing the old.  Store your cinnamon and other spices in a cool dark cupboard. Avoid placing your spices above the stove or other warm places where they will deteriorate and lose flavor faster.

Substitutions

• Store Bought Dough - If you're short on time, you can use store bought cinnamon bun dough or a yeasted pizza or bread dough instead.
• Butter - Substitute hard margarine in place of butter if preferred.
• Icing- Homemade or store bought cream cheese icing is also really delicious on these apple filled sticky buns in place of the simple icing sugar version.
• Rolling Dough - If you prefer, you can flour your counter top instead of greasing it with butter when rolling out the dough.
• Yeast - I have used traditional active dry yeast for this recipe but you can easily swap an equal amount of instant or fast-rising yeast if that's what you have. Your dough may rise slightly faster but it will be just as good.

Variations

• Cardamom - instead of cinnamon, try this wonderful and warm spice. Use 1 teaspoon in place of the cinnamon in the apple pie filling.
• Apple Cinnamon Sweet Bread - Divide dough into 2 and roll out each piece. Spread apple pie filling equally over both pieces leaving 1-2" bare around the edges. Fold in half, turn sideways and fold in half the other way. Roll it slightly and place in loaf pan to proof, then bake as directed.
• Dairy-Free Cinnamon Rolls - These are super simple to make dairy-free. Simply use hard margarine in place of butter and unsweetened nut milk in place of the dairy milk. Yum!

Storage And Make-Ahead Tips

These are great to make ahead, impressing your guests on a Saturday morning AND getting to sleep in 😉 Pre make your cinnamon roll dough and apple pie filling up to 2 days ahead. Store both separately, covered in the fridge. These roll really nicely when the ingredients are chilled but allow a few extra minutes (40-60 min instead of 30) for them to warm up and start to rise once they are rolled, cut and in the pan.

These are of course best the day they are baked but they will stay moist and delicious up to 3 days. Once they are a few days old, warm them up slightly in the oven or microwave and they will soften right up.

You can freeze these. While best served warm and fresh, they can be double wrapped, not yet iced, and frozen for 1-2 months. For ideal thawing, keep them wrapped and thaw overnight in your fridge. Bring them out and warm them gently in your oven for 10-15 minutes before topping with icing and serving.

FAQs and Expert Tips

Related Recipes

Despite the mess of baking, these are really quite simple and use everyday pantry and fridge ingredients. Don't be afraid, just take them one step at a time.

The apple pie filling is a bit messy when cutting your dough into individual rolls but this is ok and to be expected. The smaller you cut your apples and the cooler the filling is when you are rolling, the easier it will be.

Let me know how it goes? Are these your new favorite cinnamon rolls? I love to hear your experience, as well as any questions that come up.

For more on what I'm cooking up, follow me on Instagram or Facebook and pop over to check our my shop closing out sale at West Coast Kitchen Garden (50% off everything until sold out!!!) You might also like my FREE printable weekly meal planner.

Recipe

Cinnamon Rolls With Apple Pie Filling

Pillowy soft yeast dough is rolled around cinnamon laced apple pie filling for the most scrumptious cinnamon rolls ever!

5 from 24 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Baking, Brunch

Cuisine: American, canadian

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

4 hours

Total Time: 5 hours

Servings: 12 Rolls

Calories: 437kcal

Author: Sabrina Currie

Ingredients

Dough

• ▢ 1 tablespoon Dry active yeast
• ▢ ½ c Warm water
• ▢ ⅓ c Sugar (granulated)
• ▢ 4 c All purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 2 Eggs
• ▢ ½ c Milk Whole milk or 2%
• ▢ ½ c Vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Apple Pie Filling

• ▢ 4 c Cosmic Crisp apples, diced ¼ inch dice
• ▢ ¼ c Salted butter
• ▢ 1 c Brown Sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg

Icing

• ▢ 1 c Icing sugar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
• ▢ 1+ tablespoon Water 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon for a total of 20 mls.

Instructions

Dough

• In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), mix warm water, yeast and sugar. Let it sit 10 minutes until yeast is dissolved and starts to foam or bubble indicating it is active.
• Beat together eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and salt then add this to your yeast mixture.
• Pour in flour and mix slowly (by hand or with dough hook attachment in stand mixer) until it starts to come together. Continue to knead for 10 minutes. You can knead by hand on your counter or in stand mixer with dough hook.
• Once dough has been kneaded, (place back in bowl if you kneaded by hand) cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise. Let it rise 4 hours. At this point you can make the rolls or place it, covered, in your fridge overnight and make rolls in the morning.

Apple Pie Filling

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan on medium-low heat. Add diced apples, stir to coat, and then put lid on, stirring occasionally until apples are softened, about 6 minutes.
• Add in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, stir to combine and turn heat up to medium. Continue to cook until thick and syrupy, approximately 8 minutes. Then set aside to cool completely.

  You can make this ahead by a day and keep covered once cooled, until ready to use.

Assembly

• Butter or grease a 9" x 13" baking dish and do the same to a clean area of countertop where you will roll out your dough.
• Pour dough out of bowl onto greased counter and roll or press into a rectangle that is approximately 16" x 12" with the longer edge horizontal in front of you. Spread apple pie mixture over the dough rectangle leaving 1" bare on the side closest to you and 2" bare on the opposite side.
• Starting at the side closest, lift and roll the dough over itself and continue rolling until you get to last 2". Then pull the last 2" up to top of roll and pinch in place.

  If dough is sticking, use a buttered thin spatula to help lift it up and over.
• Preheat oven to 350'F.

  Lightly score the dough roll into 12 equal sections and then cut using a buttered knife. Place each of the 12 cut rolls into the baking dish in 3 rows of 4. Spoon spilled apple pie filling back into the centers of the rolls and let sit to rise 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
• Put in preheated oven and bake, turning once in the middle, for 30 minutes or until cinnamon rolls are lightly and evenly browned on top.

Icing

• While cinnamon rolls are baking, whisk together icing sugar, vanilla and water to a thin but not too runny consistency.

  Once buns are baked, cool in pan 10 minutes and then drizzle icing over top or spread with a spatula and enjoy.

Notes

The apple pie filling is a bit messy when cutting your dough into individual rolls but this is ok and to be expected. The smaller you cut your apples and the cooler the filling is when you are rolling, the easier it will be.

Nutrition

Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 250mg | Potassium: 143mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 197IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 2mg

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