Homemade apple cinnamon rolls have warm and gooey centers, golden brown edges, and a generous drizzle of sweet caramel icing on top. Start the day with a treat that’s half apple pie and half homemade cinnamon rolls in one!
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
Greeting us all at the corner of comfort food and calorie-laden are APPLE CINNAMON ROLLS drowning in caramel icing. Each bite combines our favorite flavors of apple pie with the pure goodness of cinnamon rolls. Move over every other type of cinnamon roll out there… there’s a new boss in town. (We still love you, maple cinnamon rolls.)
There are 3 parts to love about today’s apple cinnamon rolls:
- Rich, homemade cinnamon roll dough
- Cinnamon-spiced brown sugar apple filling
- Sweet caramel icing (!!)
Let’s get down to basics, though. How many of you are nervous when it comes to yeast? Proofing it, working with it, kneading dough. Forget the haunted hay ride this year, yeast is terrifying enough, right?? Well, trust me, I used to fear working with yeast too. But once I started to use it, my fears quickly subsided.
Apple Cinnamon Rolls Ingredients
The dough we use to make apple cinnamon rolls is a rich dough, which means that it’s prepared with fat like milk, butter, and eggs. Rich doughs make soft breads such as Nutella babka, dinner rolls, and glazed doughnuts. It’s soft and supple, rises up beautifully, and has this crazy awesome buttery flavor. Lean doughs, on the other hand, are made without much fat and produce crusty bread such as focaccia, homemade bagels, and pizza dough.
You need 7 ingredients for apple cinnamon roll dough:
- Milk: Liquid activates the yeast. Nondairy or low fat milks are fine, but whole milk produces phenomenal flavor and texture.
- Yeast: You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. I recommend Platinum Yeast from Red Star, which is an instant yeast blended with natural dough improvers.
- Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and tenderizes the dough.
- Eggs: Eggs provide structure and flavor.
- Butter: Butter promises a flavorful dough.
- Salt: You can’t make flavorful cinnamon rolls without salt!
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the structure of the dough.
And just a few more ingredients for the filling + glaze:
- Filling: Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and apples
- Glaze: Confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and salted caramel
How to Make Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Nothing compares to the flavor of homemade and you’ll be surprised how quickly these cinnamon rolls come together. You can even get started on these rolls the night before!
- Prepare the dough: The dough comes together with a mixer. You can also make the dough by hand, but it requires a bit of arm muscle. After the dough comes together in the mixing bowl, it’s time to knead. You can simply continue beating the dough with the mixer for this step or you can knead the dough by hand.
- Let the dough rise: The dough rises in about 1–2 hours.
- Punch down the dough: Punch down the dough to release the air.
- Shape the cinnamon rolls: Roll the dough out into a 12×18-inch rectangle. Spread the butter on top, then evenly sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture. Top with chopped apples. Tightly roll up the dough and cut into 12 equal rolls. Place in a greased 9×13-inch pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Let the rolls rise: Allow the rolls to rise in a warm environment for about 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Bake: Bake until the rolls are golden brown. About halfway through the bake time, I like to cover the rolls loosely with aluminum foil so the tops don’t brown too much.
- Drizzle with caramel icing: Whisk all of the icing ingredients together and drizzle over warm rolls. Serve warm!
Here are a few step photos of the process:
The filling = brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and apples. Music to our ears. (By the way, you could also add apples to the filling in these no yeast cinnamon rolls!)
Let the rolls rise once again until they have doubled in size.
You have the option of making them in the morning OR you can get started the night before. Whichever you choose, the rolls bake up into this gorgeous golden-brown color. And just WAIT until you smell them baking.
Icing—You Have Options!
You have a couple options for icing—I’ll let you be the judge. Some of my suggestions:
- Cream cheese icing from big giant cinnamon rolls
- Maple icing from maple cinnamon rolls
- Vanilla icing
- Caramel icing = which is my vanilla icing with 2 spoonfuls of salted caramel stirred in. I highly recommend this version, for obvious reasons.
In short, we’re combating fears of yeast, satisfying our weekend cinnamon roll cravings, and embracing fall—all at the same time! Go ahead… let’s indulge.
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Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 large rolls
- Category: Cinnamon Rolls
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Warm and gooey apple cinnamon rolls with delicious caramel icing on top. Fall breakfast has never tasted so good!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk*
- 2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons (14g) Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast (2 standard size packets)*
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 4 pieces
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 and 1/2 cups (563g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled), plus more for dusting/rolling
Filling
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 cups (250g) peeled chopped apples (about 2 medium apples)
Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 2 Tablespoons warmed salted caramel
Instructions
- Make the dough: Heat milk to about 95°F (35°C)– use microwave or stovetop. Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a stand electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (OR you can use a handheld mixer OR no mixer, but a stand mixer is ideal). With a whisk, manually whisk in the sugar and yeast. Cover with a towel and let sit until the yeast is foamy, about 5-10 minutes. If the yeast does not dissolve and foam, start over with fresh active yeast. On low speed, beat in the softened butter until it is slightly broken up. Next add the eggs, one at a time, and then the salt. The butter won’t really be mixing into the mixture, so don’t be alarmed if it stays in pieces. On low speed, gradually add the flour. Once it is all added, beat on medium speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is soft and supple, about 6 minutes longer. *If you do not have a stand-mixer with a hook attachment, knead the dough by hand in this step.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap, a paper towel, or aluminum foil and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours. Here’s what I do: turn the oven on to 200°F (93°C). Once heated to that temperature, turn the oven off. Stick the covered dough inside the oven and allow it to rise in this warm environment.
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, punch it down and, using a rolling pin, roll into a 12×18 inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick.
- Fill the rolls: Spread the softened butter all over the dough. In a small bowl, toss the brown sugar and cinnamon together until combined and then sprinkle evenly over the dough. Top evenly with chopped apples. Tightly roll up the dough to form an 18-inch-long log. Cut into 12 equal rolls. Arrange them in the prepared baking pan. Cover the rolls very tightly with aluminum foil.
- Allow rolls to rise in a warm environment again for about 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Bake the rolls: Preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C). Bake rolls for about 25 minutes until they are golden brown. About halfway through the bake time, I like to cover the rolls loosely with aluminum foil so the tops don’t brown too much. Remove pan from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
- Whisk all of the icing ingredients together and drizzle over warm rolls. Serve warm. Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions – Overnight: To prepare the night before serving, prepare the rolls through step 4. Cover the rolls tightly and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise on the counter for 1-2 hours before continuing with step 6.
- Make Ahead Instructions – Freezing: Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up before enjoying. You can also freeze the unbaked rolls and here’s how: bake the rolls in step 6 for only about 10 minutes at 375°F (191°C). Cool completely, then cover tightly and freeze. To serve, take the rolls out of the freezer and put into the refrigerator a few hours before serving. Then, finish baking them.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer | Glass Mixing Bowls | Rolling Pin | 9×13 Baking Dish
- Milk: Whole milk or even buttermilk is ideal for this dough. You can get away with 2% or 1%, but I do not recommend skim.
- Yeast: If using active dry yeast, the rise times will be slightly longer. I always use an instant yeast.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Keywords: apple cinnamon rolls
Can you use frozen apples and still let them rise over night in the fridge
Hi Chanti, we haven’t tested it, but fear the apples would let off too much moisture as they thaw overnight in the fridge.
I used buttermilk and when adding yeast, hard to tell if yeast bloomed. I also don’t think my dough has risen but can I use it anyway?
★★★
Hi Kat! The rolls will be dense if it hasn’t risen enough. A slightly warmer spot may help the dough rise!
Took these right from the oven to my swimming class. To say they were a big hit is a huge understatement. I’m told to only make these from now on Thank you for the warning about the separation with the caramel sauce. Almost had minor heart attack.
★★★★★
These are the best . I did add some great vanilla from Mexico to the cooking apples also extra to the icing. Oh and if you don’t have cream cheese you can use sour cream. I have done both and so so so good. Thanks for this they are so good.
Hands down best cinnamon buns I’ve ever made, and SO EASY. Followed the instructions as is, and they were absolutely moist, light and so gooey!
★★★★★
This recipe is a keeper. Came out perfect. My family asked me to do another batch!
★★★★★
Hi Katie, Enjoyed it but was a little soft inside so would recommend at least another 5-10 mins. baking
★★★★
I felt the same and baked 5 minutes longer. Delicious!
★★★★★
My family has asked me to redo this reciepe over and over again!!
Thank you for this great reciepe.
★★★★★
These totally hit the spot! Don’t skip the salted caramel addition to the icing – holy moly! I had to sub milk and butter in place of the heavy cream in the salted caramel sauce, and it worked out just fine! I ended up wanting more icing because I wanted to drench these babies, so I needed a triple batch of the icing to get to that level. I will absolutely make these again and again!
★★★★★
we made this recipe but it ended up having to rise in the fridge (we did the overnight option) for more like 16 hours, is that ok? they look pretty risen now should we still set them out to rise for another hour like the instructions say? I don’t know. they look very yum though.
Hi Lexi, yes, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise on the counter for 1-2 hours before continuing with step 6. Enjoy!
Hi Sally, I want to make these to put in the freezer to have in hand. Should I freeze them without the icing (and add the icing when I want to serve them)? Thanks!!
Hi Katie! For absolute best texture we would freeze without the icing.
Would like to make this without the apples What adjustment would be needed
Hi Jim, we’d recommend using this easy cinnamon roll recipe for a traditional version.