Homemade apple cinnamon rolls combine soft and buttery cinnamon rolls with a warmly spiced apple filling and sweet salted caramel icing. You can prepare them the night before, making these a wonderful choice for fall weekends, Thanksgiving, or holiday breakfasts.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since updated it with new photos, additional success tips, and one small but helpful step: pre-cooking the apples before adding them to the filling. Giving the apples a quick head start on the stove ensures they’re perfectly tender inside the baked rolls.
These homemade apple cinnamon rolls are essentially the best parts of apple pie and homemade cinnamon rolls rolled into one delicious breakfast treat. The rolls bake up soft and fluffy with gooey centers, golden brown edges, plenty of cinnamon-spiced apples, and a generous drizzle of salted caramel icing.
The dough is rich and buttery, but very manageable. And while homemade cinnamon rolls take some time because the dough needs to rise twice, most of that time is hands-off. You can also prepare the rolls the night before and bake them fresh in the morning.
Are You a Yeast Beginner?
If you’re new to baking with yeast, my Baking with Yeast Guide is a wonderful resource for all bread beginners!
Why You’ll Love These Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Soft, buttery dough: This is a rich yeast dough that bakes up fluffy and tender.
- Plenty of apples: Pre-cooking the apples helps them soften before they’re rolled up with brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Salted caramel icing: A little homemade salted caramel takes the simple vanilla icing to another level.
- Make-ahead friendly: Prepare the rolls the night before, refrigerate, and bake them fresh in the morning.
One reader, Alice, commented: “Awesome recipe! I followed the overnight directions and they turned out so soft, gooey, and moist. My family absolutely adored these rolls, and many went to have seconds (and even thirds!!). Recipe was also easy to follow for someone with limited experience with yeast...★★★★★”
Another reader, Nicole, commented: “This recipe is a keeper. Came out perfect. My family asked me to do another batch! ★★★★★”
Ingredients for Apple Cinnamon Rolls
The dough for these apple cinnamon rolls is a rich dough, meaning it’s made with enriching ingredients like milk, butter, and eggs. These ingredients produce a soft, tender bread with plenty of buttery flavor. It’s similar to the doughs we use for dinner rolls and glazed doughnuts.
You need 7 ingredients for the dough:
- Milk: Whole milk produces the best flavor and texture, but lower-fat or nondairy milk can work in a pinch.
- Yeast: You can use active dry or instant yeast. I recommend Platinum Yeast from Red Star, an instant yeast blended with natural dough improvers.
- Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast and helps tenderize the dough.
- Eggs: Add richness and structure.
- Butter: Adds flavor and keeps the dough soft and rich.
- Salt: Essential for flavor.
- Flour: All-purpose flour provides the dough’s structure.
And just a few more ingredients:
- Filling: Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and apples
- Glaze: Confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and salted caramel
What Are the Best Apples for Cinnamon Rolls?
Use a firm apple that holds its shape when cooked. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, or a combination of your favorite baking apples all work well. If you’re interested in learning more, see my guide to the best apples for baking.
Peel and thinly slice or finely chop the apples before you begin. We’ll give them a quick head start on the stove before adding them to the filling, which helps ensure they’re perfectly tender in the baked rolls.
How to Make Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Making cinnamon rolls from scratch takes some time because the dough needs to rise twice, but most of that time is hands-off. You can make and bake the rolls in one day, prepare them the night before, or freeze the cinnamon rolls to prep even further ahead.
Prepare the dough: After the dough comes together in the mixing bowl, it’s time to knead. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, you can use that for this step, or you can knead the dough by hand.
See my How to Knead Dough video tutorial if you need extra help with this step:
Let the dough rise: The dough rises in about 1–2 hours. During this time, you can get your filling ingredients ready and quickly pre-cook the apples.
Why pre-cook the apples? This extra 5-minute step makes a big difference. Over the years, some readers have commented that the apples were still a bit crunchy after baking, so I added this brief step to give them a head start. Simply cook the apples in a skillet with a splash of water until they begin to soften. This helps ensure they’re perfectly tender by the time the cinnamon rolls are baked through.
Shape and fill the apple cinnamon rolls: Punch down the risen dough, then roll it into a 12×18-inch rectangle.
Spread the butter on top and sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Scatter the pre-cooked apples over the filling, tightly roll up the dough, and cut into 12 rolls.
2nd rise: Arrange in a greased or lined 9×13-inch pan and cover to let rise one more time.
The rolls will be puffy:
Bake until the rolls are lightly browned. About halfway through the bake time, I like to cover the rolls loosely with aluminum foil so the tops don’t brown too much before the centers have a chance to bake through.
Drizzle with icing: Whisk all of the icing ingredients together and drizzle over the warm rolls.
You Have Icing Options
My favorite topping for these apple cinnamon rolls is the salted caramel icing included in the recipe below. It’s a simple vanilla icing with a couple spoonfuls of homemade salted caramel mixed in. The caramel + apple + brown sugar + cinnamon combination is hard to beat.
But you have plenty of other delicious options:
- Cream cheese icing from these big giant cinnamon rolls
- Maple icing from maple cinnamon rolls
- Simple vanilla icing
- Brown sugar icing from pumpkin donuts
- Or skip the icing and drizzle the warm rolls with salted caramel
By the way, if you can’t get enough of apples and cinnamon for breakfast, try my apple cider French toast next!
Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 4 hours (includes rises)
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 40 minutes (or overnight)
- Yield: 12 rolls
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft homemade apple cinnamon rolls filled with buttery brown sugar, cinnamon, and tender apples, then topped with sweet salted caramel icing. Prepare them the night before for an extra-special fall or holiday breakfast. You can also freeze the cinnamon rolls; see instructions below.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup (240g/ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar, divided
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (14g) Platinum Yeast from Red Star (2 standard packets)*
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 4 pieces
- 4 and 1/2 cups (563g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons oil or butter for the bowl (or use nonstick spray)
Filling
- 2 cups (250g) peeled chopped apples (about 2 medium apples)
- 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
Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 2 Tablespoons warmed salted caramel
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm milk, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, and the yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Cover and allow mixture to sit for 5–10 minutes or until foamy on the surface. If you do not own a mixer, you can do this in a large mixing bowl and in the next step, mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula is a better choice.
- Add the remaining sugar (1/2 cup or 100g) and the butter and beat on medium speed until the butter is slightly broken up. Add about 1 cup (125g) of the flour, the eggs, and salt, and beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the remaining flour. Beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. Dough will be soft. If it seems too sticky and clings to the sides of the bowl instead of forming a rough mass around the dough hook or spoon, add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and continue to mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still moist and tacky. If it feels dry and crumbly, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat on low speed for an additional 5–8 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5–8 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should feel smooth, supple, and elastic. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or butter (or use nonstick spray). Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size. (I always let it rise on the counter and it takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- Pre-cook the apples: While the dough finishes rising, place the chopped apples in a skillet with 1 Tablespoon water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the apples are beginning to soften. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly while you roll out the dough.
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking dish (glass or metal) or line it with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough: Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 12×18-inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick. If the dough keeps shrinking back as you roll it out, cover it lightly and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten, then continue rolling.
- Fill the rolls: Spread the softened butter all over the dough. The softer the butter is, the easier it is to spread in this step. (Microwave it for a few seconds to soften if needed.) In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter. Scatter the pre-cooked apples evenly over the filling. Tightly roll up the dough to form an 18-inch-long log. If some filling spills out, sprinkle it on top of the roll. With an extra-sharp knife, cut into 12 even rolls, about 1.5 inches wide. Arrange in the prepared baking pan.
- 2nd Rise: Cover the pan and allow the rolls to rise until puffy, about 1 hour. (Or use the overnight option in the Notes below.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake for about 26–29 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top, rotating the pan halfway through. If the tops are browning too quickly, loosely tent aluminum foil over the top of the pan. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes while you make the icing.
- Make the icing: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, milk, and warmed salted caramel together until smooth. Drizzle over the warm rolls and serve.
- Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions – Overnight: To prepare the night before serving, prepare the rolls through step 8. Cover the rolls and refrigerate for 8–12 hours. (16 hours max. 8–12 hours is best, but 16 hours is OK if absolutely needed. Do not exceed 16 hours.) The next morning, remove from the refrigerator, keep covered, and allow to rise for 1–2 hours at room temperature before continuing with step 10.
- Make Ahead Instructions – Freezing: You can freeze cinnamon rolls for up to 3 months, and I recommend a few different methods for freezing cinnamon rolls. The first method is to freeze them after shaping, before they’ve had their 2nd rise (step 8). Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then let rise for 1.5–2 hours at room temperature before baking. The second method is to par-bake the risen rolls for 10 minutes, let cool completely, then cover and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. Finish baking for 15–20 minutes. You can also freeze fully baked cinnamon rolls. See How to Freeze Cinnamon Rolls for more details about all of these methods.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl and Silicone Spatula / Wooden Spoon | Rolling Pin | 9×13-inch Glass Baking Pan or Metal Baking Pan | Cooling Rack | Whisk
- Milk: I recommend using whole milk for the best, richest-tasting dough. You could also use buttermilk. Reduced-fat, low-fat, or nondairy milk works in a pinch. Do not use nonfat milk.
- Yeast: I always use Platinum Yeast from Red Star, an instant yeast. You can use an active dry yeast instead, if needed. The rise times could be slightly longer. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Other Icing Options: Instead of the caramel icing, you can top the rolls with cream cheese icing from giant cinnamon rolls, maple icing from maple cinnamon rolls, simple vanilla icing, brown sugar icing from pumpkin donuts, or skip the icing and drizzle the warm rolls with salted caramel.
- Gluten Free: We have not tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, so we are unsure of the results.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I would like to bake these apple cinnamon rolls ahead of time and freeze them. Can the maple icing also be made ahead and frozen ?
Hi Cate! We really recommend making the icing fresh. You can absolutely taste the difference between fresh and frozen icing.
I have made your traditional cinnamon rolls and they were fabulous. I want to make these, but I want a bigger roll, can I double the recipe or just cut larger pieces?
Thank you
Hi Michelle, For larger rolls you can use our big giant cinnamon rolls as a guide. You’ll roll the dough into a 10×16-inch rectangle. After rolling it up you can cut them into 8 large rolls (about 2 inches in width each). Let us know if you try it!
Can I use applied pie filling?
Theirs just two of us at home these days and I’m wondering if this recipe can be reduced by half or if you have a recipe smiliar that only makes about 6 rolls?
Thank you!
Hi Joanne, rather than halving, we’d recommend making the recipe as is and then freezing the leftovers. Yeasted recipes don’t always scale up/down accurately, and they reheat wonderfully!
I assumed there would be apple pie spice in the filling and was shocked to see there wasn’t. What are you thoughts on adding that?
Hi Shelby, you could absolutely add some if you wish!
only me at my house i give away most, freeze a couple for later but u can easily 1/2 the recipe cept for the egg.
Will the butter incorporate into the dough since it’s in chunks. How big should they be if mixing in the liquid
Hi David, since the butter will be at room temperature, it will slowly start to break up when mixed in the dough. The butter won’t really be completely mixing into the mixture, so don’t be alarmed if it stays in pieces. We start with 4 pieces of butter (1 Tablespoon each).
I really want to try these and love that I don’t have to pre-cook the apples, but I’m super nervous that they will still be crunchy. Do they come out nice and soft? do I have to dice them very small?
Hi Melissa, dicing them quite small helps them soften while the rolls bake! They will still have a bit of bite to them (in a good way!).
OK, first of all, Sally I’ve got to say that I’ve been following you for quite a while and you are so great at everything you do like from the detailed videos to the recipes. Everything‘s just phenomenal and I just made Apple cinnamon rolls and didn’t have time to finish them, so I put them in overnight, pulled them back out for the instructions made the caramel salted caramel glaze that goes on top and I am in all like I cannot wait to bite into these if I could send you a picture. I am so proud of what I just made like this is such an amazing recipe and I’m pretty good cook, but I’m patting myself on the back right now because I have literally accomplished something that’s bakery readiness like we could sell these in a bakery they would be that picture Perfect I can’t thank you enough. I love all of your recipes. You’re amazing thank you again. Lynda
Delicious, even too hot out of the oven!
Why use two pkgs of yeast instead of one?
Hi Elaine, we use 2 packets in this particular recipe for supremely soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls.
I have fleishmann’s active dry yeast. Should I use two packaged?
Hi Stephanie, yes, you’ll want the same amount regardless of brand—1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (14g) (or 2 standard–size packets). Enjoy!
I have red star active dry yeast packets which say one 1/4 packet is equal to 2 1/4 tsp- can I use those and would timing be different for the rise?
I also have rapid rise instant yeast could that be used ?
Hi Sarah, those packets are 1/4 oz. You’ll want two of those packets here.
I made these and my friends went crazy over them! I used chai spice instead of cinnamon in the filling just to use it up – delicious. I also had a small amount of apple cider I wanted to use so instead of the glaze in the recipe I reduced the apple cider on the stove from probably about 2 – 3 cups to half a cup and mixed it with 1 cup powdered sugar, and used that to glaze the rolls. My only thought is it tasted like a great cinnamon roll, but I thought the apple flavor would come through more strongly. I’m pretty sure apples in the actual dough wouldn’t let it rise as much, but I’m wondering if applesauce or reduced applesauce in the filling would be good.
Two tricks from my first time making cinnamon rolls – use your mixer to whip the softened butter before spreading it on the dough, I found it easier to spread this way. Also, add the filling and use a scissor/knife to cut the rectangle of dough and filling into 12 strips and then roll each strip up individually. I get much cleaner swirls this way. This was such a fun project and I definitely will make more sweet rolls in the future! Sallys trick for overnight rolls, where you shape, freeze, thaw, do the 2nd rise, then bake, works great as well.
I made them with mix of applesauce, pumpkin butter and persimmon butter (wanted to use up some jars I made). Turned out great
I have not made these rolls yet. Possible for me to mix the dough in my bread maker the finish the product by hand?
Hi Sharon, we haven’t tested it, but let us know if you do!
I love all of your recipes! I made the Apple Cinnamon Rolls yesterday! My neighbor gave me some heirloom hard crunchy PEARS from her old tree!! I chopped them up small before spreading them over the brown sugar layer. Then rolled and sliced them up into 12 equal slices and put into a buttered stoneware 13×9 pan for the 2nd rise. I had to bake them a little longer probably because of the stoneware, but I think it cooks more evenly. We had with icecream in a jar made with whipping cream, sw cond. milk, vanilla, allspice and ginger and some pear sauce I also made. SO YUMMY! Will make again.
Cinnamon rolls were on my baking bucket list, so I made these for a church function. I guided the lily by using maple icing and chopped, toasted pecans. I used my chopper to get the apples pretty fine, so I was afraid they’d be too liquid; they were not. I used the overnight method, and they baked up beautifully.
I was intimidated by the dough, as I’ve never made an enriched yeast dough, but, as always, your instructions were so thorough that I had no trouble at all. They are a lot of effort, but well worth it.
Thank you!!
I’m so disappointed for you.
I find them absolutely amazing. Will never use another recipe or buy store bought again.
These were amazing! The dough was a dream to work with and I have a long history of fighting with doughs. I used Granny Smiths that I sautéed in a bit of butter and brown sugar before adding to the rolls because I was afraid they’d be too crunchy. I also upped the butter/brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. These may be our new holiday breakfast treats! Thank you!
Could we sauté the apples in butter, cinnamon, and sugar before adding it to the dough!
I doubled the recipe. oh my god. So good. I also added your salted caramel recipe to the top of them once cooled. a wicked treat to be proud of after cooking them and are ready to devour.
I wanted the recipe for no yeast cinnamon rolls
How much of each ingredients. .?
Hi Rosie, here’s our recipe for no yeast cinnamon rolls. You can tap the “jump to recipe” button at the top of the page to get to the full written recipe.
can you use this recipe and add apples to it?
I set Sunday aside to make this recipe. It took the better part of the day, but was so worth it. I do not have a mixer so I kneaded by hand; it was no problem.
They come out just the right size. The texture was nice a fluffy, but not too fluffy. The blended apples, spices, and caramel icing was delicious.
I purchased Coop’s Salted Caramel Sauce from Mom’s grocery. This is a labor intensive recipe, so this helped keep it simple and stress free.
I will definitely make again, but I might swap out the cinnamon for cardomom. yum!
Thank you for the recipe.
Hey, can you also use a ceramic pan?
Hi Ana, That should be fine. Enjoy!
Really good. I followed the easy caramel recipe and then used that on my rolls. Stainless steel pan is a must. I also ran my apples through the food processor to give them a more even spreadable texture. I cut my rolls wide and baked them in 2 metal 9″ pie pans. This allows them to spread and get texas-sized while still being the fluffy, soft texture you want. Saw some people complaining about kneading- I ran these in my mixer on 4 for about 7 minutes. Came out wonderful.
Hi! Big fan of your recipes! Question on these apple cinnamon rolls. What do you think of the new phase where everyone is pouring heavy cream on top before baking. Yay or nay?
Hi Sherry, we don’t find it to be necessary, but let us know if you give it a try!