Spice up your holiday dessert game with these Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling. Topped with cream cheese frosting, they’re warm, sweet, and amazingly delicious. Such a fun way to try something new this holiday season!
About these Cinnamon Rolls
What do the holidays smell like in your house? Growing up, my house always smelled like deliciously sweet cinnamon rolls. Just thinking about it makes me feel so nostalgic and full of cheer!
Have you ever thought of how you could sweeten up basic cinnamon rolls? I’ve got just the idea for you: making Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling! All you have to do is add some diced apples. It’s such a fun and easy way to try something a little different while still preserving this classic dessert!
These cinnamon rolls feature Rockit™ Apples, miniature apples that are deliciously sweet. And if you’re loving this recipe, you should also check out this Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, this Cinnamon Donut Bread, these Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls, Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls, this Apple Cranberry Crisp or this Strawberry Apple Crisp, too.
Recipe Ingredients
- Dry Yeast: To help our rolls rise and give them some flavor! Between 110°F and 115°F to help activate the dry yeast.
- Almond Milk: We’ll need to warm this
- Sugar: We’ll use white sugar in the dough, brown sugar in the filling, and powdered sugar in the frosting.
- Butter: We’ll use butter in the dough, the filling, and the frosting.
- Ground Cinnamon: For that classic fall flavor!
- RockIt Apples: They’re deliciously sweet! These are about half the size of regular apples, so if you are using normal sized apples, you only need 1. Or if you want a more holiday forward filling, check out these Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls.
- Cream Cheese: To make our frosting rich and creamy. I love a cream cheese glaze on cinnamon rolls, but if you’re not a fan, you could replace with greek yogurt.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: First, we’ll make the rolls. Whisk dry active yeast into warm almond milk. The milk needs to be between 110°F and 115°F. Let it dissolve. Pour the yeast and milk mixture into a mixing bowl. Then, beat with cane sugar, butter, egg, and salt.
Step 2: Gradually add flour into the bowl and fold together until a dough forms. It will be stick, that’s okay.
Step 3: Remove the dough from the bowl. Then, knead it on a floured surface for 6-8 minutes.Grab a clean mixing bowl and spray with cooking spray. Then, place the dough in the greased mixing bowl, cover with a linen towel, and let rise for 1-2 hours in a warm place.
Step 4: After the dough has risen (about 3-4x in size), it’s time to punch it down and roll it out. Flour your surface once more. Using a rolling pin, glass jar, or wine bottle, flatten the dough until it’s about ¼” thick. It shouldn’t be thin enough to see through, but should be thin enough to roll.
Step 5: Next, let’s assemble the filling. Melt the butter in a small mixing bowl. Then, add light brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Whisk until a paste forms. Using a rubber spatula, spread the paste on your dough.
Step 6: Dice Rockit™ Apples into tiny pieces. Then, sprinkle onto your dough.
Step 7: Starting at the end of your dough, begin to carefully roll it into a log shape. Be sure to do this slowly to ensure the apples don’t get “pushed” out of the roll. However, if that happens, place the apple pieces on the dough you haven’t rolled yet to sneak them back in. Then, using a serrated knife, slice the rolled dough into 9 cinnamon rolls.
Step 8: Now, let’s get ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F and layer a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper. Then, spray with cooking spray. Place Rockit™ Apple Cinnamon Rolls into the pan and bake for 12-15 minutes until outside of the dough starts to turn golden brown.
Step 9: While the rolls bake, let’s make the frosting. Gather all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Once Rockit™ Apple Cinnamon Rolls are done baking, top with icing and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- The yeast MUST be FRESH! Expired yeast will negatively affect how the rolls rise. Ideally, it should rise in 1-2 hours. But with expired yeast, it could take longer, or they may not rise at all. This will result in poor texture and therefore, unappetizing cinnamon rolls. And we don’t have time for that.
- You can prepare the dough at night for the next morning to save time, if you’d like. This gives you the opportunity to serve these delicious Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls even if you’re in a time crunch. Just leave the dough on the counter overnight and let it rise.
- There are 2 ways to apply the cinnamon roll filling. One option is to “brush” melted butter directly on the dough and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. You can also make the paste as described above. Either will work!
Recipe FAQs
You can store these in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If you enjoy your cinnamon rolls warm, you can reheat in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Do note, the frosting will become more of a glaze if reheated.
Yes! But they must be baked (freezing the dough will mess with the rising process). You can freeze frosted or unfrosted cinnamon rolls. If they don’t have frosting, you can reheat in a 300°F oven for 10 minutes, then add the frosting. If they have frosting, thaw on the counter before enjoying.
If your cinnamon rolls are tough, you most likely used too much flour. This dries out the dough and, as a result, it will not bake properly. You do need a floured surface when kneading and rolling out the dough to prevent stick, but try your best not to get an excessive amount of flour incorporated into the dough itself.
The rise is essential in achieving a fluffy texture. You can still bake cinnamon rolls that don’t rise, but your end product is likely to be very dense. Before calling it quits completely, you could also try dissolving additional yeast and incorporating it into the dough to see if it will rise at all.
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Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling Recipe
Equipment
- 2 large mixing bowls
- Small mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Hand Mixer
- Cutting Board
- Chef's Knife
- Serrated knife
- 9×9 baking pan
- Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
- Rolling Pin
- parchment paper
- Saran wrap
Ingredients
For the rolls
- ½ package dry yeast, approx 1 tbsp
- ½ cup warm almond milk, between 110°F and 115°F
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- 2½ tbsp butter
- 1 egg, room temperature
- ½ tsp salt
- 2-2½ cups all-purpose flour
For the filling
- ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- ⅛ cup butter, melted
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup RockIt Apples, diced
For the frosting
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- ⅛ cup cream cheese, softened
- ¾-1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- First, we'll make the rolls. Whisk dry active yeast into warm almond milk. The milk needs to be between 110°F and 115°F. Let it dissolve.
- Pour the yeast and milk mixture into a mixing bowl. Then, beat with cane sugar, butter, egg, and salt.
- Gradually add flour into the bowl and fold together until a dough forms. It will be sticky—that's OK.
- Remove the dough from the bowl. Then, knead it on a floured surface for 6-8 minutes.
- Grab a clean mixing bowl and spray with cooking spray. Then, place the dough in the greased mixing bowl, cover with a linen towel, and let rise for 1-2 hours in a warm place.
- After the dough has risen (about 3-4x in size), it's time to punch it down and roll it out. Flour your surface once more. Using a rolling pin, glass jar, or wine bottle, flatten the dough until it's about 1/4" thick. It shouldn't be thin enough to see through, but should be thin enough to roll.
- Next, let's assemble the filling. Melt the butter in a small mixing bowl. Then, add light brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Whisk until a paste forms.
- Using a rubber spatula, spread the paste on your dough.
- Dice Rockit™ Apples into tiny pieces. Then, sprinkle onto your dough.
- Starting at the end of your dough, begin to carefully roll it into a log shape. Be sure to do this slowly to ensure the apples don't get "pushed" out of the roll. However, if that happens, place the apple pieces on the dough you haven't rolled yet to sneak them back in.
- Then, using a serrated knife, slice the rolled dough into 9 cinnamon rolls.
- Now, let's get ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F and layer a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper. Then, spray with cooking spray.
- Place Rockit™ Apple Cinnamon Rolls into the pan and bake for 12-15 minutes until outside of the dough starts to turn golden brown.
- While the rolls bake, let's make the frosting. Gather all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.
- Once Rockit™ Apple Cinnamon Rolls are done baking, top with icing and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
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If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find CINNAMON ROLLS WITH APPLE PIE FILLING calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
I made these today for friends today and they were an absolute hit! I loved the photos of each step so I knew how my dough should look before/after rising. I definitely will be making these again!
This makes me SO happy!! Thank you for your support, XO
Great recipe- it was a hit with the whole family
these are perfect for christmas morning! absolutely DELISH
My mom loves these! The dough is slightly sweeter and such a good touch!!
Quick question, what is a RockIt Apple? I’ve never heard of that variety. Is it sweet or tart?
Hi Deb! RockIt apples are a brand of mini apples! They’re pretty sweet. Similar to a gala apple in flavor. Check ’em out here: https://www.rockitapple.com/