Apple Cinn-y Rolls
I actively resisted the urge to bake a giant cake we absolutely did not need this weekend, & saved the energy and calories for a Monday breakfast bake - which is like a 1 time a month thing I’m trying out to shake up our weekday routine. This weeks sweet Monday brunch treat - Apple Cinn-y Rolls. The perfect combo of cinnamon rolls + apple pie all topped with a gooey cream cheese frosting. And so so good - like sad when it’s gone kind of good.
Cinnamon rolls + I have a textured past. We’ve tried regular rolls, pumpkin rolls, struggled with the dough being too dry, or not rolling it correctly (which was admittedly my error). Point being that these rolls were amazing + I’m tagging this cinnamon roll dough as fool proof. Light, fluffy, & it can stand up to a chunky apple filling.
Caramelized apple filling - sign me up!
Jordan loves apple pie. Talks about how much he loves it every holiday season. So an apple filled cinn-y roll seemed like the perfect brunch treat. The hope was the apple filling in these rolls would totally mimic the soft, sweet, caramelized apple that’s indicative of a really good apple pie, and this totally delivered. The apples get chopped + totally loaded on top of the freshly rolled out dough along with butter + sugar. The result -gooey, warm, soft apple filling that gets kind of caramelized with the brown sugar. I mean the best bits are at the bottom of the cinnamon rolls - some of the filling just seeps out and caramelizes on the dough.
The point being that every bite of that sweet apple filling feels special. And heavenly! Perfectly caramelized after baking with all that brown sugar + butter, and just obey-gooey cinnamon roll perfection. Perfectly capped off with a hearty topping of the tangy cream cheese frosting.
Perfect for baking ahead of time
That’s what made these perfect for a Monday treat - I did all the real work on Sunday. Made the dough, let it rise, rolled the dough, & got it bake ready all on Sunday. So Monday was all about just throwing them in the oven & whipping up the frosting.
After the doughs initial rise, I was able to roll out the dough, add the apple filling, and form the cinnamon + place in the baking pan for the 2nd rise. 1 hour in and those bad boys we’re puffed back up again and looked like fat, doughy, cinnamon rolls. When I initially placed the prepared rolls in the pan, they were pretty compact + didn’t fill out the pan, so seeing them puff back up + pack out the baking tray was very re-assuring. That’s when they really look like cinnamon rolls. I placed them in the fridge + they were perfectly risen and ready to roll for baking the next morning. So an ideal bake for having folks over for brunch or the upcoming holidays when getting ahead of the cooking is essential.
Monday baking break
So what’s with the Monday baking? Honestly - just creating a special moment for me + Jordan to kickstart the week. Sometimes work feels stressful + overwhelming. I feel these emotions myself in the small roll I play In our family business, and when I see my husband feeling that stress, it wrecks me a little. Point being - we have 100% been guilty of feeling work stress + letting it eat us up so much that sometimes we just really seek out that break. For us, it’s often a yummy end of the day meal, so I started trying to include these start of day // start of week meals for a little fun for just us two. Sometimes we eat something fun just at our desks. Sometimes we pow wow in the kitchen. This time we just took a few minutes to sit at our dining table, have a 30 minute brunch break that was just so happy, and those are the kind of memories I strive for our life to be full. So Monday baking break to the rescue!
These really were so damn good, and they’re a top contender for a little Christmas brunch treat as it stands now! Jordan also told me they were the best cinnamon rolls that have ever come out of our kitchen while we were snacking on the leftovers just the other day, and that just made it even sweeter.
For the rolls
1 c. almond milk
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 c + 1 tbsp. brown sugar
10 tbsp butter, at room temp
3 eggs
4 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 honeycrisp apple, peeled + chopped
For the cream cheese frosting
8 oz. cream cheese
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 c. powdered sugar
Salt
Take the milk and place it in a sauce pan over medium low heat. Heat so that it’s warm (warm to the touch + able to be touched), add to the bowl of a stand mixer with the yeast + 1 tbsp of the brown sugar. Let rest for 10 minutes and the yeast gets foamy. Add 4 tbsp of butter, eggs, + flour, and mix with the dough hook on low to medium speed. Mix for 4-5 minutes, cover with plastic wrap + let rise at room temp for an hour.
In the meantime, whisk together the rest of the brown sugar, granulated sugar, + cinnamon.
After the dough has risen, turn out onto a floured surface. Roll into a rectangular shape - roughly 12x18 in size. Spread the rest of the butter over the rolled out dough (gently) + then sprinkle the sugar over the tap. Lastly, sprinkle the apples over the top. Tightly roll into a log, working with the long side of the dough facing you and rolling away from you. Roll, then tuck the dough after each roll until it has been formed into a log. Pinch the end to seal the roll. Slice into 12 rolls - cut the log in half and then in half again, and separate thee quarters into 3 equal size pieces. Place in a prepared baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, + let rise at room temp for another hour.
If you’re storing overnight, place in the fridge overnight, and remove from the fridge to come to room temp before baking (leaving on the counter for about an hour should do the job). Heat the oven to 350 + bake for 30-35 minutes - so they’re golden brown. Turn in the oven after 25 minutes of baking.
In the meantime, make the cream cheese frosting. Place all ingredients in thee stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low, then increase the speed gradually to get to medium speed, whipping at this speed for 2-3 minutes.
When the rolls have finished baking, remove from the oven + let cool for an hour, the spread the icing right over the top.