Soft-Baked Apple Cinnamon Rolls

These Apple Cinnamon Rolls are super gooey and delicious. They are filled with a cinnamon brown sugar filling, a cooked apple pie filling, and toasted pecans. They are then finished off with a smooth cream cheese frosting. The components for these Cinnamon Rolls can be made ahead of time, meaning the rolls just need to be assembled in the morning for the perfect Holiday breakfast!

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Hi hi! I am so excited to share this apple cinnamon roll recipe with you! These homemade Cinnamon Rolls are super easy to make, and the components can be prepared ahead of time, so that come the morning, all you have to do is assemble them and pop them in the oven.

• 

• 

Components of Apple Cinnamon Rolls

• Brioche Dough - This is my go-to brioche dough. It comes together really easily and is super versatile. I like to make mine ahead of time and give it a cold rise in the fridge. The cold rise not only makes the dough really easy to work with, but the cold temperature of the fridge slows down the rise of the yeast, which means that the dough can work on your schedule. This makes these Cinnamon Rolls the perfect breakfast!
• Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling - This cinnamon filling has the usual suspects - brown sugar, softened butter, and cinnamon. They are all mixed together to form a paste, which is spread over the rolled-out dough to form the base of the filling.
• Cooked Apple Pie Filling - This apple pie filling is super easy to make - diced apples are cooked with a little sugar and butter, then corn starch is added to help thicken up the filling. The whole lot then goes into the fridge, ready for assembly.
• Toasted Pecans - These are optional - leave them out if you don't like nuts or if you have an allergy in the house but I love the crunch that they give. I always toast my nuts in the oven just for 10 minutes. You can do these in a big batch and keep them in an airtight container in the pantry or freezer so you always have toasted nuts on hand!
• Cream Cheese Frosting - This is a super simple cream cheese frosting - butter and cream cheese get whipped together, powdered sugar and a wee bit of salt get added and whipped until thick. Finally a little heavy cream is added to help make the icing smooth and spreadable. The cream cheese frosting goes on while the Cinnamon Rolls are still a little warm, so it melts down and adds to the gooeyness.

The Perfect Make Ahead Holiday Breakfast

I developed this Apple Cinnamon Roll recipe with breakfast in mind, so you can prepare all the components the night before, making assembly the next morning super easy.

Here's all the steps you can do the day before:

1. Make the brioche dough and pop in the fridge for an overnight rise.
2. Make the apple filling and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
3. Toast the Pecans and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
4. Measure out your brown sugar, cinnamon and salt for the filling and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
5. Bring out your butter and cream cheese the night before so that it is at room temperature for assembling the filling and the frosting.

Steps to finish off the Apple Cinnamon Rolls the next day for breakfast:

1. Mix together your brown sugar and cinnamon and the softened butter to make your filling.
2. Roll out the brioche dough, spread with the filling, then top with the apple filling and toasted pecans.
3. Roll up and cut into rolls, then give a quick second rise.
4. Bake the Cinnamon Rolls off and prepare the cream cheese frosting while they are in the oven.
5. Finish them with the cream cheese frosting for the perfect breakfast!

A few wee tips for Apple Cinnamon Rolls

• These are pretty gooey cinnamon rolls, so make sure that the pan you use will help keep them contained. I used a quarter sheet pan and it was only just enough to hold them in - a 9"x13" baking pan would work great.
• If you find that the log of dough is getting hard to work with once you have rolled it up, chop it in half, and put both halves onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cover with plastic wrap and either chill for about 20 minutes or pop it into the freezer for 10 minutes. This firms up the filling and the dough and makes it a little easier to cut. Then cut each piece of dough into 6 rolls and proceed as usual! You may need to give it 10 minutes or so extra on the second rise to account for the time chilling.

• 

• 

Frequently Asked Questions for Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Can I make these in the same day?
You sure can! I like to give the brioche a cold rise still, so a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge works great. This makes the dough super easy to work with and gives you flexibility in your timing too. Make the apple filling while the dough is mixing so that it has enough time to chill down before assembly, and make sure to pull your butter and cream cheese out in time for them to come to room temperature for assembly and frosting.

Do I have to use Nuts?
Nope! If you don't want to you can just leave them out.

How do I know when the Cinnamon Rolls are baked?
It can be a little tricky to tell when enriched bread is baked, especially when it has a filling. I like to double check the doneness by taking the internal temperature of the bread using an instant read thermometer - 190°f / 90°c is a good number to shoot for. Make sure you're poking the thermometer into the bread and not the filling.

Print