Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls – Soft, gooey cinnamon rolls filled with sweet, jammy apple chunks and warm fall spices, topped with luscious cream cheese frosting. All the flavors of fresh apple pie wrapped up in a cozy breakfast treat, perfect for holiday mornings or any special brunch!

Love More Apple Pie Recipes? Try My Apple Pie Bread Pudding or this Mini Apple Pies With Puff Pastry next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls filled with sweet, spiced apple pie filling and finished with a rich cream cheese glaze. This foolproof recipe ensures perfect results every time, making them ideal for breakfast, dessert, or a cozy afternoon treat.

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Ingredient List

For the Dough:

• 1 cup whole milk, warmed to about 110°F
• 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the Apple Pie Filling:

• 3 medium apples (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp), peeled and chopped
• ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the Cinnamon Butter:

• ⅓ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Why These Ingredients Work

Here’s what I’ve learned after making these about twenty times: whole milk makes them way more tender than skim, and don’t even think about using it. Brown sugar gives you that deep molasses flavor that screams fall.

Granny Smith or Honeycrisp are my ride-or-die apples here – they keep their shape and don’t turn to applesauce when you cook them. That cornstarch might seem fussy, but it stops your apple mixture from leaking juice all over your pan.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Large mixing bowl (get a bigger one than you think you need)
• Kitchen scale if you have one – way more accurate than cups
• Stand mixer with dough hook, or just your hands if you’re feeling old school
• Medium saucepan for the apples
• Rolling pin (wine bottle works in a pinch)
• 9×13 inch baking dish
• Dental floss – seriously, this isn’t a joke
• Clean kitchen towels

How To Make Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Step 1: Prep the Apple Filling (Do This First!)

Start with your apple filling because it needs to cool down completely – this is where most people mess up. Throw your chopped apples in a saucepan with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and just a splash of water. Cook them for maybe 8-10 minutes until they’re soft but still have some bite. Mix that cornstarch with water to make a slurry, stir it in, and cook another 2 minutes until everything thickens up. Set it aside and forget about it.

Step 2: Make the Dough

For the dough, if you’re using active dry yeast, you gotta proof it first – warm milk, yeast, and a pinch of sugar in a bowl for 5-10 minutes until it gets all foamy and excited. Skip this if you’ve got instant yeast.

Dump your flour, sugar, and salt in the mixer bowl. Add your yeast mixture (or just milk if using instant), melted butter, and egg. Start slow so you don’t get flour everywhere, then crank it up to medium and let that dough hook work for 8-10 minutes. You want smooth, stretchy dough that bounces back when you poke it.

Step 3: First Rise

Grease a bowl, plop your dough in there, cover with a damp towel, and let it double in size – about 2 hours. I heat my oven to the lowest setting for exactly one minute, turn it off, and stick the bowl in there. Perfect little greenhouse situation.

Step 4: Roll and Fill

Roll that risen dough into a big rectangle, maybe 15×10 inches – doesn’t have to be perfect. Mix your butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together and spread it all over, leaving a little border. Then scatter your cooled apple filling on top. Don’t go crazy with it or you’ll have filling squeezing out everywhere when you roll.

Step 5: Roll and Slice

Roll it up tight from the long side – like you’re making a sleeping bag. Here’s my weird trick that actually works: use dental floss to cut the rolls. Slide it under the log, cross it over the top, and pull. Perfect cuts every time without squishing everything. Cut 12 pieces and arrange them in your greased 9×13 pan.

Step 6: Second Rise

Cover them up again and let them puff up for another hour until they’re touching each other and look all pillowy.

Step 7: Bake to Golden Perfection

Crank your oven to 350°F and bake these babies for 22-25 minutes until the tops are golden and they sound hollow when you tap them. Don’t overbake – they’ll keep cooking in the hot pan after you take them out.

Step 8: Make the Frosting and Finish

While they’re baking, beat together your cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until it’s smooth and fluffy. Slather this all over the warm rolls and watch it melt into every single crevice. Pure magic.

You Must Know

Hot apple filling will kill your yeast stone dead and turn your beautiful dough into a soggy mess. I learned this the hard way when I was in a hurry once – complete disaster. Make the filling first thing in the morning or even the night before.

Personal Secret: I throw in an extra pinch of nutmeg because my mom always did. It’s that mystery flavor people can never quite place but love.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Get everything to room temp first – cold butter and eggs will slow everything down and you’ll be waiting forever. I take my eggs out when I start my coffee in the morning.

That dental floss thing sounds ridiculous but it works better than any knife. My neighbor taught me this after watching me hack away at rolls with a butter knife like some kind of caveman.

Don’t panic if they look a little pale when you first take them out – they keep cooking in that hot pan. I’ve ruined more batches by leaving them in too long than taking them out too early.

Check your yeast before you start – if it’s been sitting around for months, test a little bit first. Dead yeast equals flat, sad rolls.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

My kids love it when I throw some chopped walnuts in with the apples – gives it that extra crunch. You could try pecans too if you’re fancy like that.

Sometimes I swap the nutmeg for cardamom when I’m feeling adventurous – makes the whole thing taste a little more exotic.

If you really want to go overboard, drizzle some caramel sauce over the cream cheese frosting. I won’t judge you. I’ve done it myself more than once.

Make-Ahead Options

This is where these rolls really shine – you can do almost all the work the night before. After you cut the rolls and put them in the pan, cover them tight with plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge.

Next morning, pull them out, let them warm up and rise for about an hour, then bake. Perfect for when you have overnight guests and want to look like a breakfast hero without getting up at dawn.

You can freeze them too – wrap the whole unbaked pan or individual rolls. I’ve kept them for months this way. Just thaw overnight and let them rise before baking.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Your dough should be a little sticky but not impossible to handle. If it’s sticking to everything, add flour one tablespoon at a time. Too dry and tough? Add milk by the teaspoon.

Don’t stress if your rectangle isn’t perfect – mine never are. As long as you can roll it up without everything falling apart, you’re golden.

The rolls will look a little wonky when you first cut them. That’s normal. They’ll puff up and even out during the second rise.

Serving Suggestions

I like mine best when they’re still a little warm with my morning coffee. They’re also ridiculous as dessert with vanilla ice cream – the warm rolls, cold ice cream, all that cinnamon and apple flavor mixed together.

They’re perfect for lazy weekend mornings when you want something special but don’t want to slave over the stove. Throw some bacon in the oven while these are rising and you’ve got yourself a proper breakfast.

How to Store Your Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls

Keep them covered in the fridge for about 4 days – if they last that long. Microwave individual rolls for 20-30 seconds to warm them up, or reheat the whole pan covered with foil in a 300°F oven for 10 minutes.

They freeze like champions. Wrap them individually or freeze the whole batch. I’ve had them in the freezer for 3 months and they still tasted fresh after thawing.

Allergy Information

These have dairy, eggs, and wheat in them. If you need dairy-free, try oat milk instead of regular milk, use vegan butter, and skip the cream cheese frosting for a simple powdered sugar glaze mixed with a little milk.

For gluten-free, I’ve had decent luck with Cup4Cup flour blend, though they won’t be quite as fluffy. The texture’s a bit different but still good.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Do apple and cinnamon go together?

Absolutely – they’re like peanut butter and jelly. Classic combo that shows up in everything from apple pie to apple cider for a reason.

Can you put apples in cinnamon rolls?

You bet, but you gotta cook them first like I do in this recipe. Raw apples will dump too much water into your dough and make everything soggy.

Can I add cinnamon to apple pie?

Yes! Cinnamon is probably the most traditional apple pie spice there is. That’s exactly what makes these taste like apple pie in roll form.

Can I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?

Sure can. Use the same amount, just mix it right in with the flour. No proofing step needed.

My rolls didn’t rise properly. What went wrong?

Usually it’s dead yeast, water that was too hot, or your kitchen was too cold. Your yeast should get foamy when you proof it, and find a warm spot for the rising – I use my oven with just the light on.

Hope these become your new weekend morning go-to. Nothing beats the smell of these baking when you’ve got nowhere to be and all the time in the world. Happy baking!

💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! I love hearing how they turned out and if you tried any fun variations!