Every time I start writing a post, I find myself expressing a deep love for the food I am writing about, almost like every food is my favorite. I love ice cream. I love cookies. I love blackberries. And I am especially fond of cinnamon rolls. On Saturdays, when I am up early and out for a long run, I fill my mind with thoughts of warm, gooey cinnamon rolls. Once I finish my run, I stop by the farmer’s market or my favorite breakfast place and indulge in my reward.
In the spirit of the changing leaves and cool days, this twist on cinnamon rolls includes the treasure of juicy, fall apples. There are so many choices when it comes to apples. I used two types, Gala and Cameo apples. They are both tasty for eating and baking with the Cameo being a bit more tart than the Gala. The Cameos also have a beautiful red and yellow stripe pattern, which, of course, is no matter to the taste. Just choose your favorite apple.
These rolls are made with apple butter and cinnamon in the middle and then baked with apple pieces and pecan halves. Then they are topped with sweet caramel icing. The icing puts these over the edge, so I always drizzle on a little extra for good measure. No bobbing for apples this fall, they are more fun baked into breakfast!
Caramel Apple Nut Rolls
- dough adapted from The Pioneer Woman
- makes at least 18 medium rolls
-
Ingredients
-
rolls
- 1 quart whole milk
- 1 cup vegetable oil*
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 9 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 tablespoon salt
- 2 medium apples, peeled, sliced and chopped thin
- 1 cup pecans
- 16 tablespoons apple butter
- 1 cup melted butter
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cinnamon
-
caramel icing
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 6-7 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
-
Directions
*may replace with olive oil
make the rolls
Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a saucepan over medium to high heat. Heat until just before boiling. Remove from heat. Transfer to a new bowl to bring the temperature down quicker and let cool for 1 hour until the mixture is just warm. Add the active dry yeast and let it sit for a few minutes. In increments, mix in 8 cups of flour. Cover and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
Mix 1 cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to risen dough. If desired, cover dough and refrigerate until you are ready to make the rolls. The dough will last for up to one week.
Butter two 9-inch pans. You can also use 5-inch wide, 2-inch deep, heat safe ramekins for single servings. Or you can use a combination of pans and ramekins. Cover the bottom of the pan with pecans. Then top the pecans with the apple pieces. Combine 1/4 cup of melted butter with two teaspoons of cinnamon. Brush the mixture evenly on the apples in each pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Divide the dough in two and form rectangles. On a large, floured surface, begin to roll out half the dough in a long rectangle. Dough should be rolled out about 1/4 inch thick. Then, leaving about 1/2 inch on the edge, spread half of the apple butter on the dough. Using a brush, add half the butter. Then sprinkle the dough with half the brown sugar and one tablespoon of cinnamon.
Then begin to roll the dough in a long cylinder shape. Roll tightly, tucking the dough as you go. Once the dough is rolled, cut it in rolls about 1-inch thick. If using ramekins, cut the rolls slightly thicker to account for the deeper dish. Place the rolls in the pans on top of the apples, leaving room for the rolls to expand. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 30 minutes. Bake the rolls for 19-22 minutes until they are golden. Remove them from the oven and within 5 minutes, turn the rolls over onto a plate so the pecans and apples are on top.
make the caramel icing
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the cream and brown sugar and bring to a boil for one minute. Remove from heat and whisk in half of the powdered sugar. Let it cool slightly, then add the remaining powdered sugar. Whisk vigorously until the powdered sugar is well combined. If you prefer it a little thinner, mix in 1 tablespoon of cream. Then drizzle the icing over the rolls.
20 Comments
These photos are so gorgeous. The rolls look delicious and divine. Cinnamon rolls are definitely one of my favorites too…now I’m going to be dreaming of them on my next morning run.
Mmm. You have to love a recipe inspired by the flavors of Fall. These rolls sound and look delicious.
It’s tasty photos like this that make it hard to look at a bowl of cereal in the morning.
Looks super yummy!
These look seriously delicious. The pecan halves are what got me.
Lovely, enticing photos.
Wow. My mouth is drooling for this. I’ll have to make this sooner than later.
I will try my hand at making these this weekend – they look perfect for my mood, weather, and sweet tooth; great idea about ending your run at the farmers’ market. Now that I’m done farming for the season, I’ll do the same on Saturdays and end at the Winter Farmers’ Market! Thanks for a great recipe!
Another Mara! How rare, I love it.
oh. my. goodness. those seriously look good. I’m actually drooling! i’d definitely try these out really soon. thanks for the update, by the way! i’m looking forward to more delicious posts
oh, and what photo editor did you use? your pictures are perfect.
Oh! My! First, this has been bookmarked! This both sounds and looks DIVINE!
Totally lovin’ your blog!
Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls
Those look too good to be true, though I’m guessing they’re EXACTLY as good as they look. Probably better. How sinful and seasonal!
Cheers,
*Heather*
I’m going to give these a try this weekend –they look amazing! I’m just wondering about the amount of rolls that the recipe yields. With nine cups of flour, does it really only make 18 rolls? I peeked at the site you adapted it from and she stated that it makes up to seven pans. Did you cut them much thicker than her? Just curious –so I can warn my neighbors of extra rolls or not! Thanks.
Thanks for your sweet comments. Hannah, Mara edits our photos in Photoshop. She is seriously fantastic.
Laurie, I probably cut my rolls about 1 inch thick. Also, I discard the ends that don’t seem like they have enough substance to them. The batches I made here allowed me to make a few individual servings (with 2-3 rolls per ramekin) as well as the larger pans. If I put them all in 9-inch pans, I could probably get 3 pans out of the recipe. Hope that helps.
I have been craving cinnamon rolls for weeks! This looks amazing- I have to finally get on it this weekend!
WOW. Now if only I didn’t have to go to work so I could make these tomorrow morning….
WOW incredible photos and these have to the best rolls I have seen! Saving this!
Wow wow wow, this looks so ooey gooey and delicious!!!!
Didn’t know you were a baker, but think I may have to call upon your skills/recipes for the next bday event. This particular recipe looks divine…
Hey very nice blog!! Man .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds also…I am happy to find numerous useful info here in the post, we need work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
I truly wanted to post a brief comment to appreciate you for some with the remarkable ways that you are giving out on this web site. My long internet appear up has at the finish with the day been recognized with reliable data to talk about with my companions. I ‘d declare that most of us visitors are undeniably fortunate to live in a great spot with very a lot of awesome specialists with great techniques. I feel extremely significantly blessed to have encountered your entire internet pages and look forward to some more enjoyable times reading here. Thanks once once more for all the details.