Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
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These Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting have cooked down caramelized apples in the filling – rolled in a fluffy enriched dough with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and lots of brown sugar and butter. To top these off, they have a light whipped maple cream cheese frosting. The layers of flavor are insane! Cinnamon-y caramelized apples, fluffy dough, lots of fall spices, and the creamiest maple frosting. You will love these Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls!
One of my favorite things to bake in the fall is any type of sweet roll – cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, pecan rolls!
Why caramelize the apples?
- One of my biggest pet peeves with apple desserts is big, hard chunks of apple.
- When you throw raw apple chunks into a baked good, they can sometimes stay surprisingly firm, and they don’t always release enough flavor into the rest of the dessert. You end up with random pieces of apple instead of that deep, caramelized apple flavor you were actually hoping for.
- So instead, I cook the apples down before they ever make it into the cinnamon rolls.
- The apples are cooked with sugar and cinnamon until they soften and start to caramelize. I also add a little cornstarch to the mixture, which helps absorb some of the extra moisture from the apples so the filling doesn’t make the cinnamon rolls soggy.
- As the apples cook, they become soft, jammy, and packed with fall flavor. Then they get rolled right into the cinnamon roll filling and rolled up into the dough.
- And because the apples continue to caramelize while the rolls bake, you get little pockets of cinnamon-spiced apple throughout the rolls instead of big chunks of apple that feel like they were just added as an afterthought.
The cinnamon roll dough
The base of these rolls is a soft, fluffy enriched dough. If you’ve made my other sweet rolls, you’ll recognize the dough technique. It’s rich enough to make the rolls tender and flavorful, but still light and fluffy once baked.
Once the dough has been kneaded and is smooth and elastic, let it rise until doubled in size. This first rise gives the yeast time to develop flavor and gives you that soft, fluffy texture we’re after.
The apple filling
Before starting the dough, make the caramelized apples. This will give you time to cook them down and let them cool a bit before spreading into the dough. You don’t want them to be scalding hot in the dough.
- You can use any type of apple – red for sweeter rolls or green for a more tart flavor. I love to use honeycrisp!
- Cut the apples into small pieces so they cook down quickly and distribute evenly throughout the rolls.
- Cook them with the cinnamon and sugar until the apples are tender, then you will add the cornstarch slurry and thicken.
- The goal is a filling that looks almost like a thick apple pie filling—but a little more concentrated.
- Let the apples cool slightly before assembling the rolls. You don’t want to spread a piping-hot filling over your dough because it can make the dough difficult to work with and can interfere with the rise.
Maple cream cheese frosting
Now for my favorite part: the frosting.
These rolls are topped with a light, whipped maple cream cheese frosting that is sweet, creamy, and just tangy enough to balance all the brown sugar and caramelized apples.
The maple flavor is subtle but makes the whole thing taste very fall-ish without turning the frosting into maple syrup.
I like to whip the frosting until it’s light and fluffy, then spread it over the rolls while they’re still slightly warm. Not piping hot. Not completely cooled. Slightly warm.
That way, the frosting gets soft and melty around the edges and settles into all the little crevices of the rolls while still staying thick enough to actually feel like frosting.
Honestly, this is the part where things get dangerous.
Can I make these ahead?
Yes! Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite things to make ahead. You can assemble the rolls, cover them tightly, and refrigerate them overnight. The next morning, let them come to room temperature and finish their second rise before baking. This makes them especially good for a fall breakfast, weekend brunch, or holiday morning.
Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Caramelized Apple Filling
- 6 cups apples, chopped in about 1 inch chunks (4-6 apples depending on size)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water (to mix with cornstarch)
Dough
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 cups very warm water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted- or neutral oil
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 5½-6 cups flour
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (1.5 sticks)
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1½ cups brown sugar
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4-5 tablespoons heavy cream, or milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Instructions
Caramelized Apple Filling
- Start by making the apple cinnamon mixture. This can take about 25 minutes, depending on how long it takes to cook them down, so plan ahead. All stoves are a little different with their heat level. This apple mixture can even be made a day or two ahead and stored in the fridge.
- In a medium bowl, place chopped apples. I leave the skins on the apples – once you cook them down you won't be able to taste them.Toss the apples with the lemon juice and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir well. Let the mixture simmer and bubble.
- You'll continue cooking the apples until they are soft, slightly mashed, and reduced down by about half. This could take 20-25 minutes depending on the size of your pan, and level of heat on your stove. Continue stirring as it reduces.
- Once they're soft, reduced by about half, and the water mixture is starting to thicken, you'll get the cornstarch mixture ready. In a tiny bowl, mix the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water with a fork until smooth.Pour this cornstarch mixture into the apple mixture (keep the heat at medium-high while you pour it in), and continue mixing until the mixture thickens. Stir for 1-2 more minutes until thickened then remove from heat and set aside.
- Let the apple mixture sit and come to room temperature until ready to use in the dough.
Dough
- Dissolve yeast in warm warm for 2 minutes.
- Add all ingredients except flour and salt in a stand mixer, and mix with dough hook until combined
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Gradually add the flour and mix with the dough hook until combined. Add just enough flour for the dough to come together and mix well with the dough hook. Once combined, continue mixing with the dough hook for 3-4 minutes. This will help make the dough fluffier.
- Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 25-30 minutes.
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- While the dough is rising, make the brown sugar filling. In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl, melt the butter.
- Once melted, add the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to the butter. Mix until completely dissolved and incorporated.
- Then add the brown sugar and mix well, forming a filling paste.
- Set aside.
Making the Rolls
- Begin by spraying a large rimmed baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.Preheat oven to 350°F.
- After dough has risen, punch down and knead into ball. Spray the counter with cooking spray and roll the dough out, with a rolling pin, into a large rectangular shape.
- Using a rubber spatula, spread the brown sugar filling over the dough.Then, on top of the brown sugar filling, spread the apple mixture over the dough. Try to spread it evenly use the back of a rubber spatula to slightly mash any pieces of apple that seem too large.
- Roll dough into vertical log.Cut dough at approximately every 1 inch to make 12-18 rolls depending on how big each roll is. (A cheese knife works great at cutting them without pinching the dough down!)
- Place each cut roll in the baking sheet or pan that is coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for 15 more minutes.
- Bake cinnamon rolls for 25 -30 minutes until the tops are very brown (if the tops aren't brown enough, the underside won't be cooked).Also look for the caramelized apple filling to be bubbling in the pan – you want the edges bubbling! That's how you know the filling the thick and the cinnamon rolls are cooked through.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- While the rolls are baking, prepare your frosting. In a stand mixer whip butter and cream cheese as hard as the beater will go. Cream cheese is finicky and you have to beat it hard to get the lumps out and make sure it’s fully incorporated into the butter and whipped.
- Then turn down the speed and add the powdered sugar slowly, alternating with a bit of cream (or milk). Add vanilla. Continue adding powdered sugar and milk until you get a smooth consistency.
- Add the maple syrup at the end, so the other ingredients are well incorporated first.Once you add the maple syrup, continue mixing on medium speed until the frosting is light and fluffy!(If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar, if it's too thick, add a little more cream.)Frost the cinnamon rolls right when they come out of the oven. Enjoy!!
Instructions for Preparing the Night Before
- Follow all instructions above through rolling the dough into a vertical log and cutting the rolls and placing on a greased baking sheet.
- Once you've done this, spray the tops of the rolls with cooking spray. Cover with saran wrap and seal well around the edges. Make sure no air gets in there so the rolls don't dry out.
- Place in the fridge overnight, up to a day.Remove from fridge 2 hours before you'd like to bake them. Keep them covered, but let them sit on the counter untouched. They need to get to room temperature, and the dough needs to start to rise a little more before they go in the oven.
- Once they've come mostly to room temperature (they can be a little cold, but not freezing), and have risen slightly, follow the baking instructions. Enjoy!
The perfect fall cinnamon roll
There are a lot of apple cinnamon roll recipes out there, but I really love what the caramelized apples do here. You get all the flavor of an apple pie, but wrapped up in a fluffy cinnamon roll and covered in maple cream cheese frosting.They’re the perfect fall baking project and one of those recipes that makes your house smell incredible before you’ve even taken the first bite.
I hope you love these Caramelized Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting – if you make them, be sure to tag me on Instagram @plumstreetcollective so I can see them ! Happy Fall Baking!
