We made these yummy apple pie cinnamon buns to enjoy on Advent Sunday while we read our Bible verses and did our Advent activities. My family loves cinnamon buns and apple pie, so combining two favorites to make these is a delicious variation to the typical cinnamon bun.
When I was a kid, I always loved when my gramma made plaçinta (pronounced pla-chin-tah), a Romainian sweet bread similar to a cinnamon bun, stuffed with apples and a little cinnamon sugar and then rolled up and shaped into a circle. It was not cut into individual rolls, but placed on a baking pan, the two ends pinched together and then baked. Once cooled, it was sliced and enjoyed plain or with ice cream. It was always a favorite growing up, so adding apples to our cinnamon buns really is not a new thing for my family! I have tossed raisins in cinnamon buns, raisins and apples and even chocolate chips!
I often make ooey gooey cinnamon buns like my mom makes, but sometimes I make them without that candied brown sugar topping and instead drizzle with a cream cheese frosting or like this time – a caramel and cinnamon cream cheese frosting which is divine on these cinnamon buns. I think next time I make these apple pie cinnamon buns, I will make a completely different caramel frosting which will be equally delicious! I will share that with you when I make them!
Let’s get started!
First, add 3 tbsp brown sugar to 1 cup warm milk and stir well.
Add 1 tbsp quick rise yeast. Let stand 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and stir.
Add another cup of flour and stir well.
We will be adding 3 eggs to the dough, but add eggs 1 at a time, stirring well after each egg and then add another cup of flour. Stir well. We will be adding a total of 4 cups of flour. Add the last cup of flour slowly, in case the dough does not need it.
Next, we will be kneading the dough. Knead until no longer sticky — it is fine if it is a bit tacky, but not super sticky. Grease bowl and dough. Cover and let rise for 90 minutes.
This dough rose beautifully. Time to make apple pie cinnamon buns!
Punch the dough down. This is my daughter’s favorite part!
Turn dough onto floured counter. Lightly flour dough and roll out.
Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg altogether. Instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg, you could use apple pie spice. Spread butter over dough and sprinkle sugar mixture over top. I melted the butter because it is easier to spread that way.
Here is the dough with the butter and sugar mixture.
Peel, core and dice 2 apples. Scatter apples over dough. You can add more apple if you like. The apples I used were quite large, so 2 apples were plenty. You can also add raisins too or chopped nuts if you like.
Roll the dough up as tight as you can.
Slice into 8 to 10 slices. We ended up with 9 slices.
Place in a greased pan. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
These rose so nicely! And they already smell amazing!
These have risen so beautifully! Look how fluffy! I love seeing how well dough creations rise!
Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
And here are the cinnamon buns fresh from the oven! I let cool about 10 minutes before removing them from the pan. I find if cinnamon buns sit too long in the pan, the bread sweats and they become slobbery and gloopy and just not that appealing to eat.
These buns are delicious without frosting and are great with frosting — it is totally up to you! You can also drizzle a simple glaze over top as well. If glazing, drizzle while cinnamon buns are warm. If frosting with cream cheese frosting, wait until they have cooled a bit first.
These cinnamon buns are tasty plain with butter or cinnamon honey butter. So yummy with frosting too!
Apple Pie Cinnamon Buns
Dough:
1 cup warm milk
1 tbsp yeast
3 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp butter
3 eggs
4 cups flour
Apple Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 tbsp butter
2 apples, diced small
Frosting:
1/2 pkg cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp caramel sauce
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Warm milk to 110°F. Add yeast and brown sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. Mixture will be foamy.
Add in butter, eggs, and 1 cup of flour. Mix. Slowly add remaining flour one cup at a time to mixture until fully incorporated. Mix for about 6 minutes on medium speed if using a mixer, until a ball forms.
Put dough in a greased bowl. Place towel over and let rise 90 minutes.
While dough is rising combine sugars and apple pie spice or cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
Once dough has doubled in size, punch down.
Roll dough out on a floured surface into a rectangular shape. Spread softened butter leaving a rim around the dough. Sprinkle sugar mixture and evenly spread peeled, cored and diced apples. Roll dough tightly together into a log shape. Cut 8 to 10 large rolls with a sharp knife and place in a greased 9×13” pan. Cover and let rise 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before frosting them.
