Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
These salted caramel apple cinnamon rolls are nothing but amazing with rolls filled with caramelized apples, cinnamon, pecans, and salted caramel topping.
This blog post was originally published on November 3, 2014, and has been updated with new pictures and guidance.
This post is sponsored by ACH Foods. All opinions are 100% mine, as usual. Thank you for supporting the occasional sponsored posts that make it possible for me to continue to create quality content!
Hey there, and welcome back, friends.
You are in for a treat!
I am not going to beat around the bush here. These salted caramel apple cinnamon rolls are AMAZING! There is no other way to put it.
I mean, how else can you describe warm cinnamon rolls filled with caramelized apples, cinnamon, and pecans, and drizzled in salted caramel? Come on, tell me “amazing” is not the word that comes to mind.
Okay, let me break it down further. It all starts with soft, easy-to-work-with dough. Using Fleischmann’s® RapidRise Yeast, there is little or no time spent waiting for the dough to rise.
Did I convince you they are AMAZING yet? Like you want to try them NOW?? That’s what I thought.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- salt & sea salt for the caramel sauce
- a large egg
- some Fleischmann’s® RapidRise Yeast
- all-purpose flour
- warm water (for the yeast)
- a few medium apples
- brown sugar
- Spice Islands® Ground Saigon Cinnamon
- some chopped pecans
- Karo® Light Corn Syrup
- Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract
How to Make Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, and salt.
Add the egg and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the yeast and 2 cups of flour.
Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture all at once and then add water. Mix well and add extra flour, 1 cup at a time, until a soft smooth dough forms.
On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for a few minutes.
In the meantime, combine chopped apples with some brown sugar in a small saucepan.
Cook over medium heat until the apples are caramelized. Set it aside and grease a baking pan.
Divide dough into 2 equal portions and roll each portion out to a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface.
Brush each with a good amount of melted butter.
Combine the rest of the brown sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle ½ of the cinnamon sugar on each rectangle.
Scatter the apples onto the rectangles and top with some pecans.
Roll up the rectangle from the long side.
Next, cut each roll into 8 slices.
Place the rolls into the prepared baking pan, cut side down.
Cover the pan and let rise until double. (You can also the freeze rolls at this point or refrigerate them overnight.)
Preheat the oven and bake the rolls until golden brown.
Now, while the cinnamon rolls cool, make the caramel sauce. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and then add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract.
Whisk until blended and sugar is melted. Remove from heat. Whisk in sea salt. Pour caramel syrup into a heatproof bowl. Let cool.
Drizzle the cooled cinnamon rolls with caramel sauce.
Serve immediately.
How to Store
Store these cinnamon rolls in the fridge for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze these cinnamon rolls for up to 3 months and thaw them at room temperature before heating them up to serve.
More Fall Apple Recipes
- Caramel Apple Bundt Cake
- No Bake Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- Spiced Apple Cupcakes
- Cardamom Apple Crisp
- Apple Cheddar Pie
What do you think of this amazing apple caramel cinnamon roll recipe? What would you serve with one of these rolls? Let me know in the comment section below.
If you share across social media, make sure to tag #aclassictwist, so I can see your beautiful creation come to life!
Happy fall baking, friends!
Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
These salted caramel apple cinnamon rolls are nothing but amazing with rolls filled with caramelized apples, cinnamon, pecans and salted caramel topping.
Ingredients
For Rolls:
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 envelope + 2 teaspoon Fleischmann's® RapidRise Yeast
- 3½ to 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoon very warm water (120° to 130°F)
For Filling:
- 2 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon Spice Islands® Ground Saigon Cinnamon
- 1 cup (~4 ounces) chopped pecans
For Caramel Syrup:
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup Karo® Light Corn Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
For Rolls:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yeast and 2 cups of flour. Add the flour mixture to butter/sugar mixture all at once and then add water. Mix well and add an additional 1-1/2 to 2 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, until a soft smooth dough forms. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, combine chopped apples with ¼ cup brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until apples are caramelized, about 7- 10 minutes. Set aside. Grease a 13 x 9- inch pan.
- Divide dough into 2 equal portions and roll each portion out to a 14 x 8-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Brush each with a good amount of melted butter. Combine the rest of the brown sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle ½ of the cinnamon sugar on each rectangle. Scatter the apples onto the rectangles and top with pecans. Roll up the rectangle from the long side and cut each roll into 8 slices.
- Place rolls into prepared pan, cut side down. Cover pan and let rise until double, about 45-50 minutes. (You can freeze rolls at this point or refrigerate overnight.)
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly before drizzling with caramel sauce (recipe below). Serve immediately.
For Caramel Syrup:
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk until blended and sugar is melted. Remove from heat. Whisk in sea salt. Pour caramel syrup into a heatproof bowl. Let cool.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 877Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 449mgCarbohydrates: 152gFiber: 5gSugar: 39gProtein: 16g
Hello, am I missing something?…the instructions say to cut each roll into 8 pieces but you say that this recipe yields 12 buns? Can you please clarify? Thanks! These looks so heavenly!
I mean 12 regular size buns. The end pieces are on the small size so I didn’t count those on the serving size.
I am in the process of making these right now to see if they would be a good fit for my granddaughter to use as a 4-H entry at county fair. My question is if she wanted to make them the night before and bake first thing in the morning I am assuming that they would need to come to room temp and then raise to double in size? Also in the instructions it says to cut each half into 8 pieces but then it says that it makes 12 rolls. I just put 16 in my pan so I am anxious to see how full the pan is. Thanks, I hope mine look as great as yours.
Hello, yes, you would refrigerate and bring to room temperature the next day and finish the rise.
All this time later I have discovered the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever tasted (and that’s a LOT of rolls).
If I freeze a batch of unbaked rolls, should I let them completely thaw before baking?
Hi Kay, that is great to hear. You should thaw them in the refrigerator overnight before baking.
These cinnamon rolls were unreal! I had to improvise on the caramel since I don’t keep corn syrup handy, but I found a solution that seemed to do these amazing pastries justice: I boiled a sealed can of sweetened condensed milk for an hour until it caramelized, then popped it open and added a bit of apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and nutmeg.
My husband isn’t typically a big fan of any sort of baked apple (no, I don’t understand it either), but he devoured two of these in record time. And we have another batch waiting patiently in the freezer for next weekend! Amazing. Thank you, Zainab!
I am SO GLAD to hear!! And thanks for sharing that tip on the caramel. I actually have another caramel recipe that doesn’t use corn syrup…I will link it to this post.
Hi,
could you freeze those? If so, how would you recommend doing it ?
Thank you :)!!!
oops never mind I just saw the note!!
These look SO amazing! I want to reach into my computer screen and just take one! I think I am going to have to try these. My oldest son LOVES cinnamon rolls…this is going to be a great treat when he comes home from college at Thanksgiving! Pinning!
Oh I hope you make it for him!! It would be a great coming home present 🙂
Oh my, these look absolutely incredible!!
Oh, my goodness!!! Those are seriously killing me over here!!! I adore all things salted caramel, and those caramelized apples inside sound amazing!!! I wish I had one to go with some coffee right now!
Oh man, these cinnamon rolls look absolutely fantastic! That cinnamon filling is totally calling for me!
Yes!! Try it!!
This combines some of my favorite things in a roll – salted caramel and cinnamon! LOVE. Pinned!
Thanks for sharing!!
Caramelized apples – well you have officially redefined cinnamon rolls for me, the cinnamon and sugar is not going to cut it anymore! I love love love the apple and nut combo, but you’ve taken it to the next level with soft yeasty rolls! Definitely pinning these. And hooray for rapid rise yeast! I used active dry for so long that when I finally used rapid rise, I went ahead and made three batches since it could be done in half and hour instead of four 🙂
Thanks Mary Frances!! Cinnamon and sugar just don’t cut it anymore.