Apple Crumble Cinnamon Rolls
These apple crumble cinnamon rolls have a soft homemade dough with an apple and cinnamon centre, topped with a delicious homemade crumble.
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Apple Crumble Recipes
I love apple crumble – for me, it is the epitome of autumn. With warming spices, soft apple and the crumble topping, it’s just perfect for this time of year.
I already have a few apple crumble recipes on my blog, including my Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Cake, Apple Crumble Loaf Cake and Apple Crumble Millionaire’s Shortbread.
I love experimenting with different bakes and flavour combinations, like my Apple Crumble Millionaire’s Shortbread, which is always popular at this time of year. That’s where I came up with the idea for these Apple Crumble Cinnamon Rolls.
Homemade Dough
The homemade dough for these apple crumble cinnamon rolls is the same dough I use in my other roll recipes, like my classic Cinnamon Rolls and Biscoff & White Chocolate Rolls. I mean, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
To make the dough, I used strong white bread flour, but you can use plain flour if you prefer. Both will work perfectly – it just comes down to personal preference.
There are a few different types of yeast available. For this recipe, I recommend dried active yeast. You can use another type, but make sure you follow the packet instructions on how to activate it.
Related Recipes
Apple Crumble Millionaire Shortbread
Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Cake
The only ingredient I changed was the sugar. I swapped caster sugar for light brown sugar, as I thought the light brown sugar would give the dough a slight caramel flavour that works perfectly with the cinnamon and apple filling. This is optional, though – you can use caster sugar if you prefer.
The dough will be very sticky once you add the wet ingredients, but if you keep mixing – either with a spatula or a mixer – it will gradually become softer and less sticky.
You’ll need to knead the dough for around 5–10 minutes. The exact time depends on whether you’re kneading by hand or using a mixer.
Rising
This dough needs to prove twice. The first rise is just after kneading. Lightly oil a bowl to prevent sticking, then cover with cling film or a tea towel. Leave the dough to rise for 1–2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Keep an eye on the dough during both proves. The rise may be quicker if your house is warm, or slower if it’s cool. If you leave it near a window, it may take longer than if it’s near a radiator.
There are a few different factors that influence the rise, so it’s best simply to keep checking until the dough has doubled in size.
The second prove is after you’ve added the filling, rolled the dough and placed the rolls in your oven dish. The rolls should be spaced around 1cm apart. As they rise, they’ll expand and touch each other. You don’t want them touching from the start; otherwise, you’ll end up with squashed rolls once they’ve risen.
Apple and Cinnamon Filling
The cinnamon filling is exactly the same as in my classic cinnamon rolls. For the apple part, I decided to use puréed apples.
I peeled and chopped the apples, steamed them until soft, then blitzed them in a food processor. You could also mash them if you prefer. I blended mine into a smooth paste, but you could leave small chunks of apple if you like more texture.
Spread the cinnamon and apple purée evenly over the dough before rolling.
Baking
The rolls need to be baked for around 25–30 minutes, but this depends entirely on your oven. In mine, they bake perfectly in that time, but in yours, they might only take 20 minutes – or as long as 40.
If you’re worried they might brown too quickly, you can bake them at a lower temperature for longer.
Crumble
The crumble topping is my absolute favourite part – I just love a crumble. It’s so simple to make, with only three ingredients: plain flour, demerara sugar and unsalted butter.
It does need to be baked separately from the rolls, then sprinkled over once they’re done.
I didn’t add any icing or cream cheese frosting to these rolls as I think the crumble is enough on its own, but you can definitely add it if you like (see the Alternatives section for amounts).
Alternatives
You can drizzle icing over the rolls if you wish. For this, use 500g icing sugar and up to 75g cold water. Add the water gradually to the icing sugar, mixing until you reach the desired consistency. You may not need all the water.
You could also top the rolls with cream cheese frosting. For this, use 125g icing sugar, 125g unsalted butter and 200g full-fat soft cheese. Beat the butter and icing sugar together first, then add the soft cheese and beat until smooth.
I blitzed my apples into a purée, but you could sprinkle over small chunks of apple instead if you prefer.
Equipment
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Apple Crumble Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Rolls
- 475 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 14 g Dried Active Yeast
- 75 g Light Brown Sugar
- 75 g Unsalted Butter
- 200 ml Whole Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Egg
For the Filling
- 2-3 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
- 175 g Light Brown Sugar
- 75 g Unsalted Butter
- 500 g Apples (peeled and cut into 1cm dice)
- 25 g Light Brown Sugar
For the Crumble
- 150 g Plain Flour
- 75 g Unsalted Butter
- 75 g Demerara Sugar
Instructions
To Make the Dough
- Add the flour to a large bowl along with the sugar and yeast. Mix together until they are evenly distributed.
- Add the butter to the mixture and mix again. The mixture will be very dry and shouldn’t ball up. It should form breadcrumbs. Leave it to one side.
- Heat the milk in the microwave on 20-second bursts until it is warm. You don’t want it to be boiling, but it should have steam coming from the bowl. Alternatively, you can heat the milk up in a saucepan on a low heat.
- Add the milk, vanilla and egg to the dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough together for 5-10 minutes until it is lovely and smooth and springy to the touch.
- Once you have kneaded your dough, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with cling film. You need to leave the dough to rise for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
To Make the Apple Cinnamon Filling
- Melt 15g of the butter in a large pan. Add the apples and 25g of the light brown sugar. Cook gently until the apples have softened.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool fully before blitz to a smooth paste in the food processor.
- In a separate bowl, add the remaining butter and melt it in the microwave in 20-second bursts. Add in the cinnamon and remaining light brown sugar and mix together until fully incorporated.
- Leave the cinnamon mixture and apples to one side.
To Make the Rolls
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a large rectangle roughly 35 x 25cm.
- Spread the cinnamon mixture over your dough evenly, and then spread the apple mixture. Remember and get right to the edges with both.
- Roll the dough from the long side to the long side. Cut this evenly into 12 pieces.
- Place the rolls into your preprepared roasting tray so that they are not touching. Cover in cling film and leave to rise again. This will take around 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the rolls are touching.
To Make the Crumble Topping
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C Fan) and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Leave it to one side.
- In a large bowl rub together the flour, butter and sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Sprinkle the mixture onto the baking tray and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown in colour.
- Remove from the oven and leave to one side to cool.
Baking the Rolls
- Once your rolls have finished their second prove pop them into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Sprinkle over the cooled crumble mixture and leave the rolls to cool fully.
Notes
- These Apple Crumble Cinnamon Rolls are best eaten fresh on the day of baking, but they will keep for 24 hours in an airtight container.
- I blitzed my apples into a purée, but you could sprinkle over small chunks of apple instead if you prefer.
- If you want to finish these off with either a cream cheese frosting or a water icing, then check out the alternatives section above.