Apple crumble cinnamon rolls combine two classic desserts in one. Flavorful apples and cinnamon take center stage in these gooey and soft rolls. You’ll have pieces of cinnamon fried apples baked inside the buttery cinnamon roll dough, plus a cream cheese frosting and sugary crumb streusel on top. They are the perfect start to your fall baking!
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🍂A perfect cinnamon roll for fall
I love, love, love cinnamon rolls and have a few varieties on my website (pumpkin spice, funfetti, red velvet, and of course original cinnamon rolls!). They are pretty easy to make and can all easily be made with an overnight rise. Make them them the day before, store them in the refrigerator overnight, and then let them come to room temperature the next morning, and bake! I always make cinnamon rolls this way.
I wanted to make another fall cinnamon roll and came up with apple crumble cinnamon rolls. I like desserts with a streusel on top (pumpkin streusel coffee cake), and I love apple pie, so I created a recipe using all the all the elements of cinnamon rolls, apple pie, and a streusel on top.
Looking for more apple desserts!?! Try my apple cider coffee cake, mini apple crisp cheesecakes, or apple pie lasagna!
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Apples - I like to have a variety of a sweet apple and a tart apple in baking. I used granny smith and pink lady apples in this recipe.
- Yeast - I use dry active yeast, but you can use whichever type of yeast you prefer.
- Cream cheese - make sure to get the block cream cheese, which is meant for baking.
- Whole milk - 2% would work as well, but I don't recommend a lighter fat milk for baking.
🔪Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough
Place yeast, sugar and warm milk in a large bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it starts bubbling. Add eggs and melted butter and stir to combine.
Add 4 cups of flour and salt and mix until combined. Add in remaining flour, a ¼ cup at a time, until the dough cleans the side of the bowl. It may stick a bit to the bottom of the bowl and that is okay.
Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm environment until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Apple Filling
Place butter and both sugars in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat until everything is melted, and then add in peeled and chopped apples, salt and cinnamon.
Cook until apples are softened, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Let cool slightly while you prepare the cinnamon rolls.
Assembly
Place risen dough onto a floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 15x20 inches.
Spread very softened butter over the dough, and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon overtop. Spoon apple filling over the dough next, making sure to it is evenly spread over top of the dough.
Roll the dough starting at the long side of the rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 rolls with either a serrated knife or plain dental floss, and place them into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
If you are baking right away, preheat oven to 350°F(177°C). Cover the cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and place in a warm environment until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-35 minutes, or until the middle of the cinnamon rolls reach 190°F (88°C) . If the tops of the rolls are browning too quickly, lightly cover them with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until morning. The next day, let the cinnamon rolls come to room temperature and then double in size. This can take a few hours.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-35 minutes, or until the middle of the cinnamon rolls reach 190°F (88°C) . If the tops of the rolls are browning too quickly, lightly cover them with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting
Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add In powdered sugar and mix until combined. Spread the topping over the tops of cinnamon rolls
Crumble
Whisk flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add in melted butter and mix until flour mixture is just incorporated.
Turn out crumble mixture to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 12-15 minutes, breaking up the crumble with a spoon half way through. Bake until the crumble has hardened slightly. Be careful not to burn it.
Let cool for 10 minutes and then decorate the tops of cinnamon rolls with crumble.
For more step-by-step photos and instructions, see the web story for apple crumble cinnamon rolls!
✔️Expert tips
- The amount of flour needed for a dough depends largely on how humid your environment is. I recommend starting with 4 cups of flour and increase the flour by ¼ cup until the dough comes is not sticking to the sides of the bowl if using a stand mixer.
- Use a serrated knife or some plain dental floss (not mint or any other flavour) to cut the cinnamon rolls.
- Make these as overnight cinnamon rolls, or make them all in one day. Either way is fine!
- Cream cheese frosting is the best topping for cinnamon rolls in my opinion. If you don't like cream cheese frosting, use an icing glaze and pour over the rolls. Make icing glaze by mixing 2 cups of powdered sugar and 4-5 tablespoons of milk together.
💭FAQs
I like a mixture of sweet and tart apples in my baked goods. I like pink lady because they are a sweet tart apple and granny smith because they are tart. Other apples that can be used are golden delicious, honeycrisp, and mcintosh.
Yes absolutely peel the apples. The peel can separate from the apple during baking and can create a strange texture.
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📋 Recipe
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Apple Crumble Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- one 9x13" baking pan
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 1 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1 cup whole milk warm
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted
- 4-5½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Apple Filling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 6 apples mix of sweet and tart, peeled and chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Filling
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted slightly
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Crumble
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- Place yeast, sugar and warm milk in a large bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it starts bubbling. Add eggs and melted butter and stir to combine.
- Add 4 cups of flour and salt and mix until combined. Add in remaining flour, a ¼ cup at a time, until the dough cleans the side of the bowl. It may stick a bit to the bottom of the bowl and that is okay.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm environment until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Apple Filling
- Place butter and both sugars in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat until everything is melted, and then add in chopped apples, salt and cinnamon.
- Cook until apples are softened, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Let cool slightly while you prepare the cinnamon rolls.
Filling
- Grease a 9x13" baking pan with butter. Set aside.
- Place risen dough onto a floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 15x20 inches.
- Spread very softened butter over the dough, and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon overtop. Spoon apple filling over the dough next, making sure to it is evenly spread over top of the dough.
- Roll the dough starting at the long side of the rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 rolls and place them into the prepared baking dish.
- If you are baking right away, preheat oven to 350°F(177°C). Cover the cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and place in a warm environment until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-35 minutes, or until the middle of the cinnamon rolls reach 190°F (88°C) . If the tops of the rolls are browning too quickly, lightly cover them with aluminum foil.
- For overnight cinnamon rolls, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until morning. The next day, let the cinnamon rolls come to room temperature and then double in size. This can take a few hours. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-35 minutes, or until the middle of the cinnamon rolls reach 190°F (88°C) . If the tops of the rolls are browning too quickly, lightly cover them with aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add In powdered sugar and mix until combined. Spread the topping over the tops of cinnamon rolls
Crumble
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add in melted butter and mix until flour mixture is just incorporated.
- Turn out crumble mixture to prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, breaking up the crumble with a spoon half way through. Bake until the crumble has hardened slightly. Be careful not to burn it.
- Let cool for 10 minutes and then decorate the tops of cinnamon rolls with crumble. Store cinnamon rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- The amount of flour needed for a dough depends largely on how humid your environment is. I recommend starting with 4 cups of flour and increase the flour by ¼ cup until the dough comes is not sticking to the sides of the bowl if using a stand mixer.
- Use a serrated knife or some plain dental floss (not mint or any other flavour) to cut the cinnamon rolls.
- Make these as overnight cinnamon rolls, or make them all in one day. Either way is fine!
- Cream cheese frosting is the best topping for cinnamon rolls in my opinion. If you don't like cream cheese frosting, use an icing glaze and pour over the rolls. Make icing glaze by mixing 2 cups of powdered sugar and 4-5 tablespoons of milk together.
Bethany
I haven't baked this yet but was wondering instead of frying the apples off in a saucepan can I bake them in the oven instead? If so how long should I do this for and should I change any of the recipe? Thanks
Nina
Hi Bethany! You can for sure bake the apple filling in the oven. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until the apples are tender. You may have to add a bit of water to the filling ingredients so the apples don't stick to the bottom of the pan. I would add a few tablespoons to start. Check occasionally and stir to make sure nothing is sticking. 🙂