Made entirely from scratch, these apple pie cruffins have buttery, flakey layers and a homemade apple pie filling. Roll the still warm cruffins in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar for a donut-like coating. Pure fall perfection!
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🥐A muffin and croissant
A cruffin is a hybrid of a muffin and a croissant, and contains the best bits of both baked goods. This recipe uses a quick recipe for croissant dough, which makes this recipe a bit more easy to make, and quicker too. You can make this recipe with your favourite croissant dough though, or use store bought crescent roll dough!
I wanted to make this cruffin recipe for fall, and decided on apple pie cruffins! Homemade apple pie is cooked on the stovetop, and then folded into the dough. The cruffins are baked and then rolled into a cinnamon sugar mixture while still warm. These are so perfect for apple season and fall!
If you like fall recipes with apples in it, try my apple butter cheesecake, apple crisp cupcakes, apple fritter focaccia, or my apple crumble cinnamon rolls!
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Milk - I like to use 3.25% milk in my baking. You can substitute with 2% milk. I don't recommend using a lighter fat milk than that though.
- Unsalted butter - You can substitute with salted butter. Remove the extra butter listed in the recipe.
- Apples - I used McIntosh apples. Other apples that can be used are Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Braeburn and Pink Lady.
🔪Instructions
Croissant Dough
To make the dough, add yeast and warm milk to a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes or until yeast starts to bubble.
Add flour and granulated sugar and knead for 1 minute. Next add melted butter and knead until the dough comes into a ball and is not too sticky. Add an extra ¼ cup of flour at a time if needed. Place dough in a large greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size. About 1-1.5 hours. Wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight.
When you are ready to make the cruffins, remove dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature. Punch down the dough to release air. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface, and roll into a 12x20 inch rectangle.
Lamination
Mix butter and flour together in a medium bowl until combined. Spread the mixture over the rolled out dough, leaving a ½ inch border around the edges.
Fold the bottom side of the rolled out dough into the middle of the rectangle, making sure the edges line up. Then fold the top side of the dough to fully cover the bottom side of folded dough. These folds are like folding a letter.
Roll the dough into a 10x18 inch rectangle. Repeat the same folding as before. Place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Apple Pie Filling
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium bowl over medium heat. Add apples, cinnamon, sugar, and 1 tablespoon water. Cook over medium heat until apples are slightly softened, about 4 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix remaining 3 teaspoons water with cornstarch until dissolved. Add to pan and stir, continuing to cook over medium heat. Cook until apples have softened and filling is thickened. Cool at room temperature.
Assembly
Butter two 12-cup muffin tins and set aside. Remove dough from the refrigerator to a floured surface. Divide into 6 portions. Roll one portion into a thin rectangle. Spread about 1 teaspoon butter onto the rectangle.
Divide apple pie filling into 6 portions. Add one portion along the long side of the rectangle. Roll the dough over the apple pie filling and continue to roll into a log. Repeat with 5 remaining portions of dough.
Take one log and cut it in half. Cut each part of the log in half lengthways, giving you 4 sections of dough. Repeat with remaining portions of dough. You will have 24 pieces. Roll each section of dough, layered side out, into a tight cinnamon roll shape. Place in prepared muffin tin. Continue with remaining 23 pieces.
Cover muffin tins and let sit so dough can puff up slightly, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cruffins are lightly browned.
To make the topping, whisk sugar and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Once baked cruffins are cool enough to handle, but still warm, roll into sugar mixture, coating cruffin fully. Let cool on a wire rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
✔️Expert tips
- I made the recipe a bit easier to divide it over 2 days. If you want to make this all in one day, skip the refrigeration time after you make the dough and before lamination. Alternatively you can store the lamination dough in the refrigerator overnight instead of 20 minutes.
- The apple pie filling can be made up to 3 days in advance.
- This dough has a lot of butter in it so use a lot of flour when rolling it out. Don't worry about rolling the cruffins dough in a perfect rectangle (see my pictures!).
💭FAQs
You can make the apple pie filling up to 3 days in advance. You can also make the cruffins a day before, rest dough in the refrigerator overnight, and continue with the recipe the next day. Cruffins taste best the day they are made.
Once the cruffins have been baked, rolled into it's sugar mixture, and cooled to room temperature, they can be frozen. Store them in a freezer safe container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
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📋 Recipe
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Apple Pie Cruffins
Ingredients
Croissant Dough
- 2 ½ teaspoons yeast
- ¾ cup warm milk 100-110°F (37-43°C)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
Lamination
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Apple Pie Filling
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter + 3 tablespoons
- 2 medium apples cored and chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water + 3 teaspoons
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Topping
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Croissant Dough
- Add yeast and warm milk to a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes or until yeast starts to bubble.
- Add flour and granulated sugar and knead for 1 minute. Add melted butter and knead until the dough comes into a ball and is not too sticky. Add an extra ¼ cup of flour at a time if needed.
- Place dough in a large greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size. About 1-1.5 hours. Wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight.
- When you are ready to make the cruffins, remove dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature. Punch down the dough to release air. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface, and roll into a 12x20 inch rectangle.
Lamination
- Mix butter and flour together in a medium bowl until combined. Spread the mixture over the rolled out dough, leaving a ½ inch border around the edges.
- Fold the bottom side of the rolled out dough into the middle of the rectangle, making sure the edges line up.
- Then fold the top side of the dough to fully cover the bottom side of folded dough. These folds are like folding a letter.
- Roll the dough into a 10x18 inch rectangle. Repeat the same folding as before.
- Place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Apple Pie Filling
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium bowl over medium heat. Add apples, cinnamon, sugar, and 1 tablespoon water. Cook over medium heat until apples are slightly softened, about 4 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix remaining 3 teaspoons water with cornstarch until dissolved. Add to pan and stir, continuing to cook over medium heat. Cook until apples have softened and filling is thickened. Cool at room temperature.
- Butter two 12-cup muffin tins and set aside. Remove dough from the refrigerator to a floured surface. Divide into 6 portions.
- Roll one portion into a thin rectangle. Spread about 1 teaspoon butter onto the rectangle.
- Divide apple pie filling into 6 portions. Add one portion along the long side of the rectangle. Roll the dough over the apple pie filling and continue to roll into a log. Repeat with 5 remaining portions of dough.
- Take one log and cut it in half. Cut each part of the log in half lengthways, giving you 4 sections of dough. Repeat with remaining portions of dough. You will have 24 pieces.
- Roll each section of dough, layered side out, into a tight cinnamon roll shape. Place in prepared muffin tin. Continue with remaining 23 pieces.
- Cover muffin tins and let sit so dough can puff up slightly, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cruffins are lightly browned.
Topping
- Whisk sugar and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.
- Once baked cruffins are cool enough to handle, but still warm, roll into sugar mixture, coating cruffin fully. Let cool on a wire rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
Notes
- I made the recipe a bit easier to divide it over 2 days. If you want to make this all in one day, skip the refrigeration time after you make the dough and before lamination. Alternatively you can store the lamination dough in the refrigerator overnight instead of 20 minutes.
- The apple pie filling can be made up to 3 days in advance.
- This dough has a lot of butter in it so use a lot of flour when rolling it out. Don't worry about rolling the cruffins dough in a perfect rectangle (see my pictures!).
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️