One thing I miss about living in Encinitas is the local bakery and Cinnabon. I am not going to lie, Cinnabon is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. And although my homemade apple cinnamon roll, pull apart “bread” isn’t the same, it IS delicious and super easy to make (which kind of just makes it that much better, right).
This is the perfect homemade cinnamon roll recipe if you don’t have premade dough (or crescents) handy and you don’t have any yeast. You can even use this same recipe and roll out the dough, fill with apples, and place in the oven the same way but more “cinnamon roll looking.” The “pop open” premade “cans/jars” aren’t really common here so I had to find something that I could easily make with what I already had at home.
To read more about my recipes and why I create them the way I do (without specific measurements, times, and temperatures) check out this blog post.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Apple Cinnamon Roll Bites
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- Apples Sliced or Diced
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 tbsp Baking powder
- Salt
- 1/2 cup Butter Cold - Cubed
- Butter Melted
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Granulated sugar
- Icing sugar
- Milk
- Cream cheese
Instructions
- First, combine flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and mix it together. Sometimes I like to add in a bit of extra sugar and cinnamon to the recipe so I add it directly to the dough.
- Then, cut in cubes of butter and add it to the bowl. Make the bits of butter as small as possible.
- Gradually stir in milk until the dough comes together (be careful that it doesn’t get too wet and sticky - if it does, just add more flour)
- Preheat oven (350 degrees F - if you like to know that kind of stuff) and grease your pan with butter.
- In a medium bowl, mix together granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Cut apples into thin slices. Optional: squeeze lemon juice onto the slices and mix well.
- Now, this part is kind of up to you, I like to reduce the number of bowls I use so I do this next part in the greased pan but you can also do this in a separate bowl.
- Melt butter (either just add extra to your existing greased pan or have a separate bowl), make small balls of dough, and roll the dough balls into the melted butter.
- Then, roll the dough balls in the cinnamon and sugar mixture until they’re well coated.
- Line the bottom of the buttered pan with apples and/or place apples inbetween the dough balls.
- Place the dough balls next to each other (touching) in the buttered pan.
- Cook for 7-10 minutes or until dough is cooked all the way through.
- While they’re cooking, make your chosen sauce!
Caramel Sauce
- Melt butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan with a little bit of milk. Don't let the liquid get too hot for too long. Keep stirring until it slightly thickens. Remove from heat and pour on cinnamon rolls. Optional: Add cinnamon!
Easy Icing
- Mix milk, vanilla, and icing sugar until desired consistency.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Mix cream cheese, vanilla, and icing sugar until desired taste and consistency. If you prefer it a bit thinner, add a touch of milk.
If you make this recipe, please tag me on Facebook or Instagram so I can see your creations!
If you enjoyed reading this and would like more information on home, lifestyle, advice, tips, tricks, and more, follow me on Instagram @Its.Mary.Taylor and on Facebook at Mary Taylor! I can’t wait to see you there!
Signing off,
Mary Taylor <3
