Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

5 from 25 votes

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Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls are seriously the best thing you will ever eat this fall!! Sweet and comforting for breakfast or dessert. Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Grab your fat pants, ya’ll. I have the best most life-changing ooey-gooey Fall treat for you today! Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls. They seriously are amazing. Super caramelly, sweet, creamy, slightly chewy {in the good way} and tangy. I love all.the.things!! Carbs and I just brought our relationship to the next level with these babies. You guys have to promise me you will try these at least once this year!!

Main Ingredients

This Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Recipe is broken down into three parts. The dough, the filling, and the frosting. Just think of it as a mix between an Apple Crumble and a Cinnamon Roll. Anyways, below are the ingredients you’ll need to make this purely indulgent recipe.

  • The Dough – for the dough you are going to be following The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Recipe. It has a great breakdown of how to make perfect cinnamon roll dough every time! It also has the list of ingredients that you need so check it out.
  • Apple Filling – for the apple filling you will need granny smith apples (or apples of your liking), butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, caramels, and caramel sauce.
  • Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting – this frosting is absolutely divine. To make it you’ll need softened cream cheese, softened butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and more caramel sauce.

Another Caramel Apple recipe you might be interested in is my Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Recipe!!! It’s so good. Just click the link and make it or save it for later. You’ll thank me later.

How to Make Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

The first thing you need to do is make some cinnamon roll dough. I used the recipe from my Cinnabon Clone recipe….totally fail-proof! I ended up adding an extra envelope of yeast to make things rise a little quicker because I’m an impatient girl 🙂 All the step by step photos for making the dough are here.

Cinnamon Roll Dough

After the dough has doubled in size {proofed once}, you can roll it out into a large rectangle.

Caramel Sauce

Spread on a generous portion of caramel sauce on the dough using the back of a spoon, leaving a 1-2 inch blank edge.

Soft Caramel

Now come the goodies!! Sprinkle these quartered caramel candies all over the dough, along with…

Baked Apples

some cooked apples! These were just sautéed in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until tender. They will make your house smell wonderful!

Filling Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Voila! I know it’s a lot of stuff going on up in these rolls…but it’s what makes them amazing!!

Rolling the Dough

Carefully roll up the dough, ending with the blank edge underneath the roll to seal it completely.

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Cut into 12 large rolls and place into a parchment paper-lined and greased pan. My rolls were so big I had to use 1 9×13 and 1 pie plate!

Proofing Dough

After another hour of proofing, the rolls should be touching now and should look all puffed up. Send these into a hot oven for 30 minutes.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

While the rolls are baking, make the caramel cream cheese frosting….this is just room temperature cream cheese whipped together with a little softened butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and caramel sauce.

I could eat all of this with a spoon that’s how good it is!

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Once the rolls are completely baked and lovely and golden brown {and all that caramel has melted and become ooey and gooey}, remove from the oven and spread generously with the frosting we just made.

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Like so! Feel free to dive in headfirst…….OR!

Caramel Sauce

Grab a little more of this lovely stuff and get-a-drizzlin’. Just like this!!

OMG, how dreamy and soft and yummy do these look? This is the definition of food porn right here.

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Make-Ahead

You can 100% make these Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls ahead of time. Make the dough accordingly, fill it and roll it up. Slice and place in the greased pan to let rise. This is where you can cover and refrigerate the rolls until you are ready to bake.

You can also freeze the rolls until you are ready to bake them. To bake you would simply need to fully thaw the rolls and then bake according to the directions.

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

More Cinnamon Roll Recipes to Try!

And just like that, your life will become complete after one little humungo bite.

Make these and rejoice, ya’lls. They’re that amazing. Or save this recipe by printing, pinning or bookmarking this page. Happy *almost* fall baking!

bite taken out of caramel apple cinnamon roll
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5 from 25 votes

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls are seriously the best thing you will ever eat this fall!! Sweet and comforting for breakfast or dessert. Enjoy!
servings 12 large rolls
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

for the dough-

  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast use the fast-acting kind!
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 4 1/2-5 cups all purpose unbleached flour

for the apple filling-

  • 4 medium granny smith apples
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 11 oz. caramels 1 package
  • 1 cup prepared caramel sauce

for the frosting-

  • 8 oz. cream cheese softened
  • 2 tablespoons butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup prepared caramel sauce + more for drizzling

Instructions

Making the Dough-

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, pour in water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar. Stir and proof 5 minutes. Once the mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour in remaining sugar and salt. Stir on low for 15-20 seconds. In a small bowl, measure buttermilk, oil, and egg. Whisk ingredients together until egg is incorporated to other two ingredients. Pour contents into the water and yeast mixture. Stir another 20 seconds in the mixer. Pour 2 cups of flour into mixer and stir on low until incorporated. Sprinkle flour in by 1/4 cup increments until dough cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl. The dough should be sticky but not sticky enough to stick to your hands when touched. Once it has reached this stage, turn the mixer on and knead for 5 minutes. Remove dough from bowl, grease and replace back into same mixing bowl {since it's practically clean anyways.} Cover with plastic wrap and a dishtowel. Rise 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

Prepare the filling-

  • To make the apple filling, peel, core, and dice granny smith apples. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Melt butter, then add in apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, until apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Unwrap entire bag of caramels and cut into quarters.

Assemble the Rolls-

  • Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down and roll out to be 24x16 rectangle. Spread caramel sauce* over the entire surface of the dough, leaving a 1-2 inch strip at the top blank. Spread cooked apples** and caramel pieces over the caramel sauce evenly. Roll up lengthwise, ending with the blank strip of dough underneath the roll. Cut into 12 even {and very large} rolls and place into a greased parchment paper-lined baking pans. Cover gently with plastic wrap and rise another hour or two to double in size.
  • Bake rolls at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until they have browned and are cooked thoroughly.

Frosting-

  • While rolls are baking, make the frosting. Simply whip all ingredients together until light and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl and whip again for 1-2 minutes.
  • Once rolls come out of oven, cool 5 minutes, then smother generously with frosting, than drizzle with caramel sauce. Must serve warm!!

Notes

*If you purchased a runny caramel sauce, start by spreading 1/2 cup over the dough adding more as needed. Mine was thick, so I needed more.
**If your apples gave off a lot of liquid during cooking, do your best to just spoon on the apples with minimal 'sauce'.

Nutrition

Calories: 657kcal | Carbohydrates: 114g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 468mg | Potassium: 287mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 51g | Vitamin A: 468IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 3mg
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: caramel apple, caramel apple cinnamon rolls, caramel rolls, cinnamon rolls

For more seasonal eats and treats, check out these fabulous blogs:

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Recipe Rating




77 Responses
  1. 3 Ways to Spice Up Your Fall Menu - Short Order | What's Cookin'

    […] so try to incorporate the crispy fruit of knowledge into your pies and treats. These caramel apple cinnamon rolls should do the trick. Speaking of pies, a crunchy maple pecan pie proves to be worthwhile venture. […]

  2. 9 Ways to Spice Up Your Fall Menu - Short Order | What's Cookin'

    […] so try to incorporate the crispy fruit of knowledge into your pies and treats. These caramel apple cinnamon rolls should do the trick. Speaking of pies, a crunchy maple pecan pie proves to be worthwhile venture. […]

  3. Vickie

    5 stars
    Better late to the party than not. I just found your website and you had me at “Grab your fat pants”! When I finally stopped laughing at that paragraph I knew thisrecipe was the one I’d been looking for. I’ve signed up for your newsletter and plan to join your ride through foodom! Thanks for starting my day off right.

  4. Judi Melton

    5 stars
    Made these rolls tonight with granddaughter. Were messy in the rolling and the filling but in the end so worth it. I thought about using a thick syrup for the filling when I was making the rolls. Once we ate them will not be changing. I did cut the candy Carmels up small. The rolls were moist and soooo Delish. The icing with the caramel sauce in it just tops it off. WIll be making them again this weekend for company coming it. Thank you for posting the recipe.

  5. Really Amazing Women | 20 Sweet Treats to Bake This Fall

    […] Just looking at this ooey goodness makes us want to start baking right away. You’ll love this dessert recipe. […]

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    […] laurenslatest.com […]

  7. Beverly

    5 stars
    These are fantastic! Just made them 2 days ago and can’t stop eating! I also made my own caramel sauce since I had all the ingredients. Love it!

  8. Patty

    These look amazing – but I’m a total lazy butt. Is there any sort of dough I can use instead of making my own? I’ve never really been able to make dough.

    THANKS!

  9. Christine

    5 stars
    Made these today. They were really good! Incredibly decadent! We had them right out of the oven. But I tend to like my apples cold especially in pie. I’m going to chill the rolls and see what they are like right out of the fridge in the morning! Thanks Lauren for another amazing recipe!!!

  10. Camille

    This may help bakers who have problems with their dough rising. (I used to have hit and misses myself.) Place your dough in a cold oven. On the lower shelf place a large casserole pan and fill with boiling water. Close the oven door and let the water do its job. No opening the door until time is up for rising!

    I hope this will help others.

  11. Kim Dinkel

    Make this into a Swedish Tea Ring!!! EASY but impressive. Going to make it for neighborhood Christmas gifts this year but will use pre-made bread dough to make it easier!

  12. Karla

    5 stars
    Just made these this morning, oh my goodness. I have to say I didn’t have any caramel sauce so I used this:
    http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2014/06/homemade-dulce-de-leche-slow-cooker/
    JUN 18
    HOMEMADE DULCE DE LECHE {SLOW COOKER}
    posted by DOROTHY KERN under ICE CREAM, SWEET DIPS

    Thank you for posting. I’m sure it will become a staple in our home.

  13. Katie

    5 stars
    I took these out of the oven half an hour ago, and just ate my first one. So good! I didn’t have any caramel sauce, so I skipped it on the inside, opting for extra apple-y goodness. I put a little bit of butterscotch syrup into the icing. These are basically heaven in my mouth.
    I didn’t have a stand mixer either, but it was easy to just knead by hand.

    1. Traci

      I was too the first time, but no need to worry. The most important thing is to spoon the apples with a slotted spoon to have most of the liquid omitted. The very saucy apples will make a mess if you don’t.

  14. Erin Holt

    How in the world did you get that all rolled up without all the caramel/apples falling all over the place? I can just see me trying to do this and it would be a hot mess! I will still try because these look amazing but I am definitely intimidated by that roll!

  15. Alexis @ Upside Down Pear

    I think this recipe just won fall! I think I gained some weight just looking at these beauties…and now I must make them 😀

  16. Joanna

    I’m drooling at these omg! Gonna make them this weekend but don’t have a stand mixer/dough hook so I was wondering how I might make these without one?

  17. Heather @ Shards of Lavender

    Oh my goodness, that cream cheese frosting! I’m going to be trying these soon; they look amazing! I probably need to wait until we’re having company over because I’d make them disappear too fast.

  18. Angelyn @ Everyday Desserts

    If I make these, I’m 456% sure that I’ll eat them till I’m sick. OMG. These are amazing!!! I’m at a loss for words!

  19. Quinoa Pizza with Stone Fruit, Jalapenos, and Queso Fresco | Cafe Johnsonia

    […] Best Ever Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls from Lauren’s Latest […]

    1. Lauren

      It’s called a Roul’pat. This is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Non-Stick-Silicone-Countertop-16-5-Inch-24-5-Inch/dp/B00008T961/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1410275649&sr=1-2&keywords=roul%27pat+mat . It’s meant just for working with pastries and doughs on the counter. A sil’pat is the one you would use for baking.

  20. Michele E

    OH MY YUM!!! I’ve been wanting to make cinnamon rolls again and these just might be it. And what a genius idea using a slip mat to roll them out on! Do you seriously not use any additional flour to roll these bad boys out?

  21. Melissa

    I almost passed out into a sugar coma just reading this! You have managed to convince me I need to conquer my fear of using yeast. No fear. All caramel!

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