Fall is apple time, no doubt about it. Besides apple picking and yard side stands, even the local markets are filled with different kinds of fresh apples, just picked. It’s time to stock up. Keep apples cool and they can last for several weeks. Where do you think apples in the summer come from? A cool warehouse. Now’s the best time to buy and eat.
When I cook with apples, we prefer soft apples that will soften and soak up whatever else is in the filling or baked good. I personally just do not like Granny Smith apples, known for holding their shape and crunch. So use whatever apples you prefer. In these rolls, the apples almost turn into a jam or apple butter when using Macintosh, Honey crisp, or Cortland’s. Hooey, gooey goodness! And caramel sauce goes perfect with apples.
One day when I was browsing through the recipes saved on my laptop (I scan and save anything of interest), I found a sweet roll recipe that used only a saucepan for the dough. No extra dirty bowls. I thought, I can work with that! So I used that idea to make these apple rolls. It doesn’t take a lot of dough for these, and the waiting time for the dough to rise is longer than any of the hands on time. One tip, remove rings when kneading bread dough, especially when it’s wet and you need to work in flour. Just saying.
start and finish the dough in a saucepan
diced apples and lemon peel ready to saute
After 1.5 hours or so, the dough has risen enough to form.
sweet rolls dough after 1.5 hours
sweet roll dough, rolled, filled with the apple -karamel mix, and 30 minutes of rising time
Since we have cider in the fridge, another great fresh fall product, I used that for the icing, but plain white icing would work as well. As an after thought, I could or should have used some in the filling too. Next time.
Apple Karamel sweet rolls cooling – all they need is icing!
As for variations – use your imagination. These are the ideas I came up with:
- substitute pears, another fall fruit, for the apples
- substitute pureed pumpkin, sweetened instead with maple syrup or honey
- make the filling using apple butter, with honey and cinnamon and nutmeg
- add nuts or raisins
- make a cooked caramel icing instead of white icing
- eliminate the fruit and make a cinnamon nut filling (pecans, walnuts or almonds)
Since this makes two pans, there’s enough to eat, and a pan to share. My neighbors love me!
Fox Pines Apple Karamel Sweet Rolls
What’s your favorite variation?
Please give me a review!
Fox Pines Apple Caramel Sweet Rolls
These apple filled sweet rolls are perfect on a cold fall morning, or in the evening as a dessert. And since it makes 2 pans, share one with neighbors and friends!
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup oil
- ¼ sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup bread flour or a second cup of AP flour
- 2 tsp yeast
- ¼- ½ cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
For the filling:
- 3 apples peeled and finely chopped
- 4 tbsp butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk or heavy cream
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 lemon for 1tsp freshly grated lemon zest and some juice
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or ¼ tsp vanilla paste
Icing:
- ¼ condensed milk or heavy cream
- 2 tbsp apple cider
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar + more as needed
- Dash salt
Instructions
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Combine the milk, sugar and oil in a large saucepan. Over low heat, stirring, heat up and dissolve sugar. Do not let it come to a boil. Cool until just warm. Add 1 cup of flour and whisk in. Add the yeast and stir. Add the second cup of flour. It will be a very wet thick batter. Set aside (in the saucepan) for about an hour and a half.
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Meanwhile, make the filling. Dice the apple pretty fine, and add the lemon zest, and squeeze half the lemon over the apple to prevent browning. Sauté the diced apple in the butter until almost soft. Add in the brown sugar and stir until it melts. Add the cream/condensed milk and let it simmer until thickened. Stir in the cinnamon & vanilla. Let cool, or refrigerate.
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Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or butter two glass pie pans or two cast iron skillets
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Add the remaining ¼ flour to the saucepan and fold in. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead a 3-4 minutes to make sure flour is worked in. If necessary, add more flour to make a soft dough. It will turn into a ball of soft pliable dough. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out into a 12 x 14” rectangle. Spoon the cool apples over the dough, leaving about an inch around the edge. Roll up from the long side, and pinch to seal the edges.
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Cut the roll in half, and then cut ¾” thick slices – you should have 7 or 8 per half.
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Arrange the slices cut side up in the two greased pans. They should fit in almost touching. Let rise for 30 minutes.
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Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes until golden. Cool the rolls for about 10 minutes once removed from the oven. Turn out of the pan (use a plate and then flip them over again).
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Prepare the icing: Mix the sweetened condensed milk and cider together, and stir in salt. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar. Add in more sugar to get the consistency you want (not too thin, not gloppy thick).
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Drizzle the rolls with icing. If the rolls are too hot the icing will just melt and run off.
Recipe Notes
Variations: opt for orange zest and orange juice in place of the lemon. Use pears, another fall fruit, instead of apples. Or pureed pumpkin filling sweetened with brown sugar and honey/maple syrup. Make a caramel icing instead of the white confectioners icing. Or even basic cinnamon buns with walnuts and raisons.