Apple Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls
If you haven’t ever made a biscuit cinnamon roll then your life is about to change. I make my original biscuit cinnamon rolls regularly because they’re my husbands favorite breakfasts. It was his half birthday yesterday (yes, this is a thing. And yes, I celebrate this every year. haha) so I wanted to try something new. We had a bunch of Apples in the fridge because my kids decided they were obsessed with apples last week so I bought way too many this week just for them to decide that apples are gross. Because of course. Anyway, I chopped up some apples and put them inside the biscuit cinnamon rolls and we got a really fun fall breakfast with honestly not too much effort. I hope you love these and I hope you’re having a fun autumn!
PrintApple Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls
Flaky biscuit-like dough, cinnamon roll filling, small diced apples, rolled like a cinnamon roll with a delicious maple frosting. No yeast, no rising.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: about 12 rolls 1x
Ingredients
Dough-
4 1/2 cups (22.5 ounces) flour *see note
1/3 cup (2.5 ounces) sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons (6.5 ounces) cold butter *see note
2 cups buttermilk (plus a few tablespoons more, if needed) *see note
Filling-
5 Tablespoons butter, melted
½ heaping and packed cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 medium apples, peeled and diced into small cubes
Frosting-
1 cup powdered sugar (4 oz)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon maple extract (or vanilla if you prefer)
Instructions
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 400 F.
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt *see note for possible extra step after this. Cut butter into the flour with a pastry blender till the butter is about the size of a pea. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour the buttermilk in. Using a fork quickly mix the dough till it’s shaggy, but mostly mix together. Don’t overmix or your finished process will be too tough.
Put your dough in the fridge for few minutes while you mix your filling up. Melt the butter in the microwave and add the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix till combined.
Flour your counter lightly and pour out the dough onto it. Quickly pat the dough together, folding in half as you go. Use a rolling pin to either very gently roll or use it to kind of pat the dough into a rectangle. The key is to handle the dough as little as possible and work as quickly as possible so the butter stays cold. Once the dough is in a rectangle apx 10 in x 18 in and ¼ inch thick (see picture under recipe), fold in half and pat again quickly back to the same dimensions and fold in half one or two more times. (This is how you get the flaky layers) If the dough is sticking to the counter then lightly flour the counter before you fold each time. Spread the filling evenly over the dough (I use a rubber spatula to gently spread evenly). Sprinkle the apple pieces over the cinnamon mixture and use your palms to press it into the dough pretty firmly.
Roll one long edge of the dough up tightly without pulling/stretching the dough till it’s all rolled out. Using a very sharp knife or a piece of dental floss, cut the cinnamon rolls into apx 12 pieces about 1 ½ inches long. When placing them on the tray, fold the loose edge of the cinnamon roll a bit under the cinnamon roll so it doesn’t unravel while cooking. Place the cinnamon rolls about an inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for about 11-14 minutes.
When the cinnamon rolls come out of the oven, mix the frosting ingredients together in a small bowl with a whisk or fork. Let the cinnamon rolls cool for a few minutes before drizzling with frosting.
Notes
Notes-
If you don’t weigh your flour, make sure you’re not packing it in the cup. If you put too much flour in they will be too dry.
Don’t use a buttermilk substitute on these. Vinegar in milk won’t make the milk thick enough lending to a very wet dough that will make it impossible to roll. If you don’t have real buttermilk on hand, I have had success in making these with 1 cup sour cream mixed with 1 cup milk instead of the buttermilk.
If you don’t have a pastry blender you can use a box grater to quickly shred frozen butter and gently toss into the flour mixture.
One of my favorite ways to ensure a flaky tender biscuit is to put the bowl of dry ingredients in the fridge or freezer before cutting the butter in, and then again after cutting the butter/before putting the buttermilk in. This gives you a bit more slack in preventing the butter from melting or softening too much.
You can prepare these the night before completely and put them in the fridge, covered. In the morning pre-heat the oven and put them directly in the oven from the fridge and cook, adding 2-3 minutes extra cooking time.
Keywords: Breakfast, cinnamon, cinnamon rolls, fall, fall baking, apple, biscuit, brunch
