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Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls

by Ann
18 comments

Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls

I was up at my parents’ place this weekend, and there must have been apples in my dreams because I woke up in the morning with caramel apple rolls on my mind. These are the perfect leisurely Sunday brunch type of food, for the kind of mornings when you have plenty of time and you aren’t going anywhere. They take a little bit of work, but they are SO worth it.


I started making them with apples that my dad had sitting on the table, but he said those weren’t crunchy and I should go get some off the tree. So I got to start my Sunday morning with a visit to the apple tree. We don’t know what kind of apples these are because the tree was just there when my parents bought the land, but the tree always produces tons of apples. They were all over the ground and still tons of them on the tree. It didn’t take me long to fill my basket. And then I was set.

Apples for the Caramel Rolls

First I mixed up the dough and got that going in the bread machine.

Caramel Apple Sweet Roll Dough

  • 1 1/3 cups cold water
  • 4 t. yeast (or about 2 packets)
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 T. canola oil
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 t. cinnamon
  • 1 t. vanilla

Put all the ingredients in  the bread machine and start it up on the dough setting. Now get to work on the apples.

Peel, core and chop 6 small apples into small pieces.

Prepare the caramel.

Caramel Sauce for the Sweet Rolls

  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 6 T. butter
  • 1 t. cinnamon
  • 1-2 T. water
  • 1 t. vanilla

Put the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on 50% power until the butter is melted. Stir together to mix, then add 1 T. water and vanilla. If the caramel sauce looks too thick, add a bit more water.

When the dough is ready, dust a large clean surface with flour and roll it out into a long rectangular shape. The dough will resist getting any bigger after a while and will want to spring back into a smaller shape. (I was lucky to have some little hands to help me! This is a really fun project for kids.)

Rolling out the dough for the caramel rolls

Now spray the dough with cooking spray, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar so you get it all covered with the cinnamon sugary goodness.

Sprinkling on the cinnamon sugar

I also sprinkled it with nutmeg because nutmeg is my girl’s favorite spice. Then sprinkle on some of the chopped apples so there are apples all across it.

The dough sprinkled with apples

Prepare your pan(s). I had to use two pans to hold all the rolls: one was a glass baking dish that I think was about 12 x 8 inches and the other was a square-shaped 9×9 inch baking dish. Spray them with cooking spray, then pour in the caramel sauce and sprinkle with apples. I sprinkled some pecans on one, and left the other one without nuts (my girl doesn’t like pecans).

The pan with the caramel sauce & apples, ready for the rolls

Now take the dough and roll it into a long log-shape. You can pinch the edges to “seal” if you like, but I usually don’t bother.

The rolled up dough for the caramel apple rolls

Get some dental floss and pull out a long string. This is what you’re going to use to cut the dough.

About 1 1/2 inches from the end of the roll, wrap the floss around the roll so it crosses on top, then pull on the strings to cut the dough. My daughter did the cutting of the rolls.

Cutting the rolls

Take the roll and place it in the pan with the loose edge up against the side of the pan. Then cut the rest of the log into rolls about 1 1/2 inches long and place them in the prepared pan(s) leaving a bit of space between them to allow them space to rise. Try to place the loose edges of each roll either up against the edge of the pan or next to another roll. We got 14 rolls from this log. You will see 9 in this pan. I actually took one of the little ones and moved it to the other pan to space them out a little better.

The raw rolls, ready to rise

Now spray the tops of the dough with cooking spray and set them somewhere to rise. Cover them with a towel and put them somewhere warm. If you have an over-the-oven microwave, you can put them the microwave with the stove light on. The stove light just under the microwave makes it a nice place for the dough to rise. (You don’t need to cover them if you rise them in the microwave.)

Another great place for rising dough is in the oven. Preheat the oven to the lowest setting (usually 170 degrees F.) and then turn the oven off. Place the rolls in the warm oven covered with a towel.

It takes a while for the dough to rise. At least an hour, sometimes two. Once the rolls are big and poofy and they have filled up all the empty spaces in the pan, they are ready to bake.

The caramel apple rolls, big and poofy and ready to bake

Put them in an oven at 325 degrees F.  for about 40- 50 minutes. I like to cover them with aluminum foil for about the first 20 minutes to keep them from getting too brown. You want the dough to be cooked through and the tops to be a lovely golden brown.

Caramel Apple Rolls just pulled from the oven

Immediately place another pan or serving tray on top and turn them upside down to invert them. It’s important to invert them right away to allow the caramel sauce to drip down over the rolls and to keep them from getting stuck in the pan you baked them in.

Invert the caramel apple rolls onto another pan

NOW it’s time to enjoy! Some people think you should let them cool a little … I think they are best when they are piping hot, right from the oven.

Caramel Apple Roll

This recipe was submitted to Melt in your Mouth MondaysIron Chef Mom, the Fall Recipe Roundup and Apple-icious.

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18 comments

thefooddoctor September 6, 2011 - 6:37 pm

OH MY! what I wouldn’t give for one of those rolls ..
they look heavenly..
Apples and cinnamon are an addection I don’t want to get cured from lol

Reply
Amy September 7, 2011 - 5:34 am

wow!!look so yummy!!

Reply
Debi September 8, 2011 - 12:50 am

Delicious! My eyes LOVE them and my stomach aches for them! Thank you!

Did your Darlin’ Daddy get to eat some of those? <3 and Hugs!

Reply
Jennifer @ Mother Thyme September 8, 2011 - 2:08 am

I think I will be baking these, tomorrow! These look divine! I just love the basket you have the apples in! Thank you for sharing and so happy I found your site!

Reply
YUMMY FALL RECIPES « The Southern Lady Cooks September 14, 2011 - 2:37 pm

[…] Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls from Sumptuous Spoonfuls  […]

Reply
Debi September 19, 2011 - 12:51 am

Thank you so much for sharing on Thursday’s Treasures! We will be making these soon! <3 and Hugs!

Reply
Savvy HomeMade Monday #10 | Home Savvy October 2, 2011 - 11:11 pm

[…] picture of these Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls from Sumptuous Spoonfuls is beautiful and I bet the sweet rolls are as amazing as they look. […]

Reply
Erin of HomeSavvyAtoZ.com October 2, 2011 - 11:20 pm

Hi Ann! Your caramel apple sweet rolls are being featured at this week’s Savvy HomeMade Monday blog party as one of the most popular posts from last week. Feel free to pick up a feature button here: http://www.homesavvyatoz.com/buttons/

Thank you for partying!

Reply
Mandi@BoredomBustingMommy October 19, 2011 - 11:11 am

Ooooohhhhh my goodness, we are so making these! I want 10 of them all to myself and a large mug of coffee please. Thanks for linking this and others up to the Monstrously Creative linky!

Reply
Traditional Cinnamon Rolls from Long, Long Ago « Sumptuous Spoonfuls November 18, 2011 - 9:53 am

[…] For step by step photos showing how to roll up and cut these rolls, see my caramel apple sweet rolls […]

Reply
www.onestopitaly.com May 20, 2012 - 7:25 am

These look divine; I can’t wait to try this. Thanks for the recipe.

Reply
Ann May 20, 2012 - 9:34 am

Thank you! I hope you like them … they sure got gobbled up fast when we made them. 🙂

Reply
Peachy Perfect Caramel Rolls « Sumptuous Spoonfuls August 15, 2012 - 6:26 pm

[…] To see step-by-step photos for making rolls like this (along with some cute little helper hands!), see my Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls recipe. […]

Reply
Joan@Chocolate and More September 21, 2012 - 8:04 am

I’m going to have to make these this weekend, yum! Pinned!

Reply
Ann September 21, 2012 - 8:10 am

Oh you’ll love them! Thank you so much Joan 🙂

Reply
Linda October 1, 2012 - 6:52 am

Thus is wonderful. Thank you for sharing this with The Tumbleweed Contessa on our blog hop.

Reply
Mackenzie October 2, 2012 - 10:31 pm

The Iron Chef Mom Team would love to invite you to join us this week with this fabulous apple recipe and any others you might want to enter into the contest!
The Iron Chef Mom Team 🙂
http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com/iron-chef-mom-1-apples/

Reply
Ann October 3, 2012 - 7:01 am

Thanks for the invite! I would be glad to 🙂

Reply

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