A phenomenal dessert that will sure leave your lips smacking! Make sure you read the instructions thorough because you do not need before you embark on making this recipe because there are some resting times included in this recipe.
Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Buns with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Icing
Dough recipe by Ambitious Kitchen! I just love this dough and I love the quantity it makes, 9 perfect cinnamon rolls. It is wonderfully, fluffy, doughy and holds the filling very nicely. I changed up the filling and the icing recipe. This is a salted caramel apple filling, think diced apples in silky salted caramel, cooled then used as a filling. The icing is a brown sugar cream cheese icing to wrap this up and serve with the hot cinnamon buns. Check this recipe out, it is perfect for the fall and such an indulgent treat!
Ingredients
Dough
- 3/4 cup warm whole milk
- 2 1/4 teaspoons dry or active yeast
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 3 cups all purpose
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 2 apples peeled, cored and diced
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- water as needed
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 2 tablespoons cream
- 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Filling
- Make your filling first.
- Place 2 tablespoons of total butter in a pan with your diced apples and cook on medium stirring frequently for at least 10 min until apple start to brown.
- Add your brown sugar and about 1/4 cup of water. Simmer until the brown sugar melts and your apples are cooking in bubbly sugar mixture. You want the apples to cook down. This may take up to 10 minutes for water to cook out.
- Keep cooking on medium until water evaporate and the brown sugar mixture thickens. Add the rest of your butter and mix so it melts fully.
- If the butter is separating, keep mixing vigorously until it comes back together.
- Add your heavy cream and stir so that your apples are coated in a delicious caramel. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until it thickens even more. If you think it looks too liquid, keep simmering, you want the caramel to thicken and coat the back oft he spoon and the bottom of the pan as you stir.
- Mix in your cinnamon and salt and set aside to cool completely. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes before using. Ideally you would make this 2 hours before using so it can cool completely at room temp. It spread more easily when it is not right out of the fridge. But has sat at room temp. Additionally, I only use about 3/4 of the total filling I make.
Dough
- In a bowl, place your warm milk, a tablespoon of the total sugar you will be using and your yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Add the rest of your sugar, your melted butter and eggs to this mixture and mix well.
- Add your flour and mix until it is fully combined.
- Remove from your bowl and knead on a clean work surface for at least 8-10 minutes minutes until dough come together in a smooth slightly sticky ball. If using a stand mixer, mix on medium speed for 8 minutes.
- Place in a buttered bowl, cover and leave for 1 hour to rise.
- Prepare a 9 inch quarter pan by buttering it and lining with parchment
- When dough has risen, roll out into a rectangle 14 inches by 9 inches.
- Spread your completely cooled apple caramel filling onto the dough. Use your judgment when filling. I used about 3/4 of total filling. You do not want a super overfilled dough because it till be hard to roll and cut and cinnamon buns will not bake evenly. This is why is is especially important to let caramel cool completely and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes after it has come to room temp. If there is any extra, place it at the bottom of your prepared pan and place cinnamon buns on top before baking.
- Carefully roll your dough into a tight log and rest the dough on the seam.
- Cut into 9, 1 inch rounds and arrange in the pan.
- Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden. When you pull it out, check the sides of the cinnamon bun in the very centre to make sure it is not raw. I sometimes have to bake for 5-10 additional minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before icing.
- Ice your cinnamon buns with brown sugar cream cheese icing and enjoy!
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Icing
- In a microwaveable save bowl, add your sugar and cream.
- Heat in the microwave in increments of 15 seconds, mixing in between, until the sugar is fully dissolved in the cream. I usually heat it up about 3 times.
- Let this mixture cool slightly, for 5 minutes. It will not cool down completely, but that is okay.
- Using a hand mixer or whisk, together your cream cheese and brown sugar-cream mixture. Mix in your butter and salt and vanilla. It is important to use softened butter or your icing may be lumpy of you may have to beat for a long time so it is smooth.
- Place in fridge while your cinnamon buns bake so it firms up a little. The brown-sugar cream mixture is often lightly warm when I add it in and therefore the icing requires a bit of time to firm up.
