Thursday, October 23, 2014

Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls-Wow!

I have a large family and I cook and bake a lot. I also do a lot of "experimenting" and usually that leads to some new dish or way to cook something that we really like. There have been those that were not so successful, like the "Coconut Soup" which was an accident.. .the dried coconut from the Amish store looked too much like the mashed potato flakes and I was in a hurry and needed to thicken the soup... I was planning to put mashed potato flakes in and put coconut in instead.
Oh, it was pretty bad. My family valiantly ate it... and even said it wasn't "that" bad, but let me tell you... it was bad and they still tease me about making "Coconut Soup" even though that accident was several years ago. We sure laugh about it now.


This experiment, though turned out much better. I had made homemade apple butter the week before and my mind was conjuring up all different ways to use apple butter. The thought of putting apple butter in cinnamon rolls came that week. So, a few days later I tried it.







 First, I started out with my regular bread dough recipe, which you can find HERE.

Next, I floured the table and scooped the dough out onto it... my dough was not real heavy as I wanted it to be lighter this time... so it was a little bit sticky still.


 I just rolled it out... it doesn't look pretty... and I usually try to keep it more of a rectangular shape, but we had out of town company and I was in a hurry... and this was an experiment, so I just needed to get it done.

Life seems to be so busy here... I keep trying to slow things down, but it isn't working too well. Obviously, I need to work more on this... how nice to have a bit more energy to try something like this, though. :)

 I put butter on... I think the layer of butter was a little lighter than usual. Have you seen the price of butter lately?  Almost $4.00 a pound at Aldi's! We use a lot of butter here, so I am being a little more careful with it. :)
 I put a light sprinkling of white sugar and then a lighter than normal layer of brown sugar.


Here, I have already put a layer of my homemade apple butter on it. Yes, the whole thing does look like a big old bear. :)

I rolled them up.. and it was so messy. I didn't get any pictures of that step, sorry... my hands were a mess and I had already gotten flour on my camera.  Anyway, I rolled it up into one long log and it was so messy... some of the apple butter pushed as I rolled...



 I cut the cinnamon rolls and they flopped over... they were a mess! They didn't even look like regular nicely shaped cinnamon rolls... I was determined not to waste this though, so just put them in the pan. You can see they look a bit strange. I also scraped the excess apple butter off of the table and smeared it on top.
 I figured the family would eat these anyway and I would have to "go back to the drawing board" for any future attempts at making these. They just flopped over and looked awful.
 Here they are set to rise with the loaves of bread.


 I remembered that I had forgotten to put cinnamon inside the rolls. sigh. Why do I try something like this with company, painting decks and everything else going on?

There is cinnamon in the apple butter, but I wanted more, so I sprinkled cinnamon all over the top... then sprinkled cinnamon and sugar also. Hmmm..
 Here they are after rising... they look a bit better, but still not like usual.
This is the pan after baking.....rather messy.
 I made a glaze using powdered sugar, salt, butter and milk and drizzled it on with a fork. The pan of rolls was still warm.
Well, they are looking better! :)
















 My daughter cut a cinnamon roll for each person... people can't wait long to try cinnamon rolls at my house and they especially like them warm from the oven. :)  Plus the cinnamon-apple smell had been teasing our taste buds.

They sure weren't pretty, perfectly formed cinnamon rolls.... but they were good! They were REALLY good.

They were very very moist, which we all liked. The tiny bits of apple from the apple butter added a little burst of flavor and the apple flavor was strong enough to be tasted. These really were very good... and so much better than I had expected when they just flopped over and wouldn't stand nicely in the pan.

I kept hearing comments of "These are the BEST cinnamon rolls you've ever made!" and more. They were a total success with the family that was home at the time. When my husband came home and we gave him one... he was very complimentary and was sad I had only made one pan of them. He kept saying, "Oh... these are SO good!"

Will we make these again? Yes, absolutely! In fact, my family keeps asking me to make them again..  SOON. I need to buy more apples (I hope they go on sale.) to make more apple butter... I can tell we will be using the few jars I have already made,  rather quickly.   :) 

Whenever I do one of these posts of some loved food that we had ... but do not have now... the kids groan when they see the pictures on my computer and start asking when we will have it again. I suspect I will be hearing that today... and when I told my husband this morning that I was working on this... he asked when I will be making them again. :)  Thank you for visiting today.... I hope you have a great week and that you can see God's hand of blessing in your life.











You may also enjoy this new post... another wonderful new way to make cinnamon rolls... tested and winning rave reviews in my house. :) 
Apple-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls










Shared on:
Paula's No Rules Weekend Blog Party
Thriving Thursday
Inspire Me Wednesday
Homemaking Linky
So Much At Home
The Homemaking Party
A Little R & R Wednesday


33 comments:

  1. Hi, these look absolutely fantastic. I make something similar with my bread dough. I make vegemite and cheese (you could use chutney instead of vegemite), and I have made apple ones and yes it is very messy. Thank you for reigniting the idea for these, might give them a try over the weekend. Blessings

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't tried any w/ chutney... so many fun possibilities. :) Thank you for visiting and commenting.

      Delete
  2. Messy or not, they look yummy! LOL I've put some pumpkin puree in mine before. Messy, too, but not bad. I bet there are lots of ways you could make unique cinnamon rolls!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you are right.... hmmm.... more experimenting to come! :) Thank you for visiting.

      Delete
  3. These sound amazing! All the best things in life are a little messy. Pinning for later!

    I found you on the Saturday Soiree. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you... they are really good... the family is asking me to make them again SOON! :) Thank you for pinning them.... so glad you visited.

      Delete
  4. I've been looking for a cinnamon roll recipe and these look amazing! Can't wait to try it with my kids!

    Thanks for linking up at my Weekend Link Party at herorganizedchaos.com. I'm going to pin and tweet! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you... I hope you like them. Thank you also for the link party... and for pinning and tweeting. :)

      Delete
  5. Looks delicious ~ Thanks for sharing your idea!
    Found your link at the Art of Home-Making Mondays. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you... they sure taste good. :) I'm glad you visited... and I love the Art of Homemaking Monday. :)

      Delete
  6. Well, they look absolutely delicious to me! I would love to have one with a cup of tea...YUM!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mmmm, they would be delightful with tea. :) Thank you for stopping by. :)

      Delete
  7. What a fantastic recipe. Drool-worthy for sure! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Weekend Potluck. Please do come back soon...and be sure you don't come empty handed. =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you.... they were really good. :) I will be returning to the Weekend Potluck.. Thank you for stopping and commenting. :)

      Delete
  8. Wow, these look so amazing! I have a freezer full of apple butter that I made this fall. Can't wait to use it! My boys love apple butter so much that they eat it straight from the jar with a spoon. :) They will go nuts for these rolls. Pinned!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yum... my family loves apple butter too... and I only made a few jars this year. :) I hope you enjoy the cinnamon rolls also... thank you for pinning. :)

      Delete
  9. Congrats! This lovely recipe really got our attention at Weekend Potluck...it's being featured at this week's party. =) Stop by and check it out when you can...and please~keep sharing with us. Have a wonderful weekend too. http://www.thebetterbaker.blogspot.com/2014/10/cherry-pie-cream-cheese-coffee-cake.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you.... I really appreciate you featuring this... and I will be back. Thank so much. :)

      Delete
    2. This recipe looks so delicious that I am going to have to make it next week when we are having company, but wanted to ask if you think I might be able to use pieces of apple instead of the apple butter. The apples her (Chicago area) have been very cheap, 58 cents this week at our Caputo's store, so I have a gazillion in my extra fridge, just waiting to be made into applesauce and to use in baking. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm.
      Thanks for sharing. lv2bquilting2@comcast.net

      Delete
    3. Yes, I would definitely use pieces of apples... I have done that before and they are wonderful... keeping them cut small helps them to cook all the way through. ... That is a GREAT price on apples... they are much higher here and I hope we can have trees of our own some day. :) Thank you for visiting... .I hope your apple cinnamon rolls turn out GREAT!!! :) Nice to have you..

      Delete
  10. Wow! They do look good! And the apple butter sounds fabulous! Great thinking :)

    Thanks for sharing your creative baking on the Art of Home-Making Mondays Joy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yumm... they are good. :) Thank you - so glad to have you..... and thanks for a great link up party.

      Delete
  11. would have been nice to have the apple butter recipe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I need to make some more apple butter soon... and I will try to post that soon. Thank you for visiting.

      Delete
  12. These cinnamon rolls look delicious! I would love the apple butter recipe also:) Thanks so much for linking up to Teach Me Tuesday last week. You are very much appreciated. Starting this week, we will no longer be visiting you, instead we will be pinning each and every link. We want to give you more exposure! Hope to see you again this week!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will try to post that soon. Thank you for visiting. :)

      Delete
  13. These look amazing and so delicious! I have been meaning to try making these for quite some time however have not got up the courage as of yet. Been so long since I have had cinnamon rolls too. I may have to try your recipe. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you... I hope you get a chance to try them - we sure all enjoy them. :) Thank you for visiting.

      Delete
  14. These look so yummy! I will try them with the apple butter my daughters mother in law makes for us! Thanks for sharing. Also, thanks for keeping your blog still up and posting. I know this is older entry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you like them as much as we all do here in my family! :) Nice to "meet" you.

      Delete
    2. I appreciate your encouragement on this and I will try to work on new posts. Thank you.

      Delete