Apple-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

My family really loves cinnamon rolls and I also like to experiment. Last year, I experimented and came up with these:
Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls

That post  has been my
Number 1 post on my blog! My family also loved it which is why I posted about it.








Well, this year... I experimented again! :)  Instead of using apple butter, I decided to use apples and pecans... and these are also a hit at our house.  The in-house reviews are totally positive and these do not last long at all. They are moist and full of wonderful rich buttery flavor and pieces of apple and pecans. Such a delicious roll.  I love it when an experiment works. :)










So, I am sharing my new experiment with you. We still love the Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls too, but I think these new Apple-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls are my new favorite. I love the bits of apple and especially the wonderful crunch of pecans in the rich cinnamon roll flavors.

The first step in making these is to start with some bread dough. You can buy frozen bread dough or make your own. I like to use this easy recipe:
Basic Homemade Bread Recipe

Choose how much of it you want to turn into cinnamon rolls and roll it out. I love having lots of rolls in my cinnamon rolls so I use a large sheet of dough, as shown.

This would probably be about all of the dough from one batch of the above recipe.

Here are the apple pieces... I mixed them with cinnamon and let them sit in a bowl until I was ready for them.

That worked great, but the next time, I skipped this step and just put the diced apples on the cinnamon roll dough and that worked just as well and saved a step... and a bowl to wash. :)  I love cutting corners on dishes when I can.

I use the diced apples from about 3-5 apples for this amount of cinnamon rolls. 

The next step is to spread butter all over the dough.  I probably used about 1 1/4 sticks on this amount of dough... it was about 24" x 24", so it was quite large. You can use more or less butter... depending on your preference. 

 This picture shows 3 steps...
1. Sprinkle with white sugar all over the buttered dough....
2. Put brown sugar all over that layer and flatten it a bit....
3. Sprinkle lots of cinnamon all over.

 Note: the picture shows my first time of making these Apple-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls and there was cinnamon on the dough AND on the apples. The next time, I only put cinnamon on the dough, so I used a lot more cinnamon than shown here. Again... it is up to your taste.

The apple pieces... with or without cinnamon.... go on next.

Then sprinkle pecan pieces... lots of them are wonderful. I did less the first time and more the second and the second batch was definitely better with the extra pecans.

Time to roll the dough... start and one end and start rolling. If it sticks, use a pancake turner (as shown) to loosen the dough and keep rolling... 

Yum..... lots of good flavors packed in there. 

Keep rolling all the way... 

Now there is one "log" of cinnamon roll dough. 

Just a big roll...

Time to cut... use a sharp knife and cut slices... I did mine about 3/4"-1" thick. 

Put the slices into a greased baking dish. You can see here that there is space between the rolls... that is okay... they will rise.  It may take an hour or two.

Here they are after time to rise... they have filled in those empty spaces nicely.

I bake the cinnamon rolls at 350 degree for about 30 minutes or so... sometimes a little less or more. 



After they are baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool.

Mix up some glaze or thin frosting and drizzle it all over... I use powdered sugar, pinch of salt, vanilla, a little milk and some butter. Mix it all up until it is rather runny and drizzle with a fork or spoon. I was in a hurry and used a spoon... as you can tell.  :) 

That big cinnamon log roll I started with made 3 of these 9" x 13" pans of cinnamon rolls. 

 The frosting can be put on the cinnamon rolls after they are completely cooled... or when they are still warm. I like to do it when they are still warm since it goes down inside a bit and adds to the moist goodness.


 I hope you get a chance to try these. Don't worry about exact measures...  they are tasty with more or less sugar... and the apples add some sweetness also.





These CAN be frozen and used at a later time. It is a good idea and I have done that before...what a treat to put a pan of frozen cinnamon rolls in the oven to warm for a wonderful breakfast snack. In my house; however, they usually do not make it to the freezer any more as they get eaten so fast. :)

 Thank you for visiting today. I hope you have a wonderful week. :)







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