Servings: 9
Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls
This easy cinnamon rolls recipe uses apple butter instead of butter to a ridiculously delicious Fall twist on cinnamon rolls. They're a hit at every party and are such an easy Thanksgiving dessert!
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 2 8-ounce packages Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, (Use Crescent rolls, not Cinnamon rolls, and use Pillsbury, not a store brand)
- ¾-1 cup apple butter, (see blog post for an easy homemade apple butter)
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, optional
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional, but highly recommended
For the cream cheese apple butter icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar, (confectioner's sugar)
- ¼ cup whipped cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons apple butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- Pizza Cutter (or use a knife)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish (rub a stick of butter on the inside or spray with baking spray).
- On parchment paper, unroll the 2 packages of crescent rolls, lay them next to each other, and pinch all the seams together to make one large rectangular sheet of dough. It's okay if not all the seams are perfectly pinched.
- Spread about ¾ cup of apple butter all over the crescent roll dough, enough to cover the dough thinly. Make sure you get the edges too!
- If you want your cinnamon rolls to be sweeter, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl until combined. Sprinkle the sugar over the apple butter. If you prefer a less sweet cinnamon roll, skip the sugar and just sprinkle a tiny bit of cinnamon all over to add more flavor.
- Measure out 8 notches that will be used to cut the dough into 9 equal strips, each about 1.5 inches wide. Hint: the center line of the dough will be the center of the middle cinnamon roll, with 4 rolls on each side of the middle roll.
- Use a pizza cutter (or a knife) to cut the dough into 9 strips about 1.5 inches wide.
- Roll each strip into a tightly rolled cinnamon roll. If any of the dough seams start coming apart, just pinch them back together. It doesn't have to be perfectly pinched, but you want the rolls to not fall apart.
- Place the 9 apple butter rolls into your greased 8x8-inch baking dish.
- Bake at 350F for about 28 minutes, or until golden brown on top and fully cooked on the inside. (Yes, this is longer than the crescent dough packaging calls for because the apple butter rolls are thicker inside than crescent rolls).
- While the apple butter rolls are baking, prepare the icing: combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with a fork until all the sugar is absorbed and you have a smooth mixture. This takes a few minutes. If it's really dry, add a few drops of water or an extra teaspoon of apple butter.
- When the apple butter cinnamon rolls are done baking, spread the icing on top while they are still hot—this will help soften the icing so it spreads easier.
- Allow to cool completely before digging in! You don't want to lose all the moisture by removing a cinnamon roll and having all the steam escape.
Notes
- Trust me when I say to use the Pillsbury crescent rolls instead of the cinnamon rolls package. The crescent roll packages makes the FLAKIEST, most PERFECT cinnamon rolls and is such a great dessert hack!
- You can also make these from scratch using your favorite yeast dough cinnamon rolls recipe, but using apple butter as the filling.
- Storage: once completely cooled, cover the baking pan with plastic kitchen wrap. Keep at room temperature for up to 24 hours, then refrigerate. Reheat individual apple butter rolls in the microwave when serving.
Nutrition Facts
Calories 300kcal (15%)Carbohydrates 46g (15%)Protein 2g (4%)Fat 13g (20%)Saturated Fat 6g (38%)Polyunsaturated Fat 4gMonounsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 6mg (2%)Sodium 419mg (18%)Potassium 39mg (1%)Fiber 1g (4%)Sugar 28g (31%)Vitamin A 92IU (2%)Vitamin C 0.2mgCalcium 15mg (2%)Iron 1mg (6%)
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