I am in love with cinnamon rolls. Like, I kind of want to marry them. But the thing with cinnamon rolls, is that they aren’t a simple whip up a batch and make kind of thing. There’s yeast involved, rising, sitting, kneading… Anyhow when Pillsbury asked me to have a look at some of their new fall seasonal products, I jumped at the chance…because a little birdie told me that Caramel Apple was one of their new flavors! ANNNND I knew that might be nothing better in life than using that Caramel Apple Cake Mix in a batch of cinnamon rolls. Can you even imagine a better flavor combo?
Here’s the thing… Since Cinnamon Rolls are a bit of a “process” I always used to think of them as “special occasion” food. But, what Pillsbury asked me to focus on with their new line of mixes was “Celebrate More”… and so that made me pause. Cinnamon Rolls don’t have to be a special occasion food… they can be a, “Let’s celebrate Saturday” food…right? Celebrating more of your everyday moments is really something that I try and do…as hard as it might be. And while cinnamon rolls might not be your “celebration breakfast” of choice.. you could certainly make a cake to celebrate an evening at home. What’s more fun than cake after dinner when it’s NOT a birthday? Right? Or celebrate your kid’s soccer game with an expected batch of cookies… it’s just little things like that you can do to make normal days a celebration. But with all that said, we’re here today to focus on Cinnamon Rolls. Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls…basically a party in a pastry.
Let’s talk about these…yes they start with a cake mix, but you still have to do a little bit of work. The cake mix in this case adds the delicious caramel apple favor which is unexpected! But you could absolutely use a vanilla cake mix for this recipe as well!
How to Make Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
I started by making a caramel apple filling…again you could omit this step, no problem..I just liked the idea of the little chunks of apple through out!
You’ll also sign up to get new recipes in your inbox. Δ
It’s a simple filling..some chopped apples, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Once you have cooked all that together, set it aside to cool down, and get started on the dough. First mix your cake mix, flour and yeast (Rapid Rise) into a large bowl…
Add some warm water and mix that together. You’ll need to add a little more flour to the mix and knead that on a floured surface until it comes together…
Grease a large bowl and set your dough in there to rise.
It will almost double in size in about 45 minutes…
Once it’s ready divide it into two equal portions and roll it out in a rectangle. Brush it lightly with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar…
Then top that with half of your apple mixture and roll it up…
Slice it carefully into 12 pieces and place it in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
Cover that and let it rise again for about 20 more minutes. During this time repeat the process with your remaining dough. Then bake your cinnamon rolls up!
Now to finish them off, I used the Caramel Apple frosting. You could easily use a vanilla or cream cheese frosting too! I heated the frosting up in the microwave for about 25 seconds until it was pourable and then drizzled about half of the frosting onto my first batch of cinnamon rolls, reserving the other half for the other pan.
And then I dug in.
I loved using the Pillsbury Cake Mix in this recipe…the flavor combo was sensational! Don’t forget to visit the Pillsbury Baking Facebook Page, their Pinterest Page and also their website for great recipes! *Disclosure: I was compensated for this post but thoughts are my own. ©/® The J.M. Smucker Company. Pillsbury is a trademark of The Pillsbury Company, LLC, used under license.
