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I LOVE yeast. The smell of yeasty dough rising in a bowl that gets stronger as you punch it down and knead it…. mmmmmm… it’s one of my favorite scents in the whole wide world. BUT some mornings you just don’t have time to make up a yeast dough! If you are having one of those days, this is the recipe for you.

I know that some mornings my family wakes up and the kids are having a hankering for cinnamon rolls but I just don’t have the hours that it takes to make them, and my kids don’t have the patience for it either. This recipe is the perfect way to get around that. The flavors of cinnamon, brown sugar, apples and warm dough all come together in this recipe for a cinnamon roll that will have your kiddos licking the pan and begging for more.

If you want to do this recipe with a more traditional yeast based dough, follow my dough recipe for my Oooey Gooey Cast Iron Skillet Cinnamon Rolls. For those of you shorter on time, read on.

Quick and Easy Apple Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Ingredients for Dough:

2 cups all-purpose Flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup applesauce (if you don’t have applesauce in your cupboard you can quickly make your own by peeling a couple of apples, coring them, slicing them up thin and cooking with a couple tablespoons of water for 10 minutes. Blend and then you are good to go!)
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg

Ingredients for Apple Filling:

2 medium apples
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Ingredients for Cinnamon Sugar Filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400F
Grease a 9X13″ pan (alternatively you could do this in a cast iron frying pan)
Apple Filling: Peel, core and dice your apples. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saute pan. Add brown sugar, cinnamon and apples. Saute until apples are tender. Set aside.
Dough: In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine melted butter, applesauce, milk and egg. (If using homemade applesauce that is still warm, mix the egg with the milk first then pour slowly into the applesauce so your egg doesn’t scramble.) On low speed, mix your wet ingredients in with your dry ingredients until the ingredients are all combined. (Note if you don’t have a stand mixture this can be done by hand.)
Transfer your dough to a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll your dough until it is approximately 6″X12″.
Cinnamon Sugar Filling: Combine white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Stir until ingredients have come together. Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter and brush on your dough then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.
Top the dough, cinnamon and sugar with the apple filling.
Roll the dough into a log (you are rolling across the 6 inch section so that your cinnamon roll log will be 12 inches long).
Using a sharp knife, cut your cinnamon roll log into 12 equally sized pieces and transfer them to your greased pan leaving a bit of room between each roll.
Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the apples and cinnamon are bubbling.
Serve warm and enjoy!