Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls with Apple

These puff pastry cinnamon rolls are extra special with the addition of apples. And they are so easy to make using store-bought puff pastry dough!

With all the incredible patisseries and boulangeries in Paris, you may wonder why anyone bothers to bake at all. There are decadent pastries, cakes, and bonbons on almost every street corner. But, I’ll give you two reasons why. The first is cost; because while French pastries are not as expensive as in the United States, they are still not cheap. The second is that there are pleasures in baking you don’t get no matter how good your neighborhood patisserie is. Namely, the smell of fresh baked goods, and the joy of eating them when they’re just out of the oven. I guarantee these Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls with Apple will fill your house with incredible smells of baked apples, cinnamon, and browned butter. And you won’t have to spend all day in the kitchen to make them, I promise.

These cinnamon rolls actually come together quickly with the help of store-bought puff pastry. I used pâte feuilletée from Picard, because they sell a rectangular version of their dough. (Most packaged puff pastry I’ve found in Paris comes already rolled out in large rounds.) You start by cooking down some chopped apples. Then you roll out your puff pastry and spread it with softened butter, cinnamon-sugar, and the cooked apples. Roll up, slice, and bake. Make an easy glaze out of milk and powdered sugar, and you'll be ready to eat as soon as these caramelized beauties come out of the oven. Let’s talk details. 

How do you make Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls with Apple?

To start your easy puff pastry cinnamon rolls, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius. Peel two large apples and chop into ¼ inch pieces. Combine apples with 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon sugar in a medium saucepan.

Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Apples should be entirely tender but still intact. Meanwhile, combine cinnamon with ¼ cup of sugar. Roll your sheet of puff pastry into a 30 x 24 cm (12 x 9.5 inch) rectangle. Place pastry on cutting board. Spread with 6 tablespoons softened butter. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Spread cooked apples evenly across the pastry, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Roll into a jelly roll shape, starting with one of the shorter ends. Cut into 1-inch slices.

Assemble on parchment paper-lined baking sheet with at least an inch of space between each one. Bake for 30 minutes, until pastry is cooked through and golden brown.

Let cool on baking rack for 5 minutes. While rolls are baking, stir together powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl to create a glaze. Drizzle on apple cinnamon rolls, then serve. 

What type of dough do you use for a cinnamon roll?

Cinnamon rolls are typically made with a yeast-risen dough rather than puff pastry. From there, however, the steps are similar. Dough is rolled out, then spread with softened butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The dough is then rolled into a tube and sliced. With a yeast-risen dough, the rolls are then left to rise again before baking. Cinnamon rolls made this way are delicious, but much more time-consuming. Not only do you have to make the dough, but you have to wait for it to rise before you can roll it out, then wait for it to rise again to bake. With store-bought puff pastry, you can go straight from rolling out the dough to filling, rolling, slicing, and baking. The texture of your rolls will not be the same as with a yeast dough, but crispier with caramelized edges. 

How do I quickly defrost frozen puff pastry?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve carefully prepped a recipe’s ingredients and forgotten to defrost my puff pastry in advance. Luckily, puff pastry defrosts quickly. If you have several hours, the safest way to defrost your puff pastry is in the refrigerator. However, if you are short on time, I give you leave to put that puff pastry onto your lightly floured counter at room temperature. Turn it over at least once during the defrosting process. Check it every 5-10 minutes to see how it’s coming along.

The key to working with puff pastry is not to let it become too soft. Soft puff is difficult to roll, and the butter within the dough begins to melt. (You want that butter not to melt until it hits the high heat of your oven, where it will steam and create all those delicious buttery layers.) The good news is that there is an easy fix if you have left your puff pastry out on the counter too long. Just pop it into the fridge until it is cold and carry on. 

If you enjoyed this Puff Pastry Cinnamon Roll recipe, you might also want to check out some other delicious Vanilla Bean Cuisine desserts:

• Cherry Danish with Puff Pastry
• Banana-Nutella Crepes
• Almond Flour Chocolate Cookies
• Peach Blueberry Crisp
• French Yogurt Cake with Almonds
• Mango Coconut Yogurt Parfait