Apple cinnamon rolls with pecans

Delicious autumnal cinnamon rolls with apples. Moist and packed with apples, cinnamon and toasted nuts… The soft, fluffy yeasted dough is the same one you may know from my Cinnabons, which is light and stays fresh for a long time. In this new version, combining cinnamon rolls with apples takes them to another level! Toasted pecans and a simple icing drizzled over the warm rolls complete the whole thing. You might just fall in love with them ;).

Makes 12.

Ingredients for the dough:

• 540 g strong white bread flour
• 80 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 10 g dried yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
• 75 g butter, melted
• 250 ml milk
• 2 large eggs

Mix the flour with the dried yeast (if using fresh yeast, make a starter first). Add the remaining ingredients and knead, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead for long enough to obtain a soft and elastic dough. Place in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.

Roll the risen dough into a rectangle measuring approximately 40 × 50 cm, lightly dusting the work surface and rolling pin with flour if necessary. Spread the prepared apple and cinnamon filling (recipe below) evenly over the dough and sprinkle with the toasted pecans. Roll up tightly along the shorter side, like a Swiss roll. Using a sharp knife, cut into pieces about 3–3.5 cm wide, dividing the roll into 12 equal pieces. Arrange the rolls in a 23 × 33 cm baking tin lined with baking paper. They will touch as they rise. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise again for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Bake the risen apple cinnamon rolls in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly. Drizzle the warm rolls with icing and serve.

Ingredients for the apple and cinnamon filling:

• 850 g apples (about 4 apples)
• 40 g butter
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 80 g sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp potato starch
• 100 g pecans or walnuts

Peel and core the apples, then cut them into small cubes. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the apples, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples soften slightly. They should not fall apart. Sift the potato starch over the apples and immediately stir until the mixture thickens and the starch binds the apple juices. Set aside to cool.

Chop the pecans and lightly toast them in a dry frying pan, stirring frequently.

Ingredients for the icing:

• ¾ cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp boiling water

Place the icing sugar and water in a bowl and mix with the back of a spoon until smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding a little more water if too thick, or more icing sugar if too runny.

Tip: You can also use a piece of thread to cut the rolls neatly. Slide the thread underneath the rolled dough and cross the ends over the top, pulling them together to cut through the dough.

Enjoy!

Source of inspiration: Cloudy Kitchen.