Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

By Elizabeth Waterson // Feb 21, 2013 (Updated Dec 31, 2025) // Leave a Comment

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Homemade cinnamon roll dough is filled with chunks of cinnamon apple mixture baked to golden brown perfection. Topped with a creamy frosting made with cream cheese and drizzled with Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce! Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls are the perfect Sunday brunch treat!

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls in a white and brown ceramic dish on a wood table

OH EM GIZZLE

Words can not explain my love and adoration for these rolls. Ooey, gooey, soft with salted caramel and cream cheese frosting. Help me contain my drooling for these Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls.

I haven't made cinnamon rolls in a LONG time. I get myself worked up that I don't have the time for them but when I saw this recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction I knew I would make time. Even if it meant staying up till 2 am to bake them for breakfast before work that morning.

Boy, am I sure glad I did. These were amazing. A perfect well-balanced breakfast for a Saturday morning if you ask me!

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese frosting spread on with a pink spatula sitting on a wire rack on a wood table

The salted caramel over the cream cheese frosting really was a treat. I absolutely love cream cheese frosting and this was perfect for these rolls.

Next weekend I am thinking some sort of bananas foster cinnamon rolls? Hmm.. that sounds good to me!!

Let's start this recipe, shall we?

How to make caramel apple cinnamon rolls?

In a mixing bowl add the yeast and warm water. Let sit for a few minutes then mix together. Add in apple juice, egg, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla and 1 ½ cups of flour. I used the dough attachment to my kitchen aid and every minute or so took the dough out and kneaded it myself. Spray a bowl with cooking spray and put your dough in the bowl and cover-up. I heated my oven to 200f and then turned it off and placed the dough in the oven to rise.

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls dough being rolled out and spread with butter on a white counter top

In a small saucepan combine 2 tablespoon butter and sliced apples. Cook for 5-8 minutes, until apples are very soft then place inside a dish in the fridge. After about an hour and a half, the dough had doubled in size. On a clean working, surface roll out the dough to a 15x9 rectangle.

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls dough topped with cinnamon sugar and apple slices on a white counter

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls dough rolled out with cinnamon sugar and apple mixture and butter pieces on a white countertop

In a small bowl mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle on to of dough then layer apples on top.

Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture and I added a little bit more butter. The Paula Deen in me was coming out 🙂

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls filled and rolled into a log before slicing on a white parchment floured paper

Tightly roll the dough and use a SHARP knife to cut these babies. 15 rolls is what you will make around 1 inch each.

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll cut into an individual roll showing the swirls held in a hand over a kitchen counter background

I took each roll into my hand and sort of squeezed it together to make sure they stayed like a roll 🙂 After they were cut I placed them into a 9X13 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Then I went to bed ! Nighty night! Zzzzzzzz..

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls in a ceramic white dish ready to proof before baking sitting on a white countertop

How long do cinnamon rolls bake for?

When I woke up the dough had risen more and the cinnamon rolls were ready to bake. I loved seeing the apples poke through. Apples were a great addition!

Wrap the rolls in foil, bake the rolls for 20 minutes and take the foil off and bake for 5-10 more minutes until golden brown.

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls proofed and ready to bake inside a white ceramic dish sitting on a wood table

Straight out of the oven on to a cooling rack. It was SOO hard for me to wait for these to cool a bit. I won't lie I picked at the rolls a few times. I just NEEDED to try them!! SO good I could not wait of the cream cheese frosting and salted caramel.

I whipped up this delicious cream cheese frosting. In a mixing bowl whip cream cheese and butter for 3 minutes. Then add in powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream in. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if you want the frosting thicker.

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls baked and cooling with cream cheese frosting in a silver bowl with a plastic container of salted caramel sitting on a black wire rack on a wood table

Slather this all over the apple cinnamon rolls.

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls with a pink spatula of cream cheese frosting on top on a wood table

I absolutely love looking at this picture. I just want to dive into it. Seriously, can you imagine swimming through this amazingness?

Now you could stop here and enjoy these cinnamon rolls. They are wonderful.

OR grab some salted caramel and drizzle it all over. WOW this was good. I highly suggest it ! 🙂

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll on a blue and green plate with a knife and fork sitting on a wire rack on a wood table

Look at the apples inside the cinnamon rolls. They were moist and a wonderful addition to cinnamon rolls.

This is the salted caramel recipe I use: Salted Caramel

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Recipe Card

Salted Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

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Print Recipe

Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 15 cinnamon rolls 1x

Instructions

Dough

In the bowl of an electric mixer add yeast and warm water. Let sit for about 1 minute then stir together. Preheat oven to 200F.
Add apple juice, granulated sugar, salt, egg, vanilla extract, butter and one and a half cups of the flour. Mix until completely combined.
Add in the remaining 1 ½ - 2 cups of flour with a wooden spoon.
Attach dough attachment to mixer and mix for 5 minutes. Every minute or so I took the dough out and kneaded in with my hands. While dough is in the mixer spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Once the dough has been kneaded for 5 minutes transfer to the greased bowl.Cover with a clean dishtowel.
Turn the oven off and place the bowl into the oven. Let the dough raise for 1-1 ½ hours until it has doubled in size.

Apple Filling

In a small saucepan combine 2 tablespoon of butter and sliced apples. Cook for 5-8 minutes until apples have softened. Place into a bowl and in the fridge to cool.
Once dough has risen on a clean and floured surface roll out the dough to a 15X9 rectangle. Make sure to roll the dough out evenly. Place parchment paper on the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking pan and spray with baking spray.
In a small bowl combine dark brown sugar and cinnamon. Use remaining 6 tablespoon butter and spread all over the dough. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top of butter, then layer apples all over. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar mixture.
Roll the dough VERY tightly. Slice into 1 inch rolls, you will get about 15 rolls. Take each roll and squeeze together. Place in prepared pan. At this point I placed a tea towel on top of the rolls and let them sit on the counter over night. (You could let the rolls raise for another 1 ½ hours if you don't want to wait over night)
Preheat oven to 375F and cover rolls with foil. Cook for 20 minutes and take the foil off and bake for 5-10 more minutes until golden brown.
Let cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a bowl mix cream cheese and butter for 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy cream and beat for 3-4 more minutes.
Slather all over cinnamon rolls. Drizzle salted caramel over rolls.