How to Make Delicious Cinnamon Apple Brioche Rolls

Brioche is the most versatile dough ever made. It can be used in countless different baking projects from sweet to savoury. There is a whole playlist of brioche recipes on my channel full of great examples.

And since I realized that it can be easily made without kneading it has become an even better dough to work with. No-knead brioche is one of the simplest doughs out there.

As usual I made a double batch of dough and used half for this project and half for another one. If you only want to make these rolls, then divide the dough ingredients in half. Alternatively, you can make double the number of rolls.

It being the festive season I wanted to try my hand at another recipe using this wonderful dough. And that is how we ended up with these delicious cinnamon apple rolls. They’re made by rolling the dough thin, cutting it into strips, filling with apples and jam, and rolling it up. The result is a super soft, sweet, and buttery little treat.

This recipe makes 12 small rolls.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

500g (1.1lb) white bread flour

250g (8.8oz) egg

12g (0.42oz) salt

9g (0.32oz) instant dry yeast or 11g (0.38oz) active dry yeast or 27g (0.95oz) fresh yeast

60g (2.1oz) sugar

200g (7oz) softened butter

To fill –

150g (5.3oz) jam

3 – 4 apples cut into thin slices, no more than 2mm (0.07in) thick.

For the cinnamon sugar –

50g (1.75oz) sugar

4g (0.14oz) cinnamon

For the syrup –

30g (1oz) sugar

20g (0.7oz) water

Combine and bring up to a boil before the rolls come out the oven.

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you will need to let it sit in the egg for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

Method

1. Make the dough. In a large bowl combine the eggs, yeast, salt, and sugar. Whisk to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add 8 tablespoons (200g; 7oz) flour and whisk. Add the softened butter and whisk until smooth.
2. Add the remaining flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F). If your dough is at this temperature or higher, then refrigerate it after the first fold. If it’s cooler like the dough in the video, then chill it after the second fold.
3. Cover and ferment for 30 minutes.
4. Fold #1.
5. Ferment for 30 minutes.
6. Fold #2.
7. Ferment for 30 minutes.
8. Divide the dough into two piece and shape into balls. If you are making half of the recipe, then give the dough another fold.
9. Wrap in clingfilm and cold ferment for 16 – 24 hours. After cold bulk fermentation you can use this dough for any project you like.
10. Roll the dough to 60cm (2ft) long. Trim the top, bottom, and one edge. Mark the dough at 5cm (2in) intervals and cut it into strips.
11. Pipe or spoon the jam on to the strips of dough. Place 6 – 8 apple slices on one side. Fold the dough over to seal in the apples. Roll up and place in greased muffin tins.
12. Cover and final proof 4 hours. If you want the dough to rise sooner, then place it in a warmer area. During the final hour of fermentation pre-heat the oven to 160C (320F) fan on.
13. Sprinkle the rolls with cinnamon sugar and bake them for 25 minutes.
14. As soon as the rolls come out the oven brush them with the hot sugar syrup.

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.