Apple Cinnamon Buns with Spiced Cream Cheese Glaze

Apple Cinnamon buns fluffy, soft & moist loaded with cinnamon, apples and topped with spiced cream cheese glaze. Perfect with a steaming cup of coffee on a fall morning!!

November is here already can’t believe, the year just went by with blink of an eye. Day before we celebrated Halloween on last day of October and here we welcome November now. We had lot of fun on Halloween, Arnav dressed up as a pirate and Athena was a witch. They got whole loads of candies trick or treating with friends and now I’m seriously thinking to hide them, cannot give them so much sugar to eat. Hope you too had a great time?? November is here which means time for holidays & lots of good food. Pumpkins, apples, gorgeous spices all around with more baking to happen. And what perfect way to start November with fluffy, moist and buttery apple cinnamon buns.

My Instagram feed was full of fall baking since past few days with some gorgeous looking Cinnamon buns which made me crave intensely for freshly baked cinnamon buns. Brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and apples filled in incredibly pillowy soft and fluffy buns, my idea of cinnamon buns. I was in heaven with just the thought of it so went ahead and bought some from store. The store bought buns were just not what I had in mind and the icing was way too sweet.

I decided to put my hands and bake them instead. Nothing better than a freshly baked cinnamon buns loaded with apples which are very much in season and topped with sinful spiced cream cheese glaze to go with my coffee. Pure sin which means more workout but then autumn happens only once a year, isn’t it?? So with all pantry staples I went ahead and baked these beauties. Here I’ve used spiced cream cheese glaze for icing the buns with perfect balance of sweetness and it is seriously so good.

Now lets start with the buns. The dough, this involves working with yeast, proofing and kneading. Hey, are you scared of working with yeast, please don’t be just go ahead make these and all your fear will be gone. I was too scared to work with yeast till sometime back until I made Nutella cream doughnuts, they came out perfect fluffy, pillowy soft just the way they are suppose to be. If you haven’t made them yet go grab the recipe and make them this holiday season.

Yeast plays an important role in any kind of bread so be sure to have a good quality yeast to ensure success. I have started using Red Star Platinum yeast which is giving me results and perfect bread every single time. Most of the cinna bun recipes around require bread flour (due to its high protein content, forms more gluten and gives bread its required character) but I did not have one so went ahead and used all purpose flour. Here I’ve added baking powder along with the yeast, it may sound weird as both are leaveners. But trust me using both together resulted in a beautiful highly risen and pillowy soft buns. The eggs, whole milk, butter gives the required richness to the buns which help produce soft and delicate crumb. See how beautifully they have risen and so soft and fluffy.

The dough hardly takes time to come together and requires kneading for about 5 -6 minutes until soft before we put it away for first rise for a good 2 hours in a warm place. Now comes our filling part which is brown sugar, cinnamon & apple, isn’t the thought of cinnamon and apple just amazing. Because the filling imparts a beautiful flavor so be generous with it. Top off the baked cinnamon buns with delicious spiced cream cheese frosting and there you have the most delicious buns with spiced cream cheese frosting

With Thanksgiving in a few days, these Cinnamon Buns would be great for the breakfast. Serve them to your family and guests and see them gone in no time. They are just so good!!

What better way to enjoy perfect fall vibes!!

Apple Cinnamon Buns with Spiced Cream Cheese Glaze

Ingredients for the buns

· 5 cups of All purpose flour + more for dusting

· 1 1/2 cup whole milk

· 1/2 cup sugar

· 1 tsp baking powder

· 1 ½ tbsp active dry yeast

· ½ tsp salt

· 2 large eggs @ room temperature

· ½ cup unsalted butter softened

Ingredients for the filling

· ¼ cup salted butter

· 1 ½ cup brown sugar

· 2 tbsp cinnamon

· 2 apples peeled and chopped fine (I used honey crisp, you can use any of your choice)

Ingredients for the glaze

· 4 ounces cream cheese @ room temperature

· 1 cup powdered sugar

· ½ stick salted butter

· 4 tbsp milk

· 1 tsp vanilla extract

· 1 tsp pumpkin spice mix

Instructions

· For the dough : Heat the milk till warm, pour the warm milk in a bowl, add sugar and sprinkle yeast all over. Let it sit for about 10 minutes or until frothy, if the yeast does not foam start the process
all over again. While the yeast is foaming add the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, mix well and set aside.

· Once the yeast is well foamed, take a bowl and beat the softened butter on low until smooth using a hand mixer, add one egg at a time and mix well to combine. Change the hand mixer attachment to dough hooks, add flour and the yeast slowly and start mixing on low speed gradually increasing the speed to medium, mix till the dough starts to come together. Now we transfer the dough onto a floured work surface and start kneading for about 5 -6 minutes until the dough is soft and supple, shape it in a form of a ball.

· Transfer the prepared dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a cling wrap and keep it in a warm place to rise for good 2 hours or until double in volume.

· Grease two 9×13 inch baking dish, set aside. In a bowl combine the brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling.

· Once the dough has risen, turn it on a lightly floured work surface. Punch it down and divide it into two parts and roll each portion of the dough into a rectangle making sure the dough is evenly thick all over.

· Next spread the softened butter all over, sprinkle generous amount of brown sugar & cinnamon mixture all over. Next top with chopped apples and begin rolling tightly into a log. Cut into equal sized rolls and arrange into the prepared baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and keep it in a warm place for second rise for about an hour.

· While the dough is resting let’s make the spiced cream cheese glaze. Combine all the ingredients mentioned in a medium bowl and beat using a hand mixer till smooth. Set aside.

· Preheat the oven to 375 F and bake for about 25 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil if begins to brown too quickly on the top.

· Let it cool down for about 5 -7 minutes then drizzle the glaze on top.

· Enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Thanks so much

Xo,