Apple-Cinnamon Dulce de Leche Sweet Rolls

The holiday season is sneaking up on us so quickly! I think it's time to transition to regular everyday recipes and into holiday ones! I'm ready to make snowman cookies, peppermint-chocolate everything and maybe a savory recipe or two. The next two weeks I'm dedicating to Thanksgiving recipes and today we start with breakfast!

Thanksgiving day usually means spending the entire day in the kitchen. The last thing you need is to spend the whole morning in the kitchen too! Of course you could offer those hungry folks in your house a bowl of cereal and milk, but I thought maybe you might like something a little sinful. These rolls can be prepared the night before and retarded in the fridge until morning. Just bring them out when you wake up & let them rise for a few hours.

Once popper in the oven, these rolls will fill your house with a sweet, doughy aroma that will bring everyone running to the kitchen. Feed these to your favorite people for brunch and they'll be satisfied until the turkey comes out of the oven.

Or they'll be heading back to the kitchen for seconds.

One Year Ago: Cinnamon-Walnut Butter & White Chocolate Peanut Butter
Two Years Ago: Tomato & White Bean Soup
Three Years Ago: Stuffing Cupcakes & Sage Oven Fries

Apple-Cinnamon Dulce de Leche Sweet Rolls

A Wilde Original

2 apples, peeled, cored & finely chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons powdered milk
5 1/2 tablespoons shortening
1 large egg, beaten
3 1/2 cups King Arthur bread flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup water
1/2 cup dulce de leche

Toss apples with cinnamon, set to the side.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together sugar, salt, powdered milk and shortening. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat in egg until smooth. Add flour, yeast and water and mix on low speed until the dough comes together in a ball.  Switch to a dough hook and knead for 10 minutes on medium speed.  You may need to add more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth, tacky dough.

Coat a bowl with cooking spray and transfer dough to the bowl.  Roll dough around until it's coated in oil.  Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise.  It should take around 2-3 hours for the dough to double in size.

Coat countertop with cooking spray and roll out dough to a 18x9-inch rectangle. Spread dulce de leche over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle chopped apples over the entire surface. Roll up dough into a 18-inch long log and cut into 16 rolls.

Cover two baking sheets in parchment paper and place 8 rolls on each sheet, about 1/2-inch apart. Mist lightly with cooking spray and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

(At this point you could wrap up the rolls in plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge. Pull the baking sheets out of the fridge 3 hours before baking to allow them to rise.)

Let dough proof for 90 minutes (if you are baking them the same day). Preheat oven to 350 ºF. Bake cinnamon buns for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove buns from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.  Pour glaze (2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 cup milk, whisked together) over the rolls and remove from the pan. Let cool for 20 more minutes on the wire rack before eating.