Ingredients
Method
Reduce the Apple Cider
- Pour the apple cider into a wide saucepan and simmer uncovered over medium heat for 35 to 50 minutes, until reduced to exactly 3/4 cup.
- Measure the reduction rather than estimating by sight. It should taste intensely apple-forward and look slightly syrupy.
- Cool the concentrated cider completely before using it in the dough, filling or frosting.
Brown the Butter
- Brown the butter in three separate batches: 1 stick for the dough, 2 sticks for the filling and 1/2 stick for the frosting.
- Cook each batch over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the butter smells nutty and the milk solids turn deeply golden.
- Immediately transfer each batch into its own heat-safe bowl so the milk solids do not burn.
- Cool the dough butter until just warm. Chill the filling butter until soft and spreadable. Keep the frosting butter at room temperature.
Make the Apple Cider Dough
- Combine the warm water, yeast and 1 teaspoon maple sugar. Stir gently and leave undisturbed for 5 to 10 minutes, until obviously foamy.
- Add the concentrated apple cider, remaining maple sugar, Greek yogurt, cooled brown butter, eggs and vanilla bean paste. Mix until combined.
- Add the bread flour and sea salt. Mix on low for 1 minute, until a shaggy dough forms, then rest for 5 minutes so the flour can absorb the liquid.
- Knead for 5 to 7 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and beginning to pull away from the bowl. It should remain slightly sticky. Add more flour only 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is genuinely unmanageable.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and rise somewhere warm for 30 to 45 minutes. The dough should become visibly puffier but may not fully double.
Make the Brown Butter Apple Cinnamon Filling
- Mix the soft brown butter, coconut sugar, maple sugar, cinnamon, apple butter, concentrated apple cider, vanilla bean paste and sea salt into a thick, spreadable paste.
- If the filling becomes loose or runny, chill it briefly until it spreads easily without sliding off the dough.
Shape the Giant Rolls
- Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
- Roll the dough into a 16-by-15-inch rectangle.
- Spread the filling evenly across the entire surface, leaving only a very small border.
- Cut the dough lengthwise into 8 strips. Each strip should be approximately 2 inches wide and 15 inches long.
- Roll each strip into a tight, gigantic coil. Tuck the final inch underneath each roll so it does not unravel.
- Arrange the 8 rolls in the prepared pan. Cover and proof for 25 to 35 minutes, until visibly swollen and pillowy.
Bake the Cinnamon Rolls
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Warm the heavy cream for approximately 15 seconds in the microwave. It should feel warm but not hot.
- Pour the warm cream evenly over and between the proofed rolls.
- Bake at 350°F for 22 to 24 minutes.
- Without removing the rolls, increase the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the tops are deeply golden but the centers remain soft.
- Do not continue baking until the filling looks dry. The cinnamon apple filling should still look molten between the swirls.
- Let the rolls rest for 10 to 15 minutes before frosting.
Make the Apple Cider Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the softened cream cheese and room-temperature brown butter until completely smooth.
- Add the Greek yogurt, finely powdered maple sugar, concentrated apple cider, vanilla bean paste and sea salt.
- Beat until the frosting is thick, smooth and creamy.
- Spread all the frosting over the rolls while they are still warm so it softens and melts into every swirl.
Nutrition
Notes
The apple cider must be reduced before it is added to the dough. Regular cider adds too much water without providing enough concentrated apple flavor.
Reducing 4 cups of cider to exactly 3/4 cup gives you the precise amount needed for the dough, filling and frosting with none left over.
Use maple sugar rather than white sugar to bloom the yeast so the entire recipe remains free from refined sugar.
Brown the butter in separate batches. This makes the correct amount and texture easy to control for the dough, filling and frosting.
The apple butter belongs in the filling with the brown butter, cinnamon sugar and concentrated cider. Chill the finished filling briefly if it becomes too loose to spread.
Keep the rolls enormous. Dividing the dough into more than 8 rolls changes their visual impact and the ratio of pillowy center to caramelized edge.
Do not reduce the amount of brown butter filling or skip the warm heavy cream. Those two elements create the sticky, gooey swirls and exceptionally soft centers.
Store the rolls tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days because of the cream cheese frosting. Reheat individual rolls gently before serving.
The nutrition is estimated for 1 of 8 enormous rolls and includes all the filling, heavy cream and frosting. Exact values vary by the apple cider, apple butter, maple sugar and dairy brands used.