Cinnamon Roll Apple Rose Tart
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Cinnamon Roll Apple Rose Tart is a beautiful dessert to wow your guests at parties and holiday celebrations. It’s a delicious combination of fresh apples and cinnamon rolls with only 5 ingredients!
Watch Video – How to Make a Cinnamon Roll Apple Rose Tart
This stunning Cinnamon Roll Apple Rose Tart is absolutely one of my favorite desserts. You won’t believe how amazing the apple rose looks and tastes! It’s perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any special occasion.
While it can look complicated at first, it’s far easier than making apple pie. You only need 5 basic ingredients: cinnamon roll dough, red apples, lemon juice, brown sugar and butter. After 20 minutes of prep, the oven does the rest!
Apples for an apple rose tart
Before you start cooking, try to pick the best apple possible. For this recipe, my preference is medium-large size Red Delicious apples, which are available year-round in most supermarkets.
They lend a bright red color to the apple rose, while being sturdy enough to hold their shape. There are other more flavorful varieties like Honeycrisp or Fuji, but the color often pales after cooking.
How to prevent browning when making an apple rose
Since making apple roses means making thin slices of apple, there are a few hacks to prevent them from browning during preparation.
Traditionally fresh lemon juice is squeezed onto the slices, sometimes with water as well. While this approach is easy enough and works just fine, it can impact a sour taste to the apples.
Our preferred approach is to use lemon juice combined with brown sugar and melted butter. Adding this mixture prevents browning and adds flavor.
How to make pliable apple slices for an apple rose
After coring, the apples should be sliced to about 1/8″ thickness. A mandolin can be helpful for this task, but failing that a sharp paring knife will do the job just fine.
Once you’ve coated the apple slices with the brown sugar mixture, they need to go into the microwave for 2 minutes to become pliable. Alternatively you can put them in a pot over low heat for 5 minutes to achieve a similar effect.
How to make apple roses
To make an apple rose, first arrange about 8 apple slices in a straight row with an inch of overlap on each. Starting with one end, gently roll the slices together with your fingertips:
You can layer on more slices around the outside if you want to create a bigger rose. In this recipe, the bigger the rose, the more beautiful the dessert.
Once you’ve made the rose, it should hold itself together. If you’ve arranged the cinnamon roll in the pan already, then you can insert the rose into the middle.
How to make a cinnamon roll spiral
This is it – the final assembly before baking! Grab a 9-10 inch pie plate or cake pan along with a package of refrigerated cinnamon roll dough. It’s basically a process of unravelling a few cinnamon rolls in a spiral pattern in a pie plate.
Once you have a spiral, simply insert apple slices in between and pull the dough slightly to tighten it up. It may look challenging, but it’s actually pretty straightforward.
And don’t worry about any imperfections because the dough puffs up during baking to fill in any gaps or wobbles!
More apple desserts:
Cinnamon Roll Apple Rose Tart
Ingredients
- 2 red apples, We used red delicious
- 1 can refrigerated cinnamon roll dough, see note
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- powdered sugar, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Spray a 9-inch round baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Open the can of cinnamon rolls. Unwind several rolls and arrange into a large spiral to fill up the dish, following the video.
- Halve each apple lengthwise. Remove the core and seeds.
- Using a sharp paring knife, slice the apple halves lengthwise to 1/8-inch thick pieces.
- In a large bowl, add apple slices and lemon juice, mixing well.
- In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and melted butter together. Then add to the apple slices, stirring to coat.
- Microwave for about 2 minutes or until the apple slices are pliable. Strain out any accumulated liquid.
- Arrange about 8 apple slices in a straight row with an inch of overlap on each. Starting with one end, gently roll the slices together to make a rose. Place rose in the middle of the cinnamon dough spiral.
- Insert apple slices to fill the gaps between the cinnamon rolls in the spiral.
- When the dish is full, bake for 20-25 minutes until the dough is browning.
- Remove from oven and dust with powered sugar. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Note: Pillsbury has reformulated their cinnamon roll dough so it no longer unravels. Therefore, we recommend using Great Value or another store brand for this recipe.
Please read our nutrition disclaimer.
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Followed the recipe and they turned out perfect! Used Pillsbury Grand and they unrolled no problem. The smell out of the oven is amazing! Will definitely make again!
Hi Carm, So great to hear that and thanks for your review!!
I found the best way to cut the apples is with a mandoline. I used that the first time and it came out perfect. I also used fancy butter to give it an even more decadent taste. The second time I made them I cut them by hand and I couldn’t roll the apples and used regular store butter and it didn’t look pretty or taste as good. I used grands cinnamon rolls. Definitely a favorite.
Hi Laura, Congratulations – so great to hear that! I couldn’t agree more about the mandoline and love the fancy butter idea. Hope you’ll try other recipes too!
So because I only had pillsbury I ended up making little rosettes and rolled dough all around them (7 fit in a 9″) . I then made a caramel out of the leftover lemon, butter, sugar mix and the icing that came with the can. 🙂
Hi Emily, Thanks for your comment and great to hear about doing it this way. Sounds delicious and glad you enjoyed!
I was so proud of how it turned out! It tasted good. It did look a little better than it tasted. But I had fun making it! I cant figure out how to post a photo with my review.
Hi Dianna, Congratulations and great to hear!! You can always post on Instagram with hashtag #tipbuzzfood . Would love to see it!
I made this for Christmas dinner and it was underwhelming. Followed the recipe but
it had kind of a flat flavor profile. Disappointing. Great idea in theory, though.
Hi Maureen, Thanks for your feedback and sorry you didn’t like it. Hope you had a good holiday nonetheless.
My boyfriend loves this. I think it turned out well.
Hi Phyllis, Glad to hear and thanks!
I did make this it came out beautiful sadly I didn’t have any vanilla ice cream but it was a favorite on the table
Hi Cynthia, Thanks so much for your comment and glad it worked out. Ice cream next time FTW 🙂
I make it a point not to microwave my food. Do you have a recommendation for how to soften the apples without scorching or burning them?
Hi Beatrice, Thanks for your comment. Just heat in a saucepan over low-medium heat to soften. It’ll take a bit longer than microwaving, but will have the same effect. Good luck!
made it once before and followed the recipe step by step. Turned up GREAT!
Making it again, BUT this time i’m trying individual servings made in ramekins
Hi Sophia, Sounds great! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
This Cinnamon Roll Apple Rose Tart looks SO deliciously good. I wish I could eat that right now!
Hi Maggie, Thanks so much and hope you’ll try making it 🙂
Great idea for a holiday just wondering if i make it a day ahead would the apple get soggy how do i store it??
Hi Damaris, Thanks for your review. You can definitely make it a day ahead and store covered it in plastic wrap. It won’t get soggy, but I would recommend reheating is gently for 5-10 minutes nonetheless. Enjoy!
Hi! Can I use granny Smith apples?
Hi Katie, Yes! Granny Smith will work. The only issue is you won’t get the red color on the finished tart, but will still be delicious! Enjoy 🙂
Super awesome! Made it for the in laws when they came back from vacation. But I made the same mistake on buying the Pillsbury brand.. good thing I read the comments so I can learn for next time!😁
Hi Kelsey, Thanks for your comment and glad it worked out 🙂 !
I used the Pillsbury brand; hadn’t read reviews, but I just pulled them apart m, reshaped them. A lil more time, but same results…there is always a way to make things to work out😉 Thanks for the recipe 💕
Hi Susan, That’s great to hear and thanks for your review! It seems like some batches of that brand are easier to work with than others, so glad it worked out 🙂
I used Pillsbury, cutting spirals in the dough worked just fine. It was very yummy.
Thank you for the recipe. We enjoyed it.
Thanks for your feedback Carol – glad you enjoyed! 🙂
I am french
Where can I buy cinnamom roll dough, because I can’t find it in France
Give me A web site to buy it
Excuse m’y english is”y perfect
Thank you si much
Bonjour Baudry, Ca n’existe pas en France malheuresement. It faudrait le faire a main. 🙂
Wish I would have read the comments first. Same problem, bought pillsbury and too thick. You should update the recipe and mention buying STORE brand in ingredients or change directions to having to hand roll out the strips. Just family here on Thanksgiving but what a disappointment.
Hi Lyn, Thanks for your review and sorry to hear. The info about the cinnamon rolls was in the post, but will add to the recipe too to be more explicit.
MY apples don’t roll and are a bit soggy I guess you can say what should I do?
Hi Ashley, No problem – just pat them dry with paper towels… Hope that helps!
Could I prep it the night before and then make it the next day? Or would it dry out
Hi Alexandra, It won’t dry out, so you can prep a day ahead. Just wrap with plastic wrap 🙂
I’m planning on making this for Thanksgiving, can I make it a day ahead of time or should I plan on that day.
Hi Jessica, Yes, you can bake it a day ahead for sure! Have a great holiday 🙂
Should you leave it out for the night or put it in the fridge?
Hi Kristin, Either is fine, but cover it with plastic wrap.
Total failure. I consider myself a good baker but the rolls would not unroll and that was the biggest issue. Now I read that the brand I bought doesnt unroll. I would think that if the nation’s most popular brand doesn’t work that important information would be included in the directions. So glad I didn’t make it for company.
Hi Connie, Thanks for your review. I know it’s so frustrating that the brand reformulated the product so they won’t unroll, but you can find the correct ones for that brand at Sam’s Club and other brands still unroll.
Can anyone recommend a brand of gluten free cinnamon rolls which are relatively easy to find which can be used in this recipe? I feel bad making deserts that my wife can’t enjoy with the rest of us.
Hi Jim, I haven’t seen gluten-free packages unfortunately. You probably need to make your own gluten-free dough, and there are some decent recipes if you Google it. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
tienen una pinta espectacular felicidades
Gracias Mercedes 🙂
Epic fail my cinnamon rolls way too thick for this
Hi Carol, Sorry to hear that – best to use standard size cinnamon rolls. If you want to use large size, you’ll need to use a jumbo muffin tin and bake longer…
I am wondering to keep this in the fridge or on the counter? I just made it and itll be served about 9 hours from now.
Hi Kayla, Congrats! On the counter cover in plastic wrap is fine. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
What brand of cinnamon rolls do you use? The ones I purchased didn’t unravel, which made the recipe more challenging
Hey Amanda, Such a great question! Pillsbury changed their product a year ago and it doesn’t unravel anymore. I’ve found all store brand cinnamon rolls work just fine. Hope that helps, and will update the post 🙂
The final presentation in the shape of a beautiful rose using apples is so amazing. A dessert that can be proudly served at any dinner party.
Thanks, it’s definitely looks fabulous at a party 🙂