Apple Walnut Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

October 21st, 2010 § 239 Comments

In all my years on the internet, I’ve received three unforgettable emails. Each were typed by my mother. I picture her sitting at the keyboard, perfectly positioned to type as though she were being tested for proficiency. Either full caps or none at all. Her nose turned slightly up at the computer because she can’t quite see the 24” monitor. And truth be told, neither can I at 25 years old.

These electronic notes are the joy of my existence. They say something. About me, about her, about my level of discretion when it comes to my inbox. The fact that we must email back and forth despite speaking on the phone twice a day, ten minutes per conversation. Let’s just say the umbilical cord is very stretched.

The first email appeared in my inbox the day my mother discovered the internet. Throughout her note to me, she continually referred to her own ‘website,’ insisting that “I checked my website and it said…Well, if you look on my website…” I later came to understand her website to be Google. How I wish that Google were hers, and hers alone. Any innocent search would immediately yield results involving a stick of butter and a scalding hot bath- the things my mother believes in.  But that’s beside the point. She ended the email with a neatly packaged, “Alright Skippies, see you later. Bye. Call me. Okay I love you. Oh and have a good time if you go to that party. Enjoy it. Okay, I’ll be thinking about you. I love you to pieces. Love, Ma.”

Truly perfect.

The second best email was one that I’d like to have chiseled into stone. It was beautiful. Intense and loving and honest and pure.

Love, articulated.

And then there was the third email. It began and ended with, “Andrea, Nana’s mad at you. Or me. She’s mad. At one of us. Let’s send her cinnamon rolls.” I should note that it also ended with a, “P.S. Should I cut bangs?”

Just so you know, she looks fabulous with bangs.

The genius of email is the terseness. The quick sentences, the directness. It speaks volumes about the two of us. It made me realize what that thing is that my mother’s emails have that others don’t. She writes as she speaks. Her emails are truer to her nature than say, someone who makes a distinction between the written and spoken word. She’d happily be shouting them through a phone line (and I do mean shouting) if it were just a tad later in the morning, and we weren’t three hours apart. Mind you, I’ve been living on the west coast for about five months now and she has still not acknowledged a time difference. I can’t quite count the number of times I’ve had to remind her that I can’t go to bed just yet, as it’s barely 5pm.

But back to the email itself. It’s brilliant. The notion is that if indeed my grandmother was mad at one of us (highly likely), cinnamon rolls would have been the surefire way to appease her. And it wasn’t even as if Nana liked cinnamon rolls in particular. In fact she didn’t care much for desserts, unless Caramello was in question (luckily we forgave her for her faults). It’s just that mom believes in the unfailing ability of sugar and butter to mend just about anything. Relationships included. And while I speak quite honestly about my own beliefs that food isn’t always love, sometimes it is. Sometimes it really is.

And I don’t question her. I just do.

I baked the cinnamon rolls.  Nothing says “I love you and I’m sorry that you’re mad at me. Please allow me to butter and sugar you into sweet oblivion” better than tart apples and toasted walnuts tucked inside buttery soft cinnamon rolls. The gooey, sticky, cinnamon-spiced coils of fluffy sweet dough. A heavy-handed drizzling of apple cider glaze. Cinnamon buns in a cupcake cloak. They puffed in my oven and scented my house in the same warm way an apple spice candle does. And when I bit into one, I was certain that my mother was right. Cinnamon rolls make everything better.

These are not light, they are not classically healthy, they can’t even be considered simple. But they are divine, and seasonal and perfect in their own right. Not everything should be virtuously healthy, and some things are best in all their decadence. Cinnamon buns are those things.

Make them for a fall gathering, make them for your family, make them on Thanksgiving morning.

Apple Walnut Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Let’s get started, shall we?

Heat the milk in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for about one minute.

Add the yeast followed by the sugar, and stir to dissolve.

Now add two cups of flour and the salt and beat for a full two minutes.

Add the softened butter and eggs and beat until the mixture is well combined.

Add the rest of the flour, half a cup at a time, and beat thoroughly after each addition.


Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Knead the dough for five minutes, until it has become soft and elastic.


Put the dough in a large bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm area for 40 minutes. It will double in size.

Now make the filling: Combine the sugars, cinnamon, pecans, and apples in a large bowl.

Now turn the dough out onto the counter and roll it out 1/4” thick into a rectangular shape. Use a pastry brush to spread half of the butter over the surface.

Use a pastry brush to spread half of the butter over the surface.

Now spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 to 1 1/2″ border around all sides.

Start at one end (of the long side) and roll, tucking the dough gently over the filling.

Cut the log into 24 pieces and place each inside one of the cups of a muffin tin lined with paper liners.

Cover the cupcakes with a towel and let them rise in a warm place for an additional 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350º. Brush the remaining butter evenly on the tops of the cupcakes and bake for 20 minutes. The tops will be a light golden brown.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, stir to dissolve the powdered sugar in the apple cider. Drizzle this glaze over the cupcakes.

Apple Walnut Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

(recipe by Stephanie Polack, as seen on PaulaDeen.com)

makes 24 cupcakes

Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
2 cups 2% milk
1 tablespoon (.5 oz) active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
6 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 eggs
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Filling Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup loosely chopped walnuts, toasted
2 cups finely chopped tart apples

Apple Cider Glaze Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon apple cider

Heat the milk in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for about one minute.

Add the yeast followed by the sugar, and stir to dissolve.

Now add two cups of flour and the salt and beat for a full two minutes.

Add the softened butter and eggs and beat until the mixture is well combined.

Add the rest of the flour, half a cup at a time, and beat thoroughly after each addition.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Knead the dough for five minutes, until it has become soft and elastic.

Put the dough in a large bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm area for 40 minutes. It will double in size.

Now turn the dough onto the counter and roll it out 1/4” thick into a rectangular shape. Use a pastry brush to spread half of the butter over the surface.

Now make the filling: Combine the sugars, cinnamon, pecans, and apples in a large bowl.

Spread this mixture over the dough, leaving a 1” border all around.

Carefully tuck the dough over the filling and roll into a long log, starting on one of the long ends.

Cut the log into 24 pieces and place each inside one of the cups of a muffin tin lined with paper liners.

Cover the cupcakes with a towel and let them rise in a warm place for an additional 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350º. Brush the remaining butter evenly on the tops of the cupcakes and bake for 20 minutes. The tops will be a light golden brown.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, stir to dissolve the powdered sugar in the apple cider. Drizzle this glaze over the cupcakes.

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