how do you like them apples?

“Yeah? Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples?”

^name that movie and you earn my eternal praise for excellent taste in movies.

Side note: I wrote this recipe in NOVEMBER. It is finally surfacing after all this time. You can even see my unpainted table. And icing.

Well, I randomly came into possession of a giant basket of apples (long story) and I wanted to bake with them. But I’ve already made an apple pie and didn’t have enough vegetable oil for my family’s apple cake…. Then I remembered that always lately I’ve been craving warm, gooey, icing-covered cinnamon buns, and thus was born a semi-healthy cinnamon bun.

The theory behind cinnamon rolls are easy enough. You make a dough, roll it out, make a filling, roll it up, slice, and bake. I can do that.

And I can also snap blurry photos of said cinnamon buns while watching Family Guy on Netflix. It’s part of my charm.

And I can eat them.

Oh, can I eat them.

Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Buns (makes 8 large buns)
Dough:
3/4 cup milk
2 T butter, softened
2 cups all purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 package yeast
2 T white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg
Filling:
1 T cinnamon
3 T butter, softened
1 apple, peeled and diced small
2 T brown sugar
In a small sauce pan, heat the milk until bubbling, remove from heat, and mix in 2 T butter until it melts. Let cool slightly and add the yeast to let it foam. In a mixing bowl, combine whole wheat flour, sugar, and salt, mixing well. Mix in the water, egg, and milk mixture to the flour. Then add the remaining all purpose flour, mixing with your hands. When dough has come together, turn it onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Cover and let rise momentarily while preparing the filling. In a small bowl, combine 3 T butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and the diced apples. Roll out the dough in a flat, rectangular shape so it is thin but not too thin (about 1/4 inch thick). Spoon the filling mixture onto the dough, stopping about 1 inch from each edge. Beginning on one of the shorter sides of the rectangle, roll the dough up so it forms a log. Cut the log into 8 rolls, discarding the ends with no filling. Place in a buttered baking dish and cover with a towel, allowing the dough to rise 30-45 minutes. Bake in an oven heated to 375* for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and then top with your favorite icing (I made a simple heavy cream, butter & powdered sugar icing). *The raw rolls freeze remarkably well!

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