Apple Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake Recipe

This Apple Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake is an easy semi-homemade apple dessert made with refrigerated cinnamon rolls, fresh apples, pecans, and a quick apple cream cheese icing. The cinnamon rolls bake on top of buttery cooked apples and pecans, then the cake is inverted so the caramelized apple mixture becomes the topping.

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Apple Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake at a Glance

• Recipe type: Easy apple dessert/coffee cake
• Main ingredients: Refrigerated cinnamon rolls, fresh apples, pecans, cream cheese
• Prep time: [20 minutes]
• Cook time: [17 minutes]
• Total time: [37 minutes]
• Yield: [8 servings]
• Best apples: Pink Lady or another crisp, sweet-tart apple
• Pan: 9-inch round cake pan
• Difficulty: Easy
• Best for: Fall breakfast, brunch, dessert, potlucks
• The shortcut that makes this recipe easy: Instead of making cinnamon-roll dough from scratch, this recipe starts with refrigerated cinnamon rolls. The fresh apples and homemade apple cream cheese icing make it taste much more special than the effort involved.

Why you will love this:

It has the cozy flavor of apple cinnamon rolls with the ease of a shortcut coffee cake. You only need a handful of ingredients, and it is especially good for fall breakfasts, brunches, potlucks, and dessert. Plus, this dessert is ready to eat in under 45 minutes.

The refrigerated cinnamon rolls are the shortcut that makes this recipe so easy. Once they’re arranged over the cooked apples and pecans, they bake into a single coffee cake that can be inverted onto a serving plate.

Also try these made-from-scratch Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with a homemade cream cheese icing.

Cooking Tools Needed

• Medium skillet
• 9″ round cake pan
• Paring knife to peel and chop apple
• Large spoon or small spatula for cooking apple mixture
• Small bowl
• Small whisk for stirring icing
• Knife or cake spatula for spreading icing

Ingredients for Apple Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

Make this delicious dessert with simple ingredients you can find at your grocery store, or you may already have at home.

• One 8-count package of cinnamon rolls
• 1 Large apple (about 1 cup finely chopped). I used a Pink Lady
• 1/2 cup Chopped Pecans, divided (optional)
• 1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
• 4 oz. Cream Cheese, at room temperature

Step-by-step Directions

Step 1

First, we do our apple and pecan prep so they are ready when we need them.

Peel, core, and chop the apple into small bits. Then divide the apple bits in half and set one half aside. We will use it for the icing later.

Chop the pecans. I do this by hand, one by one. It only takes a couple of minutes and saves you having those tiny little bits. We only want small pieces of pecans, not too big and not too little. Breaking them by hand helps to get the size you want. Divide the chopped pecans in half.

Step 2

Place the butter into a skillet over medium-high heat and begin to melt. As the butter begins to melt, add half the apples and half the pecans into the hot skillet.

Step 3

Cook the buttery apple and pecan mixture on medium heat, stirring often until the apples are fork-tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir often so the pecans don’t burn and the apples are cooking on all sides.

Step 4

While the apple mixture is cooking, preheat the oven to 375°. Spray a 9″ round cake pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

Step 5

Once the apples are fork-tender, spread the apples and pecans mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared cake pan.

Step 6

Place the cinnamon rolls, with sides touching, on top of the apple pecan mixture. Set the icing packet aside. You will be using it later in the apple flavored icing recipe.

Bake according to package directions, usually 13 to 17 minutes, until golden brown. The bottom is going to become the top of this coffee cake. Remove the golden brown cinnamon rolls from the oven and cool completely before icing. Cooling should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

How to invert a cake from the pan onto a plate:

After the cake has completely cooled, follow these directions. Cooling the cake first will help to keep it from falling apart. Plus, it will keep you from burning your hands as you invert onto a serving plate.

1. All the baked cinnamon rolls to completely cool in the baking pan.
2. Place a serving plate, upside down over the top of the cake pan.
3. Hold the plate and pan firmly together, using both hands.
4. Carefully flip them over in one quick motion.
5. Lift the cake pan away from the coffee cake.
6. The cooked apples and pecans should now be on the top of your coffee cake.

Inverting this coffee cake works well because we want our apple and pecan mixture to be on the top even though they bake on the bottom.

Apple Cream Cheese Icing Directions

Step 1

Chop the remaining apples in a food chopper until they are small bits. They will be moist.

Step 2

In a small bowl, mix the icing from the canned cinnamon rolls, softened cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and apple bits together until well blended. If your icing is too thick, add just a drop of milk and continue to stir until smooth. If your icing is too thin, add a pinch of powdered sugar at a time, stirring well until you reach the desired consistency.

Step 3

Spread icing over cooled Apple Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake. Serve and Enjoy!

FAQ and Tips for this recipe

Can you use a different type of apple besides Pink lady? Yes. I have also used Honeycrisp. I prefer cooking a dessert with apples that are more sweet than tart. Pink Lady has a hint of tart, mostly sweet flavor and holds up well for cooking.

Can I make this coffee cake without the pecans? Yes. Pecans are optional. As a southener, I love using pecans in recipes. I grew up picking up pecans in our yard then helping to shell them and looking forward to eating them later. It is safe to say, I do recommend pecans when they are appropriate.

Instead of chopping my pecans in the food chopper, I broke them by hand, dropping them straight into the skillet.

Can this coffee cake be made ahead of time? This coffee cake is best when served fresh. Even though the cinnamon rolls are cooked close together in a round cake pan and come out soft, they tend to dry out when leftover for more than one day.

Why does the coffee cake need to be cooled before inverting or icing? It is important to let the coffee cake cool before inverting so that it has time to set. If you try to invert too soon, it is possible that it might fall apart. The icing will melt when spread onto a hot cake. After the cake has cooled, then spred the icing for best covereage.

One Tablespoon of unsalted butter is plenty to give a yummy flavor to your apple pecan mixture. We don’t want the buttery flavor to overwhelm the apple flavor.

Add the lid to the skillet during the cooking time to keep the moisture contained and stir often to avoid burning the pecans.

How to store Apple Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

If you own a cake carrier, like the Tupperware one with a lid that seals over the cake plate, use that. Otherwish, you can cover loosely with plastic wrap until ready to serve. Store covered in the refrigerator overnight. This coffe cake is best served fresh.

When to serve this coffee cake

This apple coffee cake is great to take to potlucks or serve as a dessert or brunch. Make it for breakfast on special occasions like Thanksgiving morning or Christmas morning.

My hubby has declared this easy cinnamon rolls coffee cake recipe a winner, so I’m happy. It’s only 6 ingredients, and it’s an almost-from-scratch easy coffee cake.

More Recipes Made With Apples

Apple Dessert Recipes

These Caramel Iced Apple Cinnamon Rolls are a recipe cheat and lip-smacking delicious. My grandson said these were the best cinnamon rolls he ever ate. 

I very much enjoy cooking with Crescent rolls, especially to create a Fall dessert. I call this recipe Crescent Apple Cinnamon Rolls, and there is caramel drizzle involved.

You can make a yummy Fall dessert using canned biscuits and fresh apples too. I call it, Upside Down Skillet Caramelized Apple Pecan Biscuits.

Another yummy Crescent roll plus apples paired together for a lip-smacking delicious Fall dessert. Pecan Apple Raisin Crescents.

These Homemade Crescent Apple Turnovers are a family favorite.

Savory Apple Recipes

These Apple Pork Chops are prepared in the Crockpot and glazed with maple syrup. This recipe is only three ingredients for an easy Fall recipe using fresh apples.

A good Harvest Salad Recipe always has some fresh sliced apples in it.

These Apple-Banana Oat Nut Muffins are made with fresh apples and fresh bananas.

Our Apple Stuffed Pork Loin is also paired with cabbage for a delicious Fall meal we all love.