#MuffinMonday ~ Apple Cinnamon Roll Muffins

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

As usual my 2 year old felt the need to assist with the muffin photography - as soon as they were down on the bench she had to come poke and prod and ask to "hab some".

As you can see - the filling spilled over quite a bit during baking, I ended up doing my baking pretty late at night after a nearly 2 hour crying jag from my baby who is having a VERY hard time going to sleep the past week or so. She is refusing naps and screaming bloody murder at bedtime. We're not sure if the reason has to do with the fact that she's breaking two new molars through, she's upset because new people have been in and out of the house recently to visit, or if the fact that Kylie and I are constantly rotating in and out to be at the hospital too is finally getting to her. We just know any time that is intended to be for sleeping has become a major source of contention around here recently and we're all ready to go back to the days of moderate poor sleep habits on her part. She's also just figured out how to climb out of her crib... sigh. In any event - my point to all that was that I was finishing baking these at around 10:30pm and the gooey sticky yummy filling spilled over onto the bottom of the oven because I didn't have a tray under the pans - this resulted in the smoke alarm going off... right outside Lindsey's door... not 30 minutes after she'd FINALLY fallen asleep after all that crying. To say I had a mild panic attack would be an understatement. Oh, and then it did it again after I thought I'd cleared the smoke out (which wasn't that bad, but the alarm is very sensitive).

Here's your November 2015 Muffin Monday inspiration:

Apple Cinnamon Roll Muffins from Making Miracles

Bursting Raspberry Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Cinnamon Vanilla Muffins from Kelli's Kitchen

Corn Dog Mini Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Cream and Cereal Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

Mince Pie Muffins from Food Lust People Love

These are not exactly "muffins" in the tradition sense - so I hope our lovely hostess Stacy will forgive me. They really are a traditional apple cinnamon roll, stuffed into muffin tins to results in muffin shaped cinnamon rolls. They are a traditional yeast dough that needs to rises. The filling is wonderful, and the glaze topper makes them a perfect treat for breakfast, snack time, or dessert. My sister and I were trying to figure out what they should be called - we came up Apple Cinna-Molls Cinna Ruffins... We're still working on that part. :)

Apple Cinnamon Roll Muffins from Sweet Little Details by Jen

Makes 24 Muffin Rolls

Dough
2 cups milk
1 packet active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2 eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 cups finely chopped apples (I used a mix of green and red)

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat milk to about 110 degrees.  Add yeast and sugar to bowl of a stand mixer and pour in the milk, stir to dissolve.  Add salt and two cups of flour and beat for two minutes.  Beat in eggs and butter.  Stir in the remaining flour half a cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  Switch to dough hook and knead about five minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Spray a large deep bowl with cooking spray, shape dough into a ball, put it in the bowl, turn once to coat and cover it with a clean towel.  Set in a warm place and allow to rise for about 40 minutes or until doubled in volume.
2. Meanwhile make the filling by combining the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and apples in a small bowl.  Melt remaining butter in a small dish.
3. Line muffin tins with 24 liners (or if you're not using liners, spray with cooking spray).  
4. Dust counter top with flour and roll out dough into a long rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.  Brush with about half of the melted butter.  Top with the apple mixture, sprinkle evenly over the dough, leaving about an inch empty on all sides. Roll dough into a log beginning on the long side of the rectangle.  Trim off both ends to remove the uneven part that doesn't have any filling.  Slice the log into approximately 24 even pieces.  Place each piece in a cupcake liner, folding the ends together to make a “C” shape. The pieces should come to about the top of the liners.  Cover the muffin tins with a clean towel and set in a warm place to rise for another 40 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Brush the tops of the muffins with remaining melted butter.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden.

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
About 2 tablespoons milk

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar and milk and butter until combined.  Start with one tablespoon of milk and add more as necessary until you have a glaze that is thick but runs easily off the spoon.  Drizzle over warm muffins and serve.  
2. Store in an airtight container and reheat leftover cupcakes in the microwave for about 20 seconds before serving (if desired).