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This homemade Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie uses a cinnamon roll crust instead of a pastry crust. The cinnamon rolls give this Dutch Apple Pie recipe a flaky, buttery crust and the dutch apple topping pairs perfectly with the cinnamon roll filling in the crust. Plus a step-by-step video!
You can quickly and easily grab all of these ingredients, including these Grands! Cinnamon Rolls Original, using your local Walmart’s Online Grocery Pickup.
When I was in college, I was a ‘hall mom’ for a few freshmen dormitories.
Basically, I baked for a lot of boys who devoured anything homemade and then declared it ‘the best thing ever’ (it was great for my baking ego).
The week before Thanksgiving, I had this grand idea that I would make them mini apple pies and it would be cute and adorable and a million other similar adjectives.
As you can probably guess, it was a disaster. Like a disaster of epic proportions. I had three halls of 30+ boys (so 90+ boys in total), one very janky oven, and not nearly enough time or space to make almost 100 pies.
Let’s not even talk about how expensive my ‘cute’ little project became on top of everything else.
I abandoned the idea mid-project (after realizing I needed to go the grocery store for the fourth time), gave the pies I had already made to my neighbors, and opted to pick my favorite hall (sorry other boys, it was a dark moment in my baking life) and make them cinnamon rolls.
The one good thing to come of that? The idea that if I combined cinnamon rolls and apple pie, I just might make the homemade apple pie of my dreams.
For a long time, I used to find making pies from scratch entirely overwhelming and intimidating. If you feel the same, don’t let my story above keep you from trying this Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that if I prep all of the ingredients beforehand and utilize a few baking shortcuts that don’t sacrifice flavor (if you’re lucky, these shortcuts might even enhance the flavor), making a homemade pie (or even a semi-homemade pie) is both fun and easy.
This Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie recipe utilizes one very easy, very simple shortcut:
Grands! Cinnamon Rolls.
Boy oh boy, does this one shortcut give this apple pie incredible flavor.
Let’s talk about this cinnamon roll crust, shall we?
It begins (and ends) with Grands! Cinnamon Rolls, as they provide the flakiest crust of all time (seriously).
The rolls are cut in half, then half of those are flattened into a pie plate to form the crust. You do want the crust to be fairly thin, as the cinnamon rolls will expand when they bake. The thinner the crust, the more evenly it will bake in the oven.
The remaining rolls are flattened to make the top of the crust. The Dutch apple topping is sprinkled on top, making this pie extra rich and decadent. If you wanted to get really crazy and over-the-top (which I 100% support), you could drizzle the Grands! Cinnamon Rolls icing over the top of the pie.
Besides the flavor and uniqueness of the pie, my favorite part is actually the ease of this homemade apple pie.
Using Grands! Cinnamon Rolls instead of making a homemade crust cuts down on the pie prep time. It might be my favorite pie shortcut of all time.
Plus, you can use Walmart’s Online Grocery Pickup, which means all of the ingredients for this pie are ready to go even before I walk into the store. I order online and set the time for pick up. It’s fast, convenient, and saves me a ton of time.
Of course, if you love grocery shopping (sometimes I find it therapeutic), you can find Grands! Cinnamon Rolls in the canned biscuit dough refrigerated section. Check out Walmart’s store locator to find your nearest Walmart and where the product is located at your specific store.
Baking Tips and Tricks for this super easy Cinnamon Roll Dutch Apple Pie recipe:
- Make sure the cinnamon rolls are relatively cold while you are working with them. The colder the dough, the easier it is to cut and flatten.
- For a 9” deep-dish pie plate, you only need one can of Grands! Cinnamon Rolls. One can comes with 5 large rolls, which you will cut in half (horizontally). For a deep-dish pie plate, I used 6 of the rolls for the bottom crust and 4 on top.
- For the bottom crust, you want to flatten the Grands! Cinnamon Rolls into a very thin layer, making sure the rolls do touch (you can see the video for a more detailed explanation). For the top layer, it is all right if there are some holes in the crust (as you can see in the video as well), as the pie needs air holes for ventilation. Plus, the dutch crumb topping will cover any imperfections.
- Do not forget to use a pie shield for the edges of the pie. If you do not have a pie shield, you can cover the edges in foil. The cinnamon rolls will cook much faster than the center of the pie, and the pie shield will keep the edges from burning.
How ‘bout them apples??
- 1 can Grands! Cinnamon Rolls Original
- 5-6 cups apples peeled and thinly sliced (you can use any kind; I used a mix of Gala and Honey Crisp)
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 tsp apple pie spice
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 Tbsp butter cold and cubed
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix apples with lemon juice, apple pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and granulated sugar. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Cut Grands! Cinnamon Rolls Original in half horizontally (you will have 10 thin rolls). Use six of the rolls for the bottom of the crust and reserve the remaining four for the top crust.
- Press and flatten the six rolls into your 9” pie plate (I used a deep dish pie plate), making sure the rolls are flattened into a thin, even layer.
- Pour apple filling into the bottom of the crust, making sure the apples are in an even layer.
- Flatten the remaining cinnamon rolls into the shape of a thin crust (it’s all right if there are some holes in the crust, as the pie needs ventilation; if needed, you can see the video for more details). Place the crust on top of the pie, pressing the top and bottom edges together.
- With a pastry cutter or a fork, cut butter into brown sugar and flour, working the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the top of the pie.
- Place a pie shield on top of the pie (or cover the edges in foil) and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the pie is golden brown and apples are tender (you can test this with a cake tester or a toothpick).
- Allow the pie to cool slightly before serving. If desired, you can drizzle the Grands! Cinnamon Rolls Original icing on top of the pie. Or serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
You can find all of these ingredients at your local Walmart! For an incredibly convenient option, try out Walmart’s Online Grocery Store Pickup!
I love that it saves me valuable time because I can just order everything I need online, pick my groceries up at the store, and go. It’s that easy. Check out their store locater to find your local Walmart, and check online to see where Grands! Cinnamon Rolls are located in store.
Happy baking!!
Here are some other pie recipes you might enjoy!
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