Apple Mini Rolls

Doesn’t these mini rolls look cute? Impress your little ones with these little cuppies or serve it for your kid’s birthday party. Not heavy or overloaded with sugar or butter like the normal cupcakes. Apples and cinnamon combination can never ever go wrong. The taste of these rolls reminded me of my childhood when my mom used to make apple jam and we used to have it with bread or chapatis. Please do try these.

Ingredients:

For the rolls:

• All purpose flour 150 gm
• Sugar 2 tsp
• Salt a pinch
• Instant yeast 1/4 tsp
• Butter 1 tbsp
• Lukewarm water plus milk  ~100 ml

For the filling:

• Apples 2
• Brown sugar 1-2 tbsp
• Cinnamon powder 1/2 tsp
• Chopped cranberries and /or raisins 1-2 tbsp (optional)

Method:

To make the filling:

• Wash the apples well and chop them finely.
• Take a heavy bottom pan and cook the apple pieces with the brown sugar and cinnamon powder till it is soft and all the water is removed well. Adjust sugar according to your taste. Add the cranberries and /or raisins and mix well.

To make the dough:

• Mix apf, sugar, salt and instant yeast well and add the lukewarm water and milk mixture to it.
• Knead using the standard procedure for bread dough for 8-10 minutes till you get a very soft smooth and elastic dough. Add the butter while kneading.
• Keep the dough in an oiled bowl and allow it to rise to its double in a warm and dry place.
• Line a cupcake mould with liners and apply little butter/oil on the liners. Or simply grease the cupcake moulds with butter.
• Once the dough has risen well, knock out the gases and knead for a minute again.
• Divide the dough into two equal pieces. ( I got two pieces each weighing around 136 gm )
• Dust the counter with little flour and roll the dough into a rectangle or thickness around 1/4 inch. ( around 6 by 8 inches or so )
• Sprinkle half of the cooked apple mixture on the rolled dough and spread it evenly.

• Roll it slowly and gently into a smooth log and seal the edges tightly.

• Apply some more flour on the counter and gently elongate the roll by cupping the middle of the roll and stretching it outwards.

• Mark the roll at a distance of 1 inch and cut into pieces. ( I got 12 pieces)

• Place each piece on the cupcake liner and sprinkle some cranberries or raisins on top. Apply milk wash on top gently.

• Repeat for the other half of the dough. Or make big sized cupcakes with the entire dough. With this measurement, you can make 24 mini cupcakes.
• Cover the cupcake tin with a big lid or plastic cover and allow it to rise for atleast 20-25 minutes till its puffed up well.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven at 180 degree celsius for atleast 10 minutes.
• Bake these for 18-20 minutes. Apply milk wash again and bake at 200 degree for 2-3 minutes.Remove from oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

• You can increase the size of the rolls and bake in normal cupcake tin too.
• Alternatively you can shape it into individual buns and bake it.
• The texture is super amazing and extremely soft. You can increase sugar if you want it more sweet.
• Apple filling can be replaced with custard filling to make custard rolls.  
• Alternatively you can fill the dough with coconut-jaggery/sugar filling or any berry compote or even a savoury filling. Try filling it with gajar ka halwa or even our humble kesari/sheera and please do share your feedback.