Apple Pie Bubble Up Bake
I recently learned about a marvelous new recipe hack called bubble up baking, where you use cut up refrigerator biscuits to make a crust for a casserole. After trying this with chicken pot pie, I got to thinking, hmm, why does this technique have to be just for savory dishes? What if I used cinnamon rolls instead of plain biscuits to make a dessert?
So I asked myself what other flavor goes well with cinnamon, and the answer was obvious – apple! I was just going to toss the cinnamon rolls with apple pie filling from a can, but I thought that might be a little too sweet, so I chopped up a Granny Smith apple in the mix to give it a little tartness. Then I added a little extra apple pie spice, mixed it all up, and popped it in the oven.
The finished bake came out golden-brown and fragrant, full of moist apple and spicy cinnamon. Spreading the icing from the cinnamon rolls over the top to makes it even more sweet and decadent. And it’s a lot less work than a real apple pie.
I don’t have any apple pie spice. Can I mix up my own?
- Of course! All you need is cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. I have the recipe right here.
Could I make this with other kinds of fruit filling besides apple?
- Why not? Any kind of pie filling, like cherry or blueberry, should work fine in place of the apple pie filling. The only catch is, you still need the plain apple in there to cut the sweetness, so you’d end up with cherry-apple or blueberry-apple pie. But there’s nothing wrong with that.
Is this recipe dairy-free?
- It can be! You just have to check the ingredients in your cinnamon rolls and apple pie filling. For instance, if you use Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls and Comstock Apple Pie Filling, the whole dish has no butter or other animal ingredients. It’s a bona fide vegan dessert that tastes great.
How to Make Apple Pie Bubble Up
- Preheat your oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Dice your granny smith apple into small pieces. This will give a nice texture and a little tartness amongst the sweetness.
- Cut your cinnamon rolls into 1/8ths.
- In a large bowl, pour your apple pie filling and your granny smith apple pieces. Then using a masher, break the large pieces of apple from the filling, into smaller pieces.
- Combine the cinnamon rolls and apple pie spice with the filling.
- Pour into your pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Once it is cooked let it cool for about 10 minutes and pour the icing from the cinnamon rolls on top. Serve by itself or with ice cream!
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Apple Pie Bubble Up
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Ingredients
- 1 package of 8 cinnamon rolls
- 1 granny smith apple
- 1 20 oz can of apple pie filling
- 1 1/2 tsp of apple pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Dice your granny smith apple into small pieces. This will give a nice texture and a little tartness amongst the sweetness.
- Cut your cinnamon rolls into 1/8ths.
- In a large bowl, pour your apple pie filling and your granny smith apple pieces. Then using a masher, break the large pieces of apple from the filling, into smaller pieces.
- Combine the cinnamon rolls and apple pie spice with the filling.
- Pour into your pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Once it is cooked let it cool for about 10 minutes and pour the icing from the cinnamon rolls on top. Serve by itself or with ice cream!
Notes
Helpful Tips
- Cut the cinnamon rolls into small pieces. Cutting each roll into eighths helps the dough cook more evenly throughout the casserole.
- Dice the fresh apple fairly small. Smaller pieces soften nicely during the short baking time.
- Break up large apple slices. Use a potato masher or spoon to break up any especially large pieces in the canned pie filling before adding the cinnamon roll pieces.
- Check the center before removing it from the oven. The top may look finished before the cinnamon roll pieces in the middle are completely baked. The center should look cooked rather than wet or doughy.
- Give it 10 minutes before icing. A short cooling time keeps the icing from completely melting into the bake.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Make sure to share it with me below!
Loved it! It was by far the most delicious and simple desert I’ve made for my family. Only thing different I did was added 6 more cut up cinnamon rolls and added about 6-7 more minutes to the cook time. Other than that the recipe itself was followed directly ingredient wise. Will definitely add this to the desert part of our cook book.
Didn’t bubble up too much. Think I’d ad more cinnamon rolls next time