apple cinnamon roll cupcakes

being a good deer hunter’s widow, i want to make sure that my hubby gets a good breakfast when he goes out hunting for the day.  being like any sane person, i don’t want to get up at 3 a.m. to make my hubby breakfast.  so instead, i make breakfast for him “to go.”  while i’m all nice and cozy sleeping in bed, my hunter will be on the road munching on these delicious cupcakes and more than likely washing them down with red bull.

adapted slightly from pauladeen.com

• 2 c milk
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1/3 c sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 6 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c butter, room temperature
• 2 tbsp butter, melted to brush on tops of cupcakes before baking

filling ingredients

• 1/2 c unsalted, butter, melted
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c brown sugar
• 3 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 c loosely chopped pecans
• 2 c finely chopped tart apples

1. in a small saucepan, warm milk to 110°.
2. in a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the milk.
3. add salt and 2 c of flour, beat for two min.
4. beat in eggs and butter.
5. stir in remaining 4 1/2 c of flour, a 1/2 c at a time.  beat well after each addition.
6. turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 min.)
7. a large bowl, greased with shortening.  cover it with a towel. set in a warm place and allow to rise for 40 min. or until approx. doubled in volume.
8. while dough is rising, chop apples and pecans.  make filling mixture using butter, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans and apples.
9. roll out dough into a long rectangle about 1/4 thick.  (about 22″ x 14″)
10. spread pecan/apple mixture evenly over the dough, leaving about 1″ empty on all sides.
11. roll dough over itself from back to front along the long side of the rectangle to form a log.  slice the log into 24 even pieces, using string.
12. line cupcake tin with cupcake liners and place each piece of the log in a cupcake liner.  if they don’t fit, fold the ends together to make a “c” shape.  the pieces should come to the top of the liners.
13. cover the cupcake tins and set in a warm place to rise for another 40 min.
14. preheat the oven to 350°.
15. brush melted 2 tbsp on the tops of the cupcakes.
16. bake for 20 min. or until tops are golden.

glaze ingredients

• 2 c powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp tub margarine
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• dash of salt

1. in a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients.  if mixture is too runny, add more sugar, if mixture is too thick add a little bit of milk.
2. drizzle over cupcakes.

enjoy!