Grandma's Apple Rolls

Every Fall I look forward to making my Grandma Roberts' Apple Rolls. She was an amazing cook, and I love making her recipes and recreating memories through them. I grew up eating these biscuit type rolls, bursting at the seems with shredded apples, and baked in a sugar syrup that makes the most delicious sauce/topping for the rolls. My grandma made them for her kids, and my dad made them for me and my siblings, and now I get to pass these recipes down to my kids. Food memories are the best memories. 

These rolls probably won't win any beauty awards, but they would win an apple recipe contest hands down. 

I'm not much of an apple dessert fan (I don't like apple pie, so don't even ask), but I love these apple rolls! I hope you guys like them too!

We like to eat them warm from the oven, with a little bit of cream drizzled on top.

Or . . . a lot of cream. :)

These rolls also pair beautifully with a  hot drink (your choice).

I make these every year, and I look forward to them all year long.

This is my grandma's recipe, word for word. She wasn't much on expounding on her directions, but I'll add a few clarifications in parentheses (so this explains why the recipe/directions have so many parentheses. Sorry. I wanted to keep her words, but I wanted to make sure you could replicate the recipe easily. I hope it helps, and doesn't confuse you too much.) She gives two versions, depending if you want to use shortening or sour cream. They are both listed here. Also, I double the recipe when making it for my family of 7 (soon to be 8), because everyone wants seconds. A single recipe will make about 8 rolls (depending on how you cut it).

Grandma's Apple Rolls

Shortening Version

2 cups flour  (Any flour will do. I use organic whole wheat.)
1 egg (Large. You can also use an egg substitute, like 1 Tbsp ground flax with 3 Tbsp water)
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar or whey (I often leave this out, to cut back on the sugar.)
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp shortening (I substitute organic coconut oil.)
1/2 cup milk

(FIlling)
(*4 large apples)
(*Cinnamon and sugar (This is to taste. I use about 1 Tbsp cinnamon, and I omit the sugar.))

(Syrup)
(*1 1/2 cups sugar) 
(*2 cups water)

OR

Sour Cream Version (This is the version I make 99% of the time.)

2 cups flour (Any flour will do. I use organic whole wheat.)
1 egg (Large. You can also use an egg substitute, like 1 Tbsp ground flax with 3 Tbsp water)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp sugar or whey (I often leave this out, to cut back on the sugar.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk

(Filling)
(*4 large apples)
(*Cinnamon and sugar (This is to taste. I use about 1 Tbsp cinnamon, and I omit the sugar.))

(Syrup)
(*1 1/2 cups sugar) 
(*2 cups water)

(Preheat the oven to 370F.)
(Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.)
-Cut in shortening. (OR add sour cream to dry ingredients.) Mix and roll like cinnamon rolls. (This means that after you cut in the shortening - using a fork, two knives, or a pastry cutter-, or you add the sour cream in, then you are going to add the egg and milk, and mix everything together with a fork until it becomes one mass of dough. Turn it out onto a floured work surface, and roll out into a rectangle. The dough should be rolled evenly, to about 1/4 inch thick.)
-*Peel, Core, and Grate 4 large apples, and put on rolled dough. (I just leave the peel on, but if there are any big pieces of peel left after grating, then I take those out. Spread the grated apples over the rolled out dough evenly.)
-Cinnamon and sugar may be sprinkled on. (Grandma always eyeballed this. I omit the sugar, and just sprinkle cinnamon over the apples until it looks like it all has a small dusting of the spice. You don't want it to be overwhelming. This is to taste, but I personally wouldn't add more than 1 tbsp.)
[Roll up dough around filling -like cinnamon rolls- and cut.] (Use a serrated knife, like a bread knife to cut. It makes less of a mess. I like to cut the rolled up log into half, and then cut each half in half again, and finally cut each 1/4 into half again. That way I get 8 even rolls. You can cut less if you want the rolls bigger, or more, if you want the rolls smaller. Place the rolls into a 9x13 baking dish.)
-Boil 2 cups water and 1/2 cup sugar, and pour over rolls (in baking dish). (It will look like a syrupy mess, but it all comes together when it bakes, don't worry.)
-Bake at 370F for 30 minutes.