I’ve been dying to make a cinnamon rolls since Christmas time, but that thing called ‘life’ hasn’t allowed me the time to get the yeast rising. I decided Valentine’s would be the little space of time I’d sock away to enjoy the craft of making Cinnamon Roll Hearts, as a gift to myself and the ones I love.

With very little reception on my phone I found myself completely disconnected from the outside world and in the midst of a Melissa’s Produce Apple Tour.  I reveled in the thought of pretending to be Snow White lost in the apple forest.  I wondered what it would be like at night if I snuck out there in the middle of nowhere or as they call it, Cuyama Orchard’s – Organic Apple Farm,  located near Ojai just on the other side of the Santa Barbara Mountains.  A place where the golf-ball sized sweet Crimson Gold is grown on dwarf trees to ensure all the apples get plenty of sun.  We learned directly from the farmers about the measurement of sugar through brix and how they pick the apples.  Did you know when an apple is ready to be picked it will come off the apple tree with very little pull?

It was a great day of apple adventures and we got to bring a bounty of apples home with us to make apple recipes galore.  At first I made an Oatmeal Crumble Apple Crisp, and now I made Apple Pecan Cinnamon Buns (Recipe to listed below).  Enjoy a few photos from my day on the farm and then bake some buns.

Ingredients for Apple Pecan Cinnamon Buns:

• 1 – 17.03 oz box puff pastry (2 sheets)
• 1/2 – stick room temperature butter (plus a little more to grease pan with)
• 1/2 – cup dark brown sugar
• 1 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 – teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 – cup chopped pecans
• 1 – cup Melissa’s Produce Crimson Gold Apples or Gala Apples (peeled, and chopped into 1/2 an inch bite size pieces)
• 1 – egg
• 1 – tablespoon water

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 – stick butter (room temperature)
• 4 – oz cream cheese (room temperature)
• 3/4 – cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 – teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 – tablespoons whole milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit

Lightly grease an 8-inch cake pan with butter or a non-stick cooking spray. Set to the side.

On a clean surface, unfold both sheets of puff pastry and spread with 2 tablespoons of butter each. Set to the side

In a little bowl mix sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together until well combined. Then divide it evenly among the two butter lined puff pastry sheets, and spread it even.

Then top both with a 1/2 cup of diced apples each.

Carefully roll puff pastry into a tight neat roll. With a fork press down all along the seam of the roll.

In a small bowl mix egg and water to make an egg wash. Then brush apple cinnamon roll with egg wash along the fork impressed seam.

Next, with a sharp knife cut roll into 1 1/2 inch pieces and place in the greased 8-inch cake pan. Both rolls will fit into 1 pan. Leave a little room between each roll, as they will expand during baking.

Then sprinkle top with pecans.

Bake for 30 minutes on middle rack.

You could eat them like this or you could make the frosting for the top.

For the frosting, combine all ingredients in a mixer and beat for 5 minutes. Dollop over the top of your buns! Enjoy!