1⁄2large egg (beat 1 large egg and then measure out half. Use the rest in your scrambled eggs)
2teaspoons honey
1tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2teaspoonsground cinnamon
1/4teaspoon salt
1/4cupraisinsif you like more add an addition 1/4 cup
Spiced Apple Filling
1cup apple pie fillingLucky Leaf brand recommended
1/4cup cinnamon baking chips OR 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4teaspoonsalt
For the Streusel
1/2cup all-purpose flour
1/2cup granulated sugar
1/2cupbuttercool, should be softened
2teaspoons honey
1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Icing
1/2cuppowdered sugar
1/8teaspoonsalt
1/4teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8teaspoon lemon extract
2teaspoonsmilk
Instructions
For the Dough
Put the water, butter, sugar, egg, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir briefly with a whisk. Add the flour, and then add the yeast on top. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until a shaggy dough forms, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and knead for 10 minutes. The dough will be soft, very shiny, and supple. It will also be very soft. Don’t worry about that--we want a soft dough. Leave the dough in the mixer bowl, and scrape it into a ball, spray with pan spray, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 1⁄2 hours.
For the Cinnamon Raisin Filling
Using a whisk or a hand mixer, mix all the ingredients except the raisins together until smooth. Reserve the raisins for assembly.
For the Spiced Apple Filling
Using a chef knife, or a mini-prep, chop or pulse the apples until the pieces are about the size of small peas. You don’t want it completely smooth like applesauce. Think more like salsa. Stir in the salt and cinnamon chips, if using. If not using cinnamon chips, stir in the ground cinnamon and set aside.
For the Streusel
Using 2 forks, a pastry blender, or your fingers, mix all the streusel ingredients together until sandy with little clumps of butter. Set aside.
To Assemble and Bake
Sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the dough and then punch it down to press out the gases. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and flour the top of the dough lightly as well. Roll dough into a rough rectangle about 18” x 10”. Spread the Cinnamon mixture evenly over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle on the raisins, if using. Starting from a long end, roll up the dough into a cylinder as if you were making cinnamon rolls. Pinch the seam to seal. Cut the dough into 9 equal pieces. Cut each of these pieces into 3 pieces for a total of 18 “cinnamon rolls.”
Line 2 jumbo muffin tins with jumbo muffin liners (you will only need to line 3 cavities in the second pan since this recipe makes 9 muffins). For each muffin, you’ll be using 3 of the “cinnamon rolls.” Cut the first in 4-5 pieces and put them in a lined muffin cavity. Top with a spoonful of apple filling. Repeat twice more with the second and third “cinnamon rolls.” When finished, you’ll have a muffin with 3 layers of cinnamon roll and 2 of spiced apple. You will be filling the muffin cups almost to the tops.
Continue making muffins with the rest of your dough and apple filling. Evenly sprinkle on the streusel, dividing it evenly among the 9 muffins. Cover muffins and let rise in a warm place until puffy, about 45 minutes. While muffins are rising, place a rack in the center of your oven, and preheat to 350 F. Bake until golden brown and well risen. The internal temperature of the muffins should be about 195F, give or take 5 degrees. This will take about 30 minutes. If the muffins seem to be browning too quickly, loosely tent with foil. Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes and then remove muffins to a rack to cool completely. Once cool, use a fork to drizzle each muffin lightly with the glaze.
For the Glaze
Whisk the ingredients together until smooth. You can wait until the muffins are cooling after baking to do this part.
Recipe Tips
Ways To Simplify the Cobblestone RecipeStart with store-bought sweet dough, such as the type made by Rhodes Bake-N-Serv. Instead of rolling out the dough and making “cinnamon rolls,” you can also roll the dough into ping pong ball-sized balls, dip them into the cinnamon mixture, and roll them in raisins. Use an equal number of balls for each muffin, making sure to add in the apple mixture. Leave out the apple mixture entirely. You can also leave off the streusel or the glaze if you prefer. Make a Cobblestone coffee cake by making the whole thing in a well-greased tube pan or springform pan.