Crockpot Yeast Rolls Recipe with Apple Butter
This easy yeast rolls recipe is my favorite variety of crockpot bread, with a rich sweet flavor and moist tender texture. Just the kind of rolls you want to serve on Thanksgiving!
Crockpot Yeast Rolls Recipe with Apple Butter
Yep, you read that right. Yeast Rolls. Made with apple butter. In a slow cooker.
Let me backtrack for a moment…
Hi, my name is Sommer and I’m a bread burner.
It’s been 3 weeks since I last burned a baguette and scraped the black crumby evidence into the kitchen sink…
What, you think just because I create recipes for a living I never struggle in the kitchen?
I’ve burned bread my whole life. I can’t even prepare a proper piece of toast without having one of the kids stand over the toaster for me with wooden tongs in hand.
Slow Cooker Bread
I’m going to blame it on my mother. Bread-burning runs in the family.
My mother is an amazing cook. She was my first inspiration and mentor in the kitchen, and has taught me many things over the years.
But, my mother burns bread.
Among all the useful kitchen tips I’ve learned from her, I also indirectly learned that bread is the least important element in a meal. Therefore, you pop it in the oven and never look back.
That is, until you smell the dark char wafting from the oven.
This is how I was raised and this is how I’ve always treated bread.
Until I discovered crockpot bread.
Crockpot Bread
Crockpot bread has changed my whole perspective on bread baking.
No, it’s not the most glamorous bread, with a glossary top and crispy crust, but it’s almost impossible to burn and it stays extremely moist.
Because crockpot bread is cooked on low heat in a slow cooker, the bottom develops color and crust and the rest of the bread is steamed to perfection.
This apple butter yeast rolls recipe is one of my favorite varieties of crockpot bread. It’s slightly sweet with a deep apple flavor and the little yeast rolls stay so soft and moist, they are impossible to resist.
Apple Butter Yeast Rolls Recipe
Yes, this apple butter yeast rolls recipe takes much longer to bake in a slow cooker than in the oven, but if you are like me (a notorious bread burner) it’s worth the extra time.
You can casually check the yeast rolls whenever you get around to it, knowing that extra few minutes is not going to ruin the whole bread baking endeavor.
Easy Recipe For Yeast Rolls
Another reason to make your apple butter yeast rolls in a slow cooker is to save room in the oven for other dishes.
Thanksgiving would be a great time to try this yeast rolls recipe. While your turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and casseroles are hogging the oven, your sweet little yeast rolls will be steaming away on the counter top, without fear of burning.
Crockpot bread has been a revelation for me.
If you’ve never tried it, this apple butter yeast rolls recipe is the perfect place to start!
Ingredients For Slow Cooker Yeast Rolls
- Dry active yeast – To create the lifting in the dough, so the rolls are light and tender.
- Warm water – To activat the yeast. Make sure the water is just above room temperature… If it’s too hot, it will kill the yeast.
- Sugar – To feed the yeast and help it grow.
- Apple butter – To offer rich flavor and a moist texture to the yeast rolls.
- Egg – For binding.
- Salt – All baked goods need a little salt.
- Bread flour – To create structure in the dough.
- Melted butter – For the tops of the rolls.
- Brown sugar – To make the tops of the rolls glisten!
More Beloved Bread Recipes
- Homemade Breadsticks
- Rosemary and Red Onion Focaccia
- Truffle Parmesan Biscuits
- Banana Coconut Bread
- Easy Cinnamon Drop Biscuits
- Southern Sweet Potato Biscuits
- Buttercrust Rolls ~ Eat Live Run
- Gluten Free Hawaiian Sweet Bread ~ Living Without
- Apple Bran Bread ~ Musselman’s
- Salted Pretzel Bread ~ Bake Your Day
- Best Dinner Rolls ~ Mom On Time Out
Crockpot Yeast Rolls Recipe with Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast, 1 packet
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 cups bread flour
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, optional
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer with a bread hook, place the warm water (just barely over luke-warm, too hot will kill the yeast) and sugar in the mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it foam for 10 minutes.
- Then turn on the mixer and add the apple butter, egg and salt. Slowly add the flour. Once all the flour is in the bowl, add the melted butter. "Knead" the dough with the bread hook for 5-8 minutes.
- The dough will be smooth, but very tacky. Dump it out onto a floured work surface. Using a floured knife, cut the dough into 4 quarters. Then cut each quarter into 6 equal pieces, to make 24 small dough segments.
- Turn the ends of each dough segment under to create little balls. Then place a large piece of parchment paper in a 6-quart slow cooker, and press down. Arrange 12 dough balls in the slow cooker. Then carefully lift the parchment paper out, and repeat with the remaining dough balls and another piece of parchment, creating two separate batches. Place the lid on the crockpot and cover the additional dough balls on the counter, with plastic wrap. Allow them to rise for 1 hour at room temperature. *At this point the dough balls could be put in the fridge for up to a week, until ready to bake.
- Sprinkle the rolls with a little brown sugar. Turn the slow cooker on high and "bake" for 60-90 minutes, depending on your crockpot. To test, touch the top of the rolls. If they feel slightly firm and are no longer tacky, the rolls are ready. Repeat with the second batch of dough balls. Each batch will cook for 60-90 minutes, 3 hrs total.
I did not realize that you could make rolls in the slow-cooker. Amazing. I am going to have to try this.
Love this idea! Perfect for Thanksgiving!
Rolls in the crock pot?! I need to try this!
So excited to try this, wow.
What a neat idea! Love all breads and this one sounds yummy!
Bread in a crockpot?! Wow! Now, I am a huge fan of my slow cooker, but this is something that I haven’t tried. Awesome!
Gorgeous pictures and what a fantastic idea!! So beautiful and no burnt! Yay!
Brilliant! And the timing is dead on for Thanksgiving planning.
Slow Cooker Apple Butter Rolls. How can these not be good? I have avoided buying a bread maker for fear of getting … bigger! Now I have to toss out my slow cooker .. these look too good to not make all the time!!
My mind has been blown. Bread in the crockpot? I want to try it just to see if it works!
oh honey. this is so very dangerous when i’m trying to cut down on carbs.
oh well :)
Crockpot bread is genius! Why have I never done this. And the apple butter is perfect. I love this Sommer!
What a fabulous idea and I would not have thought to add apple butter to the bread dough, I love it!
What a terrific post and tutorial! So interesting, bread made with apple butter, thanks for sharing! ~ Melissa
NO WAY. Crockpot bread?!?! I have to try this.
Whoa! YOu can make rolls in a slow cooker? Where the hell have I been???
What a great idea to bake rolls in the crockpot! I love these!
This is a brilliant recipe, and I’m dying to try it this weekend with my homemade persimmon butter. I don’t quite understand the instructions, though… are there 2 layers of dough, separated by parchment? Do you leave the plastic wrap on the rolls when you put them in the slow cooker? Do you put the dough balls in the crockpot while it’s still cold, or do you warm it up first and then add the dough? Does it matter?
Hey Andi, sorry about that.
Let me clarify: You split the dough, 12 balls each on 2 pieces of parchment, then slow-cook one bath at a time. The plastic wrap is simply to keep the second batch moist while the first batch in baking. They should be room-temp when you put them in the crockpot. Does that make sense?
These look so good! Question – do you cook the rolls in the crock pot with the parchment paper still under them?
Yep! That way, they don’t stick to the bottom.
Um, this still doesn’t make sense. If the slow-cooker isn’t turned on, I don’t see the advantage of letting these rise inside the slow-cooker vs the second batch rising while sitting on the counter “waiting” for its turn to rise in the slow-cooker. Why not just let them rise on the counter, then put 12 on parchment in the slow-cooker to bake?
Sorry for my confusion but I’m a left-brained guy, so have 2 disabilities affecting me. :-)
Do u think it’s possible to add pureed sweet potatoes instead of apple butter? I’m not much of a cook I was wondering if that would work??
Hi Molly. You know, I believe it would work! Let me know if you give it a try. :)
Going to try! I want to do this for Thanksgiving and about to give it a test run. Will let y’all know!
Do you let the first batch rise for an hour before cooking it in the crock pot?
Hi Brooke, That’s exactly right!