These Apple Brioche Buns are perfectly Fall with their soft, buttery cinnamon brioche base, almond and lightly spiced apple filling, honey glaze, and toasted almond topping. These Apple Brioche Buns capture the flavors of the season and pair wonderfully with any time of day. Breakfast? Yes. Dessert? Yes. Mid-Day treat with some coffee or a cup of tea? Absolutely!
Inspired by my recent trip to London, these buns have been on my mind as something that I just needed to make. While my friend hopped a train in the morning to visit with a family friend, I decided to set out on some solo London adventures. Now, this is me, so this essentially just consisted of venturing to Borough Market to look around, taking a walk along the Thames, visiting two bookstores (both of which were adorable, and completely charming by the way–I highly recommend a trip to both the Riverside Bookshop and Persephone Books if you’re in London), sitting at a coffee shop (Black Sheep Coffee, also recommended as the coffee was delicious, plus they don’t use single use plastics and they give free coffee to the homeless), and then heading to a bakery before getting caught in the rain and heading back to the hotel to drop everything off before the books and pastries got all soggy.
This day meant a visit to the Nordic Bakery on Golden Square. I walked into the place to see that the tables were just about completely filled with people drinking coffee or cocoa or tea and eating sandwiches and pastries. The line behind me grew quickly and it seemed like the perfect place to sit on a slightly rainy day. Except there weren’t many places to take a seat, so I grabbed two Finnish Cinnamon Buns (to share as large rounds of sugar on top instead of any sort of cream cheese frosting meant my lactose intolerant friend could actually enjoy one) and an Apple Tosca Bun that caught my eye while I stood in line.
Despite the fact that the box got slightly rain soaked and just a little bit crushed on my walk back to the hotel, the pastries were still warm. The bun was full of apple flavor with almonds mixed throughout the filling. This recipe ventures away from the caramelized almond tosca topping, but it replaces it with frangipane, toasted almonds, and a honey glaze. There is cinnamon in the brioche dough, and the apple filling is lightly spiced with cinnamon and cardamom to make these buns the perfect seasonal pastry.
These buns take time, but that’s because it’s necessary for the brioche to properly rise and develop the perfect flavor and buttery texture. These buns start with a sponge base–milk and yeast activated then mixed with a bit of flour and left to rise until doubled in size (pictured above). You then add in the rest of the dry ingredients, mix in the eggs, and then slowly add in the butter until you’re left with a smooth and sticky dough. With all the eggs and butter in this dough to enrich it, it requires a longer rise of at least 6-8 hours, or overnight if you desire, in the fridge. I’ve started these in the morning before and had baked and ready-to-eat Apple Brioche Buns before the end of the evening.
Trust me though–it’s worth it and even though the resting time is long, these are incredibly easy. Even with all the components to these buns–the dough, the apple filling, the frangipane, the honey syrup–it’s a bit time consuming, but not at all hard. Plus, while the dough is rising, you can quickly whip together the filling and the syrup and have everything at the ready for when it comes time to assemble.
Your kitchen will smell amazing while these are baking. And once you take a bite, you’ll realize that the frangipane sort of melts into the brioche bun and the apple filling gives a soft, almost gooey, center that just fills you with a warm happiness.
| Prep Time | 1.5 hours |
| Cook Time | 17-20 minutes |
| Passive Time | 9-10 hours |
| Servings |
buns
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- 125 mL milk
- 4 tsp active dry yeast
- 500 grams bread flour divided into 100 g and 400 g
- 20 grams granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 5 eggs large, room temp
- 339 grams unsalted butter softened (3 sticks or 1 1/2 cups)
- 4 Tbsp bread flour
- 4 apples medium, chopped into small cubes (Granny Smith or Golden Delicious recommended)
- 2 Tsbp honey
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp water
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 85 grams unsalted butter softened (6 Tbsp)
- 90 grams granulated sugar
- 90 grams almond flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 egg large, room temp
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds toasted
Ingredients
Cinnamon Brioche Dough
Apple Compote Filling
Frangipane
Honey Syrup & Almond Topping
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- In a small saucepan, heat 125 mL milk to 110°F. If you don't have a thermometer, you can stick a clean finger in to feel when it is just a bit warm.
- Transfer milk to the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the active dry yeast on top of the milk and stir in. Allow to sit and bubble for 10-15 minutes.
- Once the yeast has activated, use a spoon to stir in 100 grams of bread flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a clean towel. Allow the sponge to rise about 90 minutes or until double in size.
- After the sponge has doubled in size, knock the air out of it and add in the other 400 grams of bread flour, granulated sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Place the bowl on the stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix until the flour is moistened. Slowly add in the eggs and mix until combined.
- You may need to switch to a dough hook depending on how hard your paddle has to work, or you may be able to keep the paddle attachment on (I usually switch to the dough hook while adding the butter, then switch back to paddle attachment to finish incorporating it all). Add the softened butter about 1 Tbsp at a time. Occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure nothing gets stuck on the side. Mix after each addition until the butter is fully incorporated into the dough.
- If you were using the dough hook, switch back to the paddle attachment. Sprinkle the dough with the additional 4 Tbsp of bread flour and allow to rest ten minutes. Then mix on medium to medium-high until the dough is smooth and shiny. You'll see it begin to pull away from the bowl in places, but the dough is so soft that it won't pull away completely.
- Lightly grease a large bowl. Using the rubber spatula, help push the dough out of the mixing bowl and into this greased bowl. It should stretch a bit but plop straight out. You may need to use the spatula to scrape the last bit of the dough off the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Cover with a greased piece of plastic wrap and a clean towel. Allow to rest in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours. The dough won't quite double in size, but if will rise a little bit. If you press a finger int it, you should be able to feel the air that's developed as it rested.
- Refrigerate the dough for 6-8 hours, or overnight. It should slowly continue to rise in the fridge and it'll firm up the dough so that it'll be easier to roll and shape later on.
- In a large saucepan, stir together the diced/chopped pieces of apple, honey, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, water, light brown sugar, salt, and 2 Tbsp butter. Stir occasionally over medium heat until the butter melts.
- Continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes until the juices begin to come out and the apples soften. Set aside and allow to cool in the fridge.
- In a medium bowl with a wooden spoon, or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the 6 Tbsp softened butter, granulated sugar, almond flour, vanilla extract, all purpose flour, and egg until fully combined. Set aside. I usually make this before shaping the buns and allow it to sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or so.
- In a small saucepan, mix together the honey and water. Warm until the honey is just dissolved into the water.
- Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Knock the air out of the dough. Cut the dough into 12-13 even pieces, 100 grams each. Roll each piece of dough between your hands into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheets (5 per sheet), making sure to leave plenty of space in between for shaping later. The dough may still be a little bit sticky even after chilling. Cover the baking sheets with a greased piece of clingfilm and a clean towel. Allow to rest for 40-60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, making sure a rack is placed at the center of the oven. Remove the apple compote and the frangipane from the fridge.
- Using clean fingertips, gently flatten each ball of dough until you have a circle that is 4 inches across in diameter. Spread 1 Tbsp of frangipane in the center, making sure to leave just about an inch of dough around it. Top with 1 Tbsp of apple compote (scoop the compote agains the edge of whatever bowl or container you have it in so that the juices drain). Brush the exposed edges of the buns with the honey syrup.
- Bake one baking sheet at a time for 17-20 minutes, until golden brown. The outside of the bun feels soft and springy if you press it down (you should be able to feel if it's still raw!).
- Remove the buns from the oven and immediately top with the toasted almond slices. Transfer buns to a wire rack to cool a bit then glaze with the honey syrup. Enjoy!
These are best enjoyed while warm. If you're not eating them straight away, pop the bun into the toaster oven/oven for a few minutes to heat it back up.