Name: Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Prep time: 5 h
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 14
Ingredients: ¼ cups FOR THE DOUGH:; ¼ cups Water, Warmed To 110 Degrees; 1 package Granulated Sugar; ¾ cups (1/4 Oz. Size) Active Dry Yeast; ⅓ cups Whole Milk; 4 cups Unsalted Butter, Softened; 1 teaspoon All-purpose Flour, Plus More If Needed; 1 whole Salt; ¼ teaspoons Egg; 4 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract; 2 cups Vegetable Oil Or Spray, For Greasing Bowl; 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Melted Butter To Brush On Top Of Rolls Before Baking; ½ cups FOR THE FILLING:; 2 teaspoons Mixed Peeled, Cored And Diced Apples. (I Used Granny Smith & Honeycrisp); ¼ cups Lemon Juice To Keep The Apples From Turning Brown; 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar; ⅓ cups Apple Pie Spice; 4 ounces, weight Granulated Sugar; ½ cups Ground Cinnamon; ½ cups Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature; 1 Tablespoon FOR THE GLAZE:

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Vanilla + appletop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,501 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk + appletop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,104 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, butter, flour, egg, vanilla, apple):

Figfits better
Peachfits better
Bananafits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, butter, flour, egg, vanilla, apple. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Pie	not in our table	0

Apple Cinnamon Rolls