Easy Apple Butter Cinnamon Twists | Puff Pastry Fall Recipe

Emilie Bloom
Sep 23
3 min read

Golden cinnamon twists sit stacked on each other on an orange pumpkin plate. A candle, fall leaves, and a little orange pumpkin are in the background.

🍏 Click here to skip my mini-rambling and go straight to the recipe. No hard feelings. 🍏

Hello, and welcome to my first attempt at pretending I’m a home baker! I do like baking… but usually at the worst possible times. Like a last-second pie for Thanksgiving. Admittedly, I am also a bit lazy, because when I have a hankering for cookies, I'd rather just buy them than go through the effort of making them (even though they always taste better homemade). Alas, I am getting old, and was advised from a ~medical professional~ that I should probably start making changes to my diet. I'm crossing my fingers that forcing myself to bake will keep me from buying and consuming an entire package of Oreos in one sitting. We’ll see how it goes.

Anyway, today’s experiment: Apple Butter Cinnamon Twists. This easy apple butter cinnamon twists puff pastry fall recipe is perfect for welcoming in fall without diving headfirst into pumpkin territory just yet. Please applaud my restraint here.

You can make them with homemade apple butter (which I did, because I’m dramatic), or you can keep it simple: puff pastry, butter, cinnamon sugar. Either way, they taste uncannily like the good old McDonald’s apple pies that live rent-free in my head.

If you want to see the process in action, I’ve got a quick video here.

Full recipe below.

5 bright green granny smith apples sit on an orange pumpkin plate. A candle, fall leaves, acorns, and mini pumpkins are in the background.

🍏 What You’ll Need

Apple Butter

3–5 lbs Granny Smith apples
2 cups water
2–3 cups sugar
1 cup dark (or light) brown sugar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
Optional: 2 tbsp melted butter

Puff Pastry

1 package pre-made puff pastry
(If skipping apple butter: 2 tbsp melted butter, ¼ cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon)

Slices of granny smith apples are being chopping on a wooden cutting board using a comedically large butcher knife. An orange pumpkin plate sits off to the side with apple cubes on it. A candle, fall leaves, and mini pumpkins are in the background.

🍏 Apple Butter Instructions

Peel, core, and cube apples (about 1-inch pieces).
Add apples + water to a pot. Simmer on medium-low until tender.

Apple puree is shown inside a blue stockpot sitting on a wooden cutting board. A candle, fall leaves, and mini pumpkins are in the background.

Purée until smooth.
Measure your purée (mine made 3 cups). Add sugar, brown sugar, and spices. Adjust sugar if you have more purée.
Simmer on low–med low, stirring often, until thickened (about 45-60 min). It’s done when it holds shape on a spoon.

The mixture of apple puree, sugars, and spices are cooking on the stove top. It's become a deep amber color, bubbling gently in the stockpot. It is holding it's form in a jam-like texture on a wooden spoon, showing that the apple butter is ready.

Cool completely before storing in glass jars (hot apple butter + glass = shattered mess).

🍏 Cinnamon Twists Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
roll out your puff pastry until it's a fairly long rectangle but not too thin. I just used my eyes because I don't care enough to get out a ruler, I'm trying to have fun!

Puff pastry is rolled out on a wooden cutting board. There is apple butter lightly spread on top. A candle, fall leaves, and mini pumpkins are in the background.

• If not using apple butter, brush with melted butter, then sprinkle cinnamon-sugar. • If using apple butter, spread a thin layer on the dough. If the apple butter is too thick, it might make the middle soggy. Optional: brush with butter first, then sprinkle extra brown sugar + cinnamon.
Cut into strips with a pizza cutter.
Fold each strip in half, pinch the ends, twist 2–4 times.

An arm is shown twisting the puff pasty and apple butter combo. There are two twists above the one being twisted. Untwisted slices of pastry are seen under the arm. A candle, fall leaves, and mini pumpkins are in the background.

Place on parchment-lined pan, pressing ends down so they don’t unravel (like my patience typing recipes).
Bake 13–15 min, until golden.

Same image from the beginning of the post. Golden cinnamon twists sit stacked on each other on an orange pumpkin plate. A candle, fall leaves, and a little orange pumpkin are in the background.

🍏 Serving

They’re sweet enough on their own, but powdered sugar looks cute. My personal favorite: warm one up for ~5 seconds in the microwave and add ice cream. I am drooling just thinking about it.

Another nice thing about this treat is that this recipe is forgiving. You can adjust sugar, add or remove spices, keep it simple, or go extra. However you do it, you’ll get something cozy, warm, and very fall.

And no, I will not be providing nutritional facts. Trust me. You don’t want to know.

A twist with a bite missing from it is sitting on an orange pumpkin plate. Beside it are two untouched scoops of vanilla ice cream. Pumpkin mug with tea, fall leaves, and a jar of apple butter are in the background.

Thanks for sticking around for my first ever recipe post! While I really have no idea what I'm doing most of the time, I will always make sure the recipes I share are yummy and will be sure to make you smile.

hugs,