Carrot cake cinnamon rolls combine all the flavors of cinnamon buns with the light sweetness of carrot cake. This homemade sweet roll recipe is the perfect treat for Easter breakfast or Mother’s Day morning.
Cinnamon rolls are a favorite breakfast around here. I love to make (and eat!) all sorts of homemade sweet rolls.
I also love carrot cake, especially in the spring. So carrot cake cinnamon rolls seemed like a natural breakfast sweet to whip up.
Shortcuts for Perfect Carrot Cake Flavor
Cinnamon rolls are already fairly labor intensive, considering I love to keep things easy. Carrot cake can also be heavy on the prep work.
To make life easier and make sure you get perfect carrot cake flavor throughout these sweet rolls, use carrot cake mix as part of the batter.
How to Make Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
Let’s break down the process of making this variation on homemade cinnamon rolls.
To start, activate your yeast by adding it to warm, but not hot water. Mix it well. You’ll know your yeast is good if it gets foamy. If it doesn’t foam, the yeast is dead and you should use new yeast.
Once you’ve got your yeast activated, you can start to make your dough by adding the carrot cake mix and salt to the water and yeast. Mix the cake mix well and then slowly mix in 5 cups of flour.
Now you want to turn the dough out on a floured surface and use your hands to kneed it well. Don’t skimp on kneeding the dough. Kneeding helps the glutens in the dough develop so the dough is tender, not tough.
After you’ve kneaded the dough, return it to the bowl and cover it. Put the bowl in a warm dry place and let the dough rise for an hour. After an hour, add the remaining cup of flour and kneed the dough again. Then turn the dough out on a floured surface again and roll it out into a rectangle.
Cover the rectangle generously in melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Make sure you cover the whole surface of the rectangle. Then roll the rectangle up tightly and cut it into equal portions.
Place the cinnamon rolls together in a greased baking dish. Cover the dish and let them rise for 15 minutes before you bake the cinnamon rolls.
Once you’ve baked the rolls ice them with cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle them with chopped pecans if desired.
Tips and Tricks for Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
Baking cinnamon rolls can be a little intimidating, especially if you’ve never baked with yeast before. Follow my tips and tricks to make sure your rolls turn out perfectly each time.
- Make sure you proof the yeast first to see if it is active. If the yeast doesn’t foam it isn’t active and your rolls won’t rise.
- Use warm but not hot water. Yeast multiplies the best between 105 and 110 degrees farenheit.
- To help your cinnamon rolls rise, you can preheat your oven to warm. Once it preheats, turn the oven off and crack the door. Put the covered tray of rolls inside and you’ve got the perfect warm, dry environment to promote a good rise.
- Don’t skip the second rise time.
Looking for other cinnamon rolls? Try these:
These carrot cake cinnamon rolls are the perfect springtime breakfast sweet. Make them for your next special occasion brunch and enjoy!
Looking for other sweet roll recipes? Try these:
- Strawberry Rolls with Powdered Sugar Icing
- Sweet Orange Cinnamon Rolls
- Cinnamon Roll Dippers
- Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
If you’ve tried these CARROT CAKE CINNAMON ROLLS, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 packets of Active Yeast
- 2 and 1/2 cups of WARM Water
- 1 box of Carrot Cake Mix
- 1 teaspoon of Vanilla
- 1/2 a teaspoon of Salt
- 6 cups of Flour
- Melted Butter
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Cream Cheese Icing
- Chopped Pecans
Instructions
- Start by adding water and yeast to a large mixing bowl. Mix well and allow to sit until yeast becomes foamy.
- Add in carrot cake mix, and salt.
- Mix well, and add 5 cups of flour slowly.
- Knead well with hands.
- Cover and let sit for about 1 hour.
- Add in another cup of flour, and flour your surface.
- Knead again, and roll out into a long rectangle.
- Cover in melted butter, cinnamon and sugar. I cover mine generously!
- Roll up tightly, and cut into one inch segments.
- Place into a greased baking dish. Cover and allow to rise for 15 minutes.
- Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until golden.
- Cover in Icing. Sprinkle with pecans.
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