Delicious king cake cinnamon rolls are a great and tasty idea for a Mardi Gras celebration. Use your favorite filling for inside the cinnamon roll, or stick to the traditional cinnamon and brown sugar rolls.

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Mardi Gras Season usually happens around February/March - it is a holiday timed around Ash Wednesday and Lent around the New Orleans area.

Mardi Gras - meaning Fat Tuesday - is literally the last day before Ash Wednesday and the start of lent, so it's a time to EAT.

When you start seeing the king cakes in the grocery stores you know it's almost time to start the Mardi Gras festivities.

What makes this recipe so yummy

• Anything Mardi Gras themed is fun.
• It's a great idea and an easy solution if you don't want to mess with making a big ol' King Cake. It's an easy recipe.
• They're like mini king cakes.
• Add the baby Jesus (Christ child) in one of the cinnamon rolls and the tradition is, whoever gets that baby will have to host the next mardi gras party and make the next king cake.
• This recipe is for a double batch of dough, so freeze ahead of time for easy assembly.
• There's something about homemade cinnamon rolls that just can't be beat.
• Instead of a slice of cake you get a whole sweet rolls to yourself.
• It's an easy king cake recipe alternative.

Groceries you'll need: Ingredients

• All Purpose Flour
• Granulated Sugar
• Warm Water
• Active Dry Yeast
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Melted Butter (unsalted butter)
• Salt
• Evaporated Milk
• Vanilla Extract
• Powdered Sugar
• Sanding Sugars (the traditional colors of Mardi Gras - yellow, purple, green)

See recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities.

Recipe walkthrough: Instructions

This is an overview of the recipe steps. For more detailed instructions visit the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Step 1: Make the cinnamon rolls per my Amish Cinnamon Rolls recipe.
• Step 2: Once you have spread the icing on top decorate with the green, purple and yellow sanding sugars.

Hint: The filling for these cinnamon rolls are endless possibilities. A traditional King Cake is filled with cinnamon and brown sugar, but the most popular are pecan praline and cream cheese. Top with Mardi Gras colors for the king cake tradition.

Recipe variations and substitute ideas

• Cream Cheese Icing - instead of vanilla icing.
• Brioche Dough - try this type of dough instead.
• Pillsbury Flaky Cinnamon Rolls - I haven't tried it but it can't hurt I'm sure.
• Butter cream Icing - instead of the vanilla icing.

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Necessary gear: Equipment

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I like to use a stand mixer for anything dough related. Using the dough hook attachment really makes things so easy. I have an affiliate link to the one I use in the recipe card below. If you don't have the dough hook you could use the paddle attachment I reckon.

That, and a 13x9" baking dish, wire rack, parchment paper, plastic wrap.

More Mardi Gras recipes I think you'll love

• King Cake
• Louisiana Crunch Cake
• Crawfish Pistolettes
• Crawfish Monica
• Boudin King Cake
• Mardi Gras Beignets
• Mardi Gras Cheesecake

How to store leftovers

Once served and you have some leftover you could store in an airtight container at room temperature for a while - but depending on the ingredients of your filling you might want to refrigerate. I just keep them in the refrigerator anyway, it keeps the icing nice and firm.

Four days is good in the refrigerator, any longer and they start to dry out.

Mel's kitchen notes

The cinnamon rolls recipe I have you directed to is for a double batch of dough, it's great for freezing some for use on another day.

If you've tried this King Cake Cinnamon Rolls Recipe or any other great recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section below, how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers!

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