Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls (Soft, Fluffy, Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting)
If you love the warm spices of carrot cake and the gooey pull of a cinnamon roll, this recipe is the best of both. I love to make a dessert inspired by another dessert (see my banana bread cinnamon rolls), and these carrot cake cinnamon rolls were no different. They bake up ultra-soft, perfectly spiced, and finished with a rich brown butter cream cheese frosting that melts into every swirl. If you are looking for more carrot cake-inspired recipes, try my carrot cake cookies or my carrot cake cookie skillet!
Why You’ll Love These Brown Butter Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
- Soft + fluffy texture from an enriched dough
- Warm spice flavor with cinnamon and real carrots
- Perfectly gooey centers with a brown sugar filling
- Cream cheese frosting that’s tangy, smooth, and not overly sweet
How do we add the grated carrot to the brioche dough?
The carrots should be grated on the 2nd-smallest holes of a box grater. Microplane will give you too small of shreds, and we need the slightly bigger size to add moisture and subtle sweetness. No need to squeeze out any of the juice from the carrots you grate!
Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Soft, fluffy, and warmly spiced, these carrot cake cinnamon rolls combine the cozy flavor of carrot cake with gooey, pull-apart cinnamon rolls. Finished with rich cream cheese frosting, they’re the perfect treat for Easter brunch!
PRep Time4 hours
Cook Time30 minutes
Servings 12 rolls
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer with dough hook attatchment
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Dough
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 3/4 cup warm whole milk 180 grams (gently warmed, must be 105-110F)
- 1/4 cup honey 82 grams
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 562 grams
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 8 cubes, 142 grams
- 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots 150 grams
Filling
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 113 grams, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar 150 grams
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter browned then cooled to room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar 360 grams
- 1/4 cup heavy cream 56 grams
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
Make the Dough
- In a large bowl, or liquid measuring cup, combine the eggs, warm milk, and honey and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, spices, yeast, and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the egg mixture and mix on low to combine. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, 1 minute. Add the grated carrots and mix until well distributed.
- The dough is sticky, so carefully transfer it to the greased large bowl, it is a okay to use a spatula to scrape any bits into the bowl, just use your hands to knead it all together and shape the dough into a ball once in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes, the dough should rise slightly.
- After those 30 minutes, you are going to perform a series of pulls. You will do this 4 times, so the dough will be resting at room temperature for 4 hours. First, to do this, scoop your hand under the dough and pull an edge up then fold it onto itself (see the linked video for any issues). Continue to turn the bowl so you fold each edge of the dough, this should be about 6 times.
- Cover the bowl again and let rise again for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding again. Let the dough rest again for 30 minutes, then perform the fold 2 more times. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours and up to 48.
- When you are ready to assemble, remove dough from the refridgerator, and turn out onto a floured surface, the dough will be cold, but that will make it easier to roll out. Roll dough into a large rectangle, about 10X16.
Make the filling
- In a small bowl, combined all filling inreidents with a spoon or nonstick spatula, until mixture is spreadable. Spread ontp the rolled out carrot cake dough.
- Roll the dough into a log and slice 12 even slices (as you can see in the video, you can also cut 12 even strips and roll those individually).
- Place the cut rolls into a 9X13 pan and place a towel over the top and let the rolls have one final rise for 1.5 hours or until doubled in size.
Make the Frosting
- IIn the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the room temperature browned butter and cream cheese. Whip on medium speed until combined, light, and fluffy. Use a nonstick spatula to scrape down the paddle and the bowl, then add in half of the powdered sugar and mix again. The mixture will be thick; add in the heavy cream and whip for another 2–3 minutes. Add in the rest of the powdered sugar and whip the frosting for another 3–4 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake rolls for 30-35 minutes, until tops are browned and rolls are cooked through. Remove from oven and top with frosting while warm!
These are delicious! All in all they turned out fabulous!
A couple of issues with the recipe:
1. Recipe doesn’t mention when spices get added to the dough
2. For the stretch and folds, I did it 4 times with 30 minutes between each, but that didn’t bring me to 4 hours counter top rise time.
3. Recipe says ounces instead of hours for fridge rest “refrigerator for at least 8 ounces and up to 48.”
4. Frosting instructions don’t mention when to add the cream.