Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls

Soft and fluffy carrot cake cinnamon rolls are topped with a thick cream cheese frosting in this showstopping Easter breakfast cinnamon roll recipe!

Overnight carrot cake cinnamon rolls

Packed with sweet and gooey cinnamon filling, these fancy carrot cake rolls will be the hit of any weekend morning breakfast or Easter brunch party.

And you only need five ingredients to make them.

You can even prepare everything the night before. Simply bake the next morning, and enjoy soft homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch, with very little work required.

The recipe is a must-try for any cinnamon roll and carrot cake lover, because it tastes like you are eating carrot cake for breakfast!

Craving carrot cake? Make Vegan Carrot Cake

How to make Easter cinnamon rolls

Use a rolling pin to roll out the pizza dough into a thin rectangle on a floured surface. The rectangle should be around an eighth of an inch thick.

If the dough is sticky, slowly add more flour until it can be rolled easily without sticking. Any flour is fine to use here, from white flour, to whole wheat flour, to coconut flour.

If the butter or coconut oil is not already softened, gently warm it up for just a few seconds, stopping when it is no longer rock hard but not yet completely melted.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir the butter in with the finely shredded carrot, ground cinnamon, sweetener of choice, and optional raisins and nuts. This is your filling.

Spread the carrot cake cinnamon roll filling evenly over the rolled out rectangle.

Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the dough into around thirteen thin, long strips. You want the strips to be very thin, because they will rise considerably as they bake.

Roll the strips of dough up tightly. Place the unbaked cinnamon rolls in a greased baking pan. It is perfectly fine if the sides of one cinnamon bun touch the others.

For overnight cinnamon rolls, loosely cover the pan and refrigerate overnight. Otherwise, you can bake right away. There is no proofing step required.

Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the baking pan on the oven’s center rack, and cook for twenty minutes or until the dough is fully cooked and the carrots are soft. The texture of the cinnamon rolls should be light and fluffy, no longer gummy.

Frost immediately and serve hot. Or let the pan cool before loosely covering the rolls and refrigerating until ready to frost and serve.

Leftover carrots? Make Carrot Cake Muffins

Fluffy carrot cake cinnamon roll ingredients

You’ll need shredded carrots, ground cinnamon, sugar or granulated sweetener of choice, optional butter or coconut oil, and optional raisins and walnuts or pecans.

I find that the easiest way to shred carrot by far is in a high quality food processor. You can shred the vegetables by hand with a box grater on a cutting board if you prefer.

The trick to making quick cinnamon rolls with no yeast proofing step is to buy premade dough. Look for refrigerated pizza dough in stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Safeway, or Wegmans. Local Italian markets and even some pizza parlors also often stock premade pizza dough.

For gluten free cinnamon rolls, Wholly Wholesome makes a gluten free pizza dough. If you have a go-to homemade pizza dough without gluten, you may also try it here.

Pretty much any all purpose granulated sweetener will work. This includes white or brown sugar, unrefined coconut sugar or date sugar, or granulated erythritol or xylitol for a no sugar option.

I have not tried substituting powdered sugar, pure maple syrup, honey, agave, or any other sweeteners not listed here.

The raisins add flavor and sweetness to the recipe. Not everyone likes raisins, so they are fine to leave out. Just double the amount of sweetener called for in the filling, which will make up the difference in sweetness if omitting the raisins.

With no eggs, the easy recipe can be vegan as long as you choose coconut oil or a dairy free and plant based butter. You can also leave out the butter entirely for buns that taste more like healthy breakfast muffins but are still tasty.

Readers also love this Strawberry Bread

Carrot cake cinnamon bun recipe video

Above – watch the step by step recipe video

I initially made twelve cinnamon rolls and later decided that dividing the dough into thirteen or fourteen strips is much better, because you get more filling in each pastry!

Tips for storing and serving

Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Quickly microwave or heat the homemade carrot cinnamon rolls in a pan on the stove top or in a warm oven to soften them before serving.

The recipe also freezes well in an airtight covered container for up to about three months. Thaw frozen rolls overnight or in the microwave or oven before enjoying.

Bakery cinnamon roll cream cheese frosting

Feel free to frost your carrot cake cinnamon buns with any store bought or homemade white or vanilla icing or a basic glaze. You can also top them with powdered sugar.

I personally believe that all carrot cake should be frosted with cream cheese icing. Therefore, I recommend the cream cheese frosting recipe directly below.

Beat eight ounces of room temperature cream cheese or vegan cream cheese with four ounces of butter or plant based butter, two cups of powdered sugar (or a powdered sugar free substitute), and one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. If needed, add a little milk of choice to thin the vanilla icing out.

Garnish the cinnamon rolls with toasted pecans, walnuts, almonds, shredded coconut or carrot, chopped caramels, caramelized bananas, or sliced pineapple.

The rolls are wonderful with a Pumpkin Spice Latte or Frappuccino Recipe.

The recipe was adapted from my Vegan Cinnamon Rolls and Easy Cinnamon Rolls.

More Easter Breakfast Ideas

Applesauce Muffins

Almond Flour Banana Bread

Keto Blueberry Muffins

Carrot Bread

Carrot Cake Baked Oats