Easy Cinnamon Roll King Cake Recipe

This Easy King Cake Recipe takes only a few minutes to put together! This cheater Cinnamon Roll King Cake is the perfect celebration of Mardi Gras!

Easy Cinnamon Roll King Cake Recipe

We love Mardi Gras! The celebrations, parades, epic food, and fun are some of our favorite events of the year.

Celebrating Mardi Gras in Lake Charles, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Gulf Shores, Alabama, has been a blessing. Every celebration brings so much fun and joy.

The Lake Charles Mardi Gras brought a sore arm from throwing beads from an Alligator Float for hours, but I would do it again in a second.

We love serving this easy King Cake for breakfast and celebrating with a Hurricane in the evening.

Last year, my Husband and I surprised each other with the same gift. We had each ordered New Orleans Traditional King Cakes from Goldbelly, which arrived on the same day.

You can imagine how confused we were when we told each other that a gift delivery had just arrived. It was hilarious to realize we had sent each other the same gift.

When we start serving King Cake, we try to stick to the first day of Mardi Gras Season, January 6th, also known as Twelfth Night or the Epiphany.

Our local grocery store sadly does not make King Cakes since we are in Spokane, Washington, and Mardi Gras is smaller than it is in the South.

We started making this easy King Cake Recipe so we could celebrate at home.

Traditionally, King Cakes were a simple ring of dough with decorations, but they have become diverse in the past few years.

You can now find King Cakes with different flavors, including apple cinnamon pecan, creole praline, pecan praline, cinnamon-infused strawberries and cream, chocolate custard, and even strawberry mascarpone.

Mardi Gras Colors

Purple Represents Justice

Green Represents Faith

Gold Represents Power

When is Fat Tuesday?

Mark your calendars! Here are the dates of Fat Tuesday for the next 10 years.

Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter, and Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday.

Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon following a spring equinox. This can fall on any Sunday between March 23 - April 25.March 4, 2025
February 17, 2026
February 9, 2027
February 29, 2028
February 13, 2029
March 5, 2030
February 25, 2031
February 10, 2032

Why is there a plastic baby in King Cakes?

The person who finds the lucky King Cake Baby gets to host the next King Cake Party or bring the Mardi Gras King Cake to the next event.

We like to think that it brings good luck for the upcoming year.

Ingredients Needed

Here is a quick overview of the simple ingredients needed to make an epic Cinnamon Roll King Cake! The printable recipe card at the bottom of the post includes specific measurements and step-by-step instructions.

• Refrigerator Cinnamon Rolls ( We used Pillsbury)
• Yellow Sanding Sugar/Yellow sprinkles
• Purple Sanding Sugar/Purple sprinkles 
• Green Sanding Sugar/ green sprinkles 

Optional: Mardi Gras Baby - Tiny plastic baby 

We use the icing/frosting that comes with the cinnamon rolls. If you want more icing you can use cream cheese icing.

We purchase the colored sugar on Amazon. You can buy a King Cake Decoration Kit that has all of the sugars and a Mardi Gras Baby in it.

Equipment Needed

• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Pape

How to make Cinnamon Roll King Cake

I've included complete instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, but here's a quick version.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Arrange cinnamon rolls in a circle to form a ring on a parchment-lined baking dish.

Press down to create a base on each cinnamon roll so they stay in place.

Bake according to the package directions.

Let cool until you are ready to ice the cinnamon rolls. If they are still warm, the icing will melt right off.

Ice the cinnamon rolls with the icing from the packages as evenly as possible.

Add Mardi Gras Sprinkles in Gold, Green, and Purple.

Preparation and Storage

Make Ahead:

We use refrigerator cinnamon rolls as a make-ahead shortcut since the dough is ready to bake when you open the package.

You can also make this recipe with your favorite homemade cinnamon rolls.

Storage:

Cream cheese icing is a perishable ingredient, so refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container and enjoy them within a week.

Freezing/How to Freeze:

Freeze leftovers in an airtight container and enjoy them within two months.

How to Reheat:

You can enjoy leftovers straight from the fridge. Thaw frozen leftovers in the refrigerator until they reach an acceptable temperature. It tastes great at room temperature 

 

Recipe Variations

Substitutions:

We use the icing that comes with the cinnamon rolls. If you want more icing, you can use cream cheese icing.

We purchase colored sugar on Amazon. You can also buy a King Cake Decoration Kit with all the sugars and a Mardi Gras Baby.

Vegetarian Option: This recipe is 100 percent vegetarian!

Vegan Option: 

To make this Cinnamon Roll King Cake vegan, use your favorite plant-based refrigerator cinnamon rolls.

Gluten-Free:

Gluten-free eaters should look for a gluten-free label on their cinnamon roll dough to make this recipe safe for a gluten-free diet.

Smaller Serving Size + Larger Group/More Servings:

The written recipe makes six servings and adjusts quickly to any serving size using the slider in the recipe card below. It is easy to double if you need to make two cakes or halve for a small cake.

Sugar-Free:

We are unsure whether sugar-free sanding sugar substitutes exist, but we have seen recipes online using sugar alternatives and food dye.

Still, you can lower the sugar content with sugar-free refrigerator cinnamon rolls.

Tips for the Best Cinnamon Roll King Cake

• To form the perfect circle, you can set a bowl in the middle of the parchment paper and place the cinnamon rolls around it. Just remove the bowl before baking.
• We like to place the Mardi Gras baby under a cinnamon roll right before we ice them. Before serving, tell everyone about the baby so they know to look out for it.
• Kids will love helping to decorate the King Cake

 

What to Serve with Cinnamon Roll King Cake

Pair this fun Mardi Gras cake tradition with other Southern and Cajun favorites for a New Orleans-style feast made in your home kitchen! Here are some menu planning suggestions.

Sides: Crock Pot Cajun Boiled Peanuts, Cheesy Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños, Southern-Fried Cabbage with Bacon, Bacon Gravy, Southern-Style Green Beans, Cracker Barrel Carrots

Main Dishes: Jambalaya Recipe Straight from New Orleans!, Crock Pot New Orleans Spicy Barbecue Shrimp, Shrimp Remoulade, CrockPot Gumbo, Easy Garlic Shrimp Linguini

Desserts: Crock Pot Apple Crisp, Crock Pot 7 Layer Bars, Banana Pudding Poke Cake, Salty and Sweet Ruffles Marshmallow Treats, Easy Fruit Salad, Bisquick Blueberry Cobbler

Drinks: Pimm's Cup, Pat O'Brien's Hurricane Cocktail, Boozy Hurricane Popsicle, Fuzzy Leprechaun Cocktail, Easy Jack Daniels Lynchburg Lemonade, Classic Grasshopper Drink

When to Serve

• Mardi Gras Celebration 

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