Cream Cheese Pecan Cinnamon Rolls - King Cake Edition

If I had to associate one dish with Mardi Gras, it would be a king cake. It’s a no-brainer. Over Christmas we shared with you our five minute cinnamon rolls where we used puff pastry for the dough. We did a king cake rendition of those same cinnamon rolls, and included a cream cheese pecan filling, because, well, it’s the best of all of the king cake fillings. Don’t forget to buy a little plastic baby to roll into your cinnamon rolls (we somehow left this part off of our video). Such a fun Fat Tuesday tradition ⚜️💫

For cinnamon rolls:
1 piece of puff pastry, defrosted
4 ounces of cream cheese, room temparature
1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 pecans, crushed
1 whisked egg combined with 1 Tablespoon water

For icing:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2-4 Tablespoons whole milk (depending on desired consistency)
Yellow, purple and green sugar sprinkles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together your cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon until smooth.

Roll out your puff pastry on it lightly floured surface.

Spread cream cheese mixture on top puff pastry, then sprinkle with pecans. If using, place plastic baby on top to be discovered with glee and joy 👶

Roll the puff pastry up starting from the long side, making sure not to roll too tightly.

Slice the log into one and a half inch pieces. I like to use dental floss for this. Arrange cinnamon roll slices into a circle on a baking sheet, and have sides lightly touching. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 35 minutes.

While the cinnamon rolls are baking, whisk together the confectioner sugar and milk. Once cinnamon rolls are done, drizzle them with the icing and sprinkle with the colored sugar.