Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
Carrot cake and cinnamon rolls are two of my favorite desserts. Put them together and you have one delicious dish for Easter brunch. The best part of this recipe is it can be made mostly the day before, leave in the fridge overnight, proof for an hour the next morning and then ready to bake!
Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
500 grams bread flour
110 grams water
50 grams milk
3 medium eggs
10 grams dry yeast
60 grams granulated sugar
10 grams salt
160 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
170 grams carrots, grated
For the filling
50 grams granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed together
100 grams walnuts, chopped
40 grams unsalted butter, melted
Cream Cheese Frosting
227 grams cream cheese (room temperature)
50 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)
300 grams powdered sugar
In a small bowl sprinkle about a tablespoon of granulated sugar over the carrots, mix together and let sit for 5 minutes. The sugar will pull the moisture out of your carrots, so they do not add more moisture into the final dough. Squeeze the excess moisture out of the carrots and drain the liquid. Discard the liquid and set your carrots aside.
Combine the flour, water, milk, eggs, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix until the dough comes together for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Switch to the hook attachment, to continue to develop the dough and knead for 3-5 minutes. . Check for gluten development by pulling a small piece of dough and lightly stretching it until you can pull a window. This is when you can stretch the dough thin without tearing or breaking.
Replace the hook attachment with the paddle attachment. With the mixer running on medium speed, add in the butter until there are no butter chunks left. Dough will become sticky again. Mix in grated carrots on low speed until fully incorporated.
Cover the dough in plastic wrap and chill dough for 3-4 hours.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12x16 inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle cinnamon sugar, and chopped walnuts. Starting from the long side, roll dough into a tight log. Chill for 1 hour, or until slightly firm.
Lightly butter a 9x13 inch pan. With a serrated knife, slice the dough log into 16 pieces. Place into prepared pan.
Let cinnamon rolls sit at room temperature to rise until they are doubles in size. If using a proofer setting in your oven, set to 90 degrees F and proof for 60-90 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake cinnamon rolls for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Cool cinnamon rolls for about 20 minutes before icing.
In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar.
Spread icing onto cinnamon rolls and serve