Make these super simple mini king cakes for Mardi Gras. They are semi-homemade with crescent roll dough and a cinnamon-sugar filling.
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What Are King Cakes?
King cakes are typically served at Mardi Gras. They are usually eating between January 6 (King’s Day) and Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday is the last day of the Carnival season and always falls the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of lent.
King cakes are usually made of rich, brioche dough and have a huge variety of fillings like cinnamon, chocolate, and cream cheese. They are almost always decorated with gold, green and purple sprinkles!
This is what the colors mean:
- Gold – Power
- Green – Faith
- Purple – Justice
Must-Have Baking Products
These are the things that made this recipe so much easier!
- Silicone Baking Mats – the cakes don’t stick and they are dishwasher-safe!
- Mardi Gras Sprinkles
- Silicone Spatulas – for spreading the filling
- Food Processor – I used this to chop the pecans really fine. You can also just buy pre-chopped pecans.
- Large Cutting Board – easier to clean up than my countertops.
Mini King Cakes For Mardi Gras
I’d like to call these “shortcut king cakes” because you can make them in a few minutes. They aren’t nearly as labor-intensive as a huge cake! I made my little mini cakes out of refrigerated crescent roll dough.
Aren’t they fun?
Easy King Cakes Ingredients
All the exact ingredients are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
I only used a few simple ingredients in these little cakes:
- Refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough
- Cinnamon
- Sugar
- Finely-Chopped Pecans
- Powdered Sugar
- Rum
Non-Alcoholic Rum Replacement
This recipe uses rum in the glaze. Replace with 1 tsp rum extract and 2 teaspoons apple juice if you want a non-alcoholic version.
How To Make King Cake Bites With Crescent Roll Dough
You can probably guess how to make them! They are so cute and come out looking like bite-sized little cakes!
Here’s how I did it (don’t forget, the entire recipe is in the printable card at the bottom of this post).
The first thing I did was take the entire tube of crescent roll dough and smash it into a big ball of dough. Then, I rolled it out into a rectangle until it was about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out the dough into pieces that are about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide.
Next, make the cinnamon-sugar filling and spread it out on each rectangular piece of dough. After it is completely covered, begin to make a jelly-roll and roll them each up.
Bake them and then let them cool off before you add the glaze and the sprinkles.
That’s it!
How To Store The Mini Cakes
These are so easy to store. Just keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Mini King Cakes For Mardi Gras
This is a really simple recipe that makes individual mini King cakes. This is perfect for a last-minute dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
- 3 tbsp. cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
Rum Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp rum
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Unroll crescent rolls and place them on the cutting board.
- Gather the crescent dough and knead it together into one dough ball.
- Place flour on the cutting board and spread it evenly.
- Place the dough on the cutting board and begin to roll the dough out into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick.
- Slice 4-5 inches in length and 3 inches in width.
- In a small bowl add the cinnamon and sugar stir to combine.
- Sprinkle each rectangle evenly with about 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon sugar and 1 tablespoon of the pecans.
- Starting at long end roll up jelly-roll style pinching seam well.
- Repeat with each rectangle.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 - 12 minutes, until golden.
- Remove pans to the cooling rack.
- Next, make the glaze.
- For the glaze, combine glaze ingredients in a bowl until drizzling consistency.
- Pour the glaze on top of the bites.
- Then sprinkle those with purple, green, and yellow decorator sugars.
Notes
For a non-alcoholic rum-flavored glaze, use 1 tsp of rum extract with 2 tsp of apple juice.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 194Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 15mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 2gSugar: 32gProtein: 1g
More Fun Desserts
If you enjoyed this recipe for mini king cakes, here are some more recipes you’ll enjoy baking next!
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