Make an Easy King Cake with Cinnamon Rolls! This is by no means a real King Cake, but it's a fun, festive, tasty substitution that anybody can make with only two ingredients and a few minutes of time.
I've been thinking about making this "King Cake" for a few weeks and finally this weekend, I made it happen.
We don't actually celebrate Mardi Gras, but every year I make sure we get at least one King Cake during Mardi Gras and sometimes I even get a really good one from a bakery in Louisiana.
This year our "real" one came from the Walmart bakery (and it was pretty good considering), but when I went back for a second one, they were already all sold out.
But the kids were still asking for another. While ideally, I'd make a real King Cake from scratch, that's not happening right now. I currently don't have a kitchen to speak of so this cheater, short-cut version was perfect.
Here's a short video showing how easy it is:
And here are the ingredients...
Canned cinnamon rolls (two cans) and colored sugar. My sugars weren't even as vibrant as real King Cake colors, but they worked! I used Wilton Green and Yellow Sprinkles... and a store brand Purple Sugar.
Okay... here are the super easy instructions.
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Then crack open two cans of cinnamon rolls and layer them into a circle.
Bake according to package directions. It may take a couple of minutes longer than usual since they're layered. You don't want any raw dough in those overlapping areas.
Note: I had every intention of hiding the plastic baby Jesus in the King Cake at this point (after baking), but I totally forgot. If you have a baby, then this is when I recommend you hide it - before icing.
Cover the cinnamon rolls ring with the including icing.
Tip: warm the icing in the microwave for about 10 seconds and it's super easy to spread.
Sprinkle with purple, green and gold (yellow) sugar.
My son has a huge bucket of Mardi Gras beads from a parade a couple of years ago so I made my presentation a little more festive by adding some beads.
Enjoy!! It took about 3 minutes flat for my pan to look like this:
Obviously, my kids and hubby loved the Easy King Cake with Cinnamon Rolls.
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I hardly think this qualifies as a "recipe" but I'll include the recipe card below anyway just in case you want to print it out.
PrintRecipe
Easy King Cake with Cinnamon Rolls
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Instructions
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Layer the cinnamon rolls on each other in a circle.
Bake according to package directions (maybe a couple of minutes longer). For me it was 400°F for 16-17 minutes.
Microwave the including icing to soften it, then drizzle or spoon it over the ring of cinnamon rolls.
Sprinkle with colored sugars.
Serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 16
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Debbie Mayfield
What a great idea! I am from Louisiana and we celebrate Mardi Gras every year. I have always bought our King cakes...never thought about making it myself. Thank you for showing me how easy it can be done.
Teresa
What a festive fun cheater cake this is.Hats off to you for helping us celebrate the occasion.
Tammy
I've never made a king cake before but yours looks so delicious and festive too! I have to make this...such a fun treat to have in the morning with coffee.
Alyce
I've searched for an easy King Cake recipe in the past, but was unsuccessful. I am looking forward to trying your recipe! Thank you so much for this great idea!
Cooki
What size circle for the cinnamon rolls? Did you make your own icing or buy canned icing, ugh.
Rose Atwater
It was probably 10-12 inches around. For these I used the canned icing but I sometimes use homemade. Either will work just fine!