Mini King Cake Bites Recipes

No Mardi Gras celebration is complete without King Cake. In the simplest of terms, King Cake is basically a cinnamon roll. It is a sweet dough with cinnamon and sometimes a filling that is topped with icing and colored sugars. I have a couple of simple King Cake recipes on the blog. This year I went for a bite sized treat with these King Cake Bites.

I took some crescent rolls, sprinkled them with cinnamon, filled them with a yummy sweet cream cheese filling and baked them. I finished them off with some frosting and sugar on top.

One word – AMAZING! We could not stop eating these. They really do taste like little King Cake bites. These would be great for a class party, Fat Tuesday breakfast or just anytime for a treat. We ate these for dessert and breakfast the next day. We warmed them in the microwave for about 5 seconds. Seriously good!

Mardi Gras is upon us. A King Cake is a well-known Mardi Gras tradition. Mardi Gras is the culmination of the season of carnival that begins on Epiphany and ends the day before Ash Wednesday, or Fat Tuesday.

Depending on where you live, the King Cake has different versions. Most familiar to us in the United States is a sweet twisted cinnamon roll style dough topped with icing or sugar. Mardi Gras is fun and festive and these mini King Cake bites are a nice addition to any celebration. Check out my fun mini version Mardi Gras Cupcake too.

These bite size treats are packed with cinnamon sugar then drizzled with a sweet glaze and topped with decorator sugars in the traditional colors of Mardi Gras – purple, green and gold. They will disappear quickly so you may want to double the recipe. Enjoy these for breakfast or dessert. I usually always have cinnamon sugar in a shaker in my pantry for my kids to use on toast or bagels. It’s easy to make. I mix three tablespoons of sugar with one teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Fat Tuesday is right around the corner, which can only mean one thing…Mardi Gras! There is also only one thing you truly need to celebrate Mardi Gras…King Cake! Instead of making a big cake to pass around, we decided to create bite sized versions of this heavenly treat. You’re welcome. 🙂

A ball was our go-to shape for these because the cream cheese mixture and cinnamon stays put inside the dough, allowing you to not lose any of that sugary goodness during the baking process. Not only does it make it extremely easy to eat (again, your welcome…), but the ball shape also makes it extremely easy to dunk each one into the glaze topping, followed by the sugar topping. We are all about easy and quick recipes, and this one is no exception. 🙂 So, go on and get your carnivale on with these delicious Mini King Cake Bites!

NOTE: I know everyone expects a “baby” in King Cake, and you can definitely add a very small one on top of these Mini King Cake Bites to continue tradition. But, we would recommend placing it on top (not inside) for all to see before they pop it in their mouths (these bite sized treats will most likely be consumed in one bite!).

INGREDIENTS
MINI KING CAKE BITES

• 2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 5 Tbsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 package (8 oz.) of cream cheese

GLAZE TOPPING

• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Milk
• Purple, Yellow and Green sugar/sprinkles for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, cream together your cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice. Mix until well blended. Set aside.
4. Open your cans of crescent rolls, and separate at the perforated lines that make triangles. Take each triangle one at a time and form a ball using your hands. Then, break that ball into two smaller balls. Using your palms, flatten each ball out into a circle (see below) and then place the flattened dough onto your parchment lined baking sheet. Form the rest of your dough and place on the baking sheet.
5. Sprinkle each dough circle with a generous amount of cinnamon (I freehanded this by just sprinkling it on top of each dough circle until I was satisfied. If you need an amount, I would suggest about 1/4 of a tsp on each dough circle). Then, top with about a 1/2 tsp – 1 tsp of the cream cheese mixture.
6. Stretch your dough up and over the mixture to form a ball (start with two sides to form a taco-like shape, then pinch the other two ends together in the middle to close it off). Flip the ball over so that the seams are down (see picture below).
7. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until the tops of the dough are golden brown. Let the dough cool for at least 2-3 minutes until you glaze them.
8. Mix together your powdered sugar and milk to create your glaze.
9. Dip each dough ball into your glaze mixture, followed by dipping each into your sprinkle topping.