This is my entry for week #2 of the Steemit Iron Chef Competition. This weeks theme was carrots and I decided to come up with a creative breakfast/dessert using such a sweet and colorful ingredient.

Carrot Cinnamon Rolls With Carrot Cream Cheese Icing

Carrots are a sweet vegetable and are wonderful in both breakfast and dessert dishes. I decided to make a food that is both a breakfast and dessert....cinnamon rolls!

I have a great recipe for yeast sweet potato donuts. A good yeast dough can be used for so many great things...rolls, donuts, and of course, cinnamon rolls. I decided to turn my sweet potato yeast dough into Carrot Cinnamon Rolls.

Ingredients For The Dough
1 tbs yeast
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup carrot puree
1/2 stick of butter
1 tsp. vanilla
7 cups flour

Ingredients For Filling
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
3 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients For Icing
8oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup carrot puree
4 tbs butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Step 1: Mix yeast, eggs, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, milk, carrot puree, butter, and vanilla in a bowl.

Step 2: Start mixing in your flour. It took around 7 cups until my dough stopped being sticky and made a nice dough ball. The carrots are a bit watery so you may need more flour. The dough will be light and won't stick to your hand when you have enough. Knead your dough for around 10 minutes. Place it in a greased bowl for 30 minutes to an hour until doubled in size.

Dough Before Rising

Step 3: Make your filling. Mix butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon to make a paste like filling. Set it aside.

Step 4: Roll out your dough onto a floured surface. The dough needs to be rolled out in a rectangular shape that is about 1/4 of an inch thick.

Step 5: Slather that dough with your brown sugar and butter filling. Cover then entire surface.

Brown Sugar-Buttery Goodness Slathered All Over

Step 6: Roll it up. Start from one long side of the rectangle and roll it tight.

Step 7: Cut 1 inch cinnamon rolls and put them on a greased pan. Let your newly cut cinnamon rolls sit for 30 minutes covered to rise again. Then pop them in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes. They will be golden brown when finished.

Step 8: Mix your icing. Mix softened cream cheese, softened butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Top the cinnamon rolls with the icing while it is still warm.

How'd They Turn Out?

All I can say is they were GOOOD! The carrots gave the yeast dough a unique carrot flavor that was slightly sweet. The dough alone would make some nice dinner rolls. Combined with a brown sugar filling and that carrot cream cheese icing I was in heaven. The carrot flavor was strong in the icing. I was afraid all the powdered sugar and vanilla would overpower the carrot but I was happily surprised I definitely could tell there were carrots in there.

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