Carrot Cake Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

     Every Easter, there seems to be this trend of putting carrots in EVERYTHING. This may be controversial but there are a few things (along with pumpkin spice and rhubarb) that I think should be incorporated in just about everything, and carrot cake is one of them! Something about the warm spices mixed with earthy carrots all combined in a moist cake is just the best. So, when I was on a sourdough roll kick, I decided to try to incorporate my favorite parts. I ended up so glad I did because this was AMAZING. 

    I started off my cinnamon rolls by making my normal sourdough cinnamon rolls recipe. I pour milk and my active starter in a bowl and mix those like I would mix starter with water in a bread recipe. Then I add in my egg and mix it well. In goes my sugar and salt next and I mix those until they're pretty much dissolved.  Dumping in my flour, I knead everything just until there are no more large flour  chunks or I'm sick of the dough sticking to my hands. This dough should be shaggy at this point so don't worry if you feel like your dough is too sticky. Covering my dough with a damp towel or plastic wrap, I let it sit for 20 ish minutes in a warm spot before continuing. 

    After my 20 minutes is up, I cube my softened butter and dump it into my bowl with my shredded carrots before I start my first round of stretch and folds. While I am doing my stretch and folds, I make sure to keep an eye on my butter and carrots to make sure its all getting evenly distributed. In the first round I do anywhere from 8-16 stretch and folds and I decrease the number each round depending on how much resistance the dough is giving me. I like to do 3 rounds with 20 minutes in between but you can do up to 4 or increase the time in between to 30 minutes. 

    When I have finished my stretch and folds, I let my dough sit, covered, in a warm spot for 8-12 hours. I like to do my stretch and folds just before I go to bed so that my dough is ready for the next step when I wake up in the morning. After my bulk ferment is done, my dough should be about double or triple its original size. That depends on how ambitious your starter is (a healthier starter is more ambitious). 

    I take my dough and roll it out as flat as I can get it. If it has had a shorter bulk ferment time, sometimes it is harder to roll out and it seems to just shrink back to where it was every time I lift up the rolling pin. When this happens, instead of fighting it, I get it as thin as I can at the time, and then let it rest for 20-30 minutes and get used to its new shape. This usually makes it WAY easier to roll out.

    Once my dough is flat I butter it generously, making sure to cover all the edges and everything in between. Then, I prepare my filling. I prefer my carrot cake with a lot of spices and a little kick so I tend to be a tish generous when measuring my cinnamon and ginger but you can adjust the measurements however you want. My filling consists of brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. I spread that all over my dough, leaving no space uncovered. If you want you can also add walnuts, pecans, or raisins to your filling depending on how you like your carrot cake. 

    Next, I start rolling my dough up. Depending on how you shredded your carrots, they can poke holes and make tears in your dough. If that happens that is totally fine! I always say that an ugly cinnamon roll is still a cinnamon roll. A hole in the middle will not affect the flavor. However, I do try to roll it up as tight as possible or else you could loose your filling when you are transferring your rolls to a baking dish. 

    When my log is ready I grease a 9x13 glass baking dish (although you can use metal or one of the disposable ones) and cut my log into about twelve, 1 1/2 inch rolls and place them into my dish. I cover  my dish with either plastic wrap or a damp towel and let them sit in a warm spot for 1-2 hours to allow them to puff up. They will puff up some more in the oven but I like to let them double before I bake them. 

    After 1-2 hours I preheat my oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake my rolls for 35- 40 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. While they are baking, I make my cream cheese frosting by mixing together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. This is the same frosting I use for my carrot cake and my carrot cake cookies. However, I sometimes like to add a little bit of cinnamon just because I can never get enough cinnamon!

    I like to let my rolls cool for about a half of an hour before frosting so that not all of the frosting melts, but I can still eat them warm. These cinnamon rolls are perfect for a Sunday afternoon or Easter brunch. It perfectly combines the earthy carrot cake with the simple nostalgic cinnamon roll. Honestly, this might be a new Easter tradition in my home, these rolls are so loved!   

    What did you think of this recipe? Questions? Comments? Concerns?