King Cake Bites made with Hawaiian Sweet Rolls are an easy, no-cook Mardi Gras dessert, filled on the side with a cream cheese filling and a cinnamon-sugar interior. They are topped with a hard-setting glaze and purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar for a festive Mardi Gras appearance. This shortcut version delivers classic King Cake flavor without the fuss of making, rolling, and filling yeast dough.
Quick Look
- Ready in: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 King Cake Bites
- Skill level: Easy
- Make-ahead friendly: Yes - refrigerate overnight
- Best for: Mardi Gras parties, office treats, gifting
Jump to:
Why You Should Make This Recipe
- Quick and easy: No yeast dough, and no complicated techniques
- Store-bought convenience: Classic King Cake flavor in a shortcut format
- Traditional flavors: Cinnamon flavor layered inside each bite with creamy cream cheese filling
- Hard-set icing: Hawaiian rolls topped with an icing that sets hard on the outside, but remains soft on the inside
Ingredients - Here's What You'll Need
- The Base: Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
- The Fillings: Melted butter, granulated sugar, cinnamon, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and fine sea salt.
- The Icing and Decorations: Confectioners' sugar, light corn syrup, vanilla extract, milk, fine sea salt, and purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar
How to Make King Cake Bites: Step-by-Step
- Prepare the rolls: Separate the Hawaiian rolls. Using a knife, trim the sides slightly, if needed, so each roll is uniform in size. This helps ensure consistent filling and packaging.
- Core the rolls: Using a ½-inch cannoli tube, gently twist into the side of each roll to remove a small cylindrical core, making sure not to push all the way through. This creates a clean cavitiy without compressing the crumb.
- Cinnamon-sugar interior paste: Stir together melted butter, granulated sugar, and cinnamon to form a spreadable paste. Using a small wooden stick or similar tool, paint the inside of each Hawaiian roll cavity.
- Cream cheese filling: Beat the softened cream cheese with confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt until creamy and pipeable. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a #12 round tip. Pipe around 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of filling into the cavity of each roll, being careful not to overfill.
- Icing: Beat together confectioners' sugar, light corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt until the ribbons disappear into the icing after several seconds. Dip the tops of the Hawaiian rolls in the icing, allowing the excess to drip off. Immediately decorate with purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar.
- If Desired, Package: Allow the icing to fully set before packaging in clear domed cups or clear cellophane treat bags.
These adorable King Cake Bites are proof that simple shortcuts produce striking results. By focusing on layered flavor, clean techniques, and thoughtful presentation, you get a festive dessert that is easy to make, easy to share, and totally fitting for Mardi Gras celebrations.
Sometimes, the best shortcut isn't cutting corners, but choosing the right structure. Yum!
Chula's Test Kitchen Tips
After some experimentation, these refinements transformed a good idea into a polished, repeatable recipe.
- Cannoli tube: For the cavity in the roll, I tried a paring knife, my finger, an apple corer, and a cannoli tube. The winner - a ½ inch metal cannoli tube. It created a clean cavity for a consistent fill volume.
- Cinnamon-sugar paint: Initially, I combined cinnamon with the cream cheese filling. While that worked, it produced a brownish filling that didn't look very appetizing. In order to introduce the cinnamon-sugar flavor, but preserve the white cream cheese filling, I made a paste of the cinnamon-sugar and "painted" the inside of the cavity with the paste using a small wooden popsicle stick.
- Uniform size: If you have any experience with Hawaiian rolls, you likely know that their sizes vary slightly. To improve the overall presentation, I separated the rolls by slicing them rather than pulling them apart to produce uniform sizes.
- Dip into the Icing: Initially, I tried icing the tops of the Hawaiian rolls using a small offset spatula. This was messy and didn't produce an even coating of the icing. I found that dipping the tops of the rolls straight down about ¼ inch into the icing, pulling them straight up and allowing the excess icing to drip off produced the best results.
- Make-ahead gifting: My plan was to share the King Cake Bites with colleagues the day after I made them. I made sure that the icing was fully set before refrigerating the bites to prevent condensation. The next morning, I packaged them cold and allowed them to rest at room temperature before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, because of the cream cheese filling.
Absolutely. They hold up very well overnight, covered in the refrigerator.
Mixing the cinnamon into the cream cheese dulls the color and muddies the flavor. Layering it inside the cavity preserves both the visual appeal and the bold flavor.
For safety reasons, it's best to place the baby in the packaging rather than inside the rolls.
Yes. Brioche rolls can work similarly, though sweetness and texture may vary slightly.
Yes. However, the texture and finish of the icing will change. Corn syrup helps create a smooth, glossy glaze that sets firmly without becoming brittle. Without it, the icing will still work, but may dry more matte, crack more easily, and feel slightly grainer once set.
Other King Cake Treats
King Cakes are iconic Mardi Gras treats. For variety, try these recipes.
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King Cake Bites Made with Hawaiian Rolls
Equipment
- ½ inch metal cannoli tube
- Electric Mixer
- Disposable pastry bat
- #12 round tip
Ingredients
Rolls
- 12 King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Cinnamon-Sugar "Paint"
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperture
- ¾ cup (3 ounces) confectioners' sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of fine sea salt or table salt
Hard-Setting Icing and Decorations
- 2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons (0.8 ounces) Karo Light Corn Syrup
- 2 ½ Tablespoons (1.25 ounces) milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of fine sea salt or table salt
- Purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar
Instructions
Rolls
- Use a knife to cut the rolls into uniform sizes rather than pulling them apart. (See Tip 1)
- Using a ½-inch cannoli tube, remove a small core from the side of each roll, making sure not to cut all the way through the rolls. (See Tip 2)
Cinnamon-Sugar "Paint"
- Mix together the melted unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Using a popsicle stick or a small knife, "paint" the inside of the roll's cavity with about ½ teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Cream Cheese Filing
- Beat together the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. Fill a pastry bag with a #12 round tip with the filling. Pipe between 1 and 1 ½ tablespoons of the filling into the hole of each roll, being careful not to overfill. (See Tip 3)
Hard-Set Icing and Decorations
- In a medium bowl, beat together the confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth and creamy. If necessary, add more milk to achieve the perfect dipping consistency. (See Tips 4 and 5)
- Dip the tops of each filled roll in the icing, allowing the excess to drip off. Decorate immediately with purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar. (See Tip 5)
- Yield: 12 King Cake Bites.
Video
Tips/Notes
- The size of individual King's Hawaiian rolls tends to vary slightly. To ensure uniform size, use a knife to cut the rolls apart.
- I tried using a paring knife, my finger, an apple corer, and the cannoli tube. The cannoli tube was the clear winner in terms of cavity size and uniform appearance.
- Can substitute a Ziploc bag with about a ¼ inch cut in the corner to fill the rolls.
- I tried applying the icing with a small offset spatula, but the results were messy. Dipping the rolls straight down about ¼ inch into the icing, then allowing the excess to drip off, produced the best results.
- When the ribbons of the icing disappear in several seconds, the icing is of the perfect consistency.
- Because the filling contains cream cheese, the filled rolls should be refrigerated.
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