Carrot Cake Season
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been seeing carrot cake absolutely everywhere! Rightfully so though — Easter is only days away so it only makes sense for everyone to be on their carrot cake grind. Naturally, I began craving carrot cake and planned on making my own to post on here. But while I love carrot cake and would happily make one, I also wanted to make something a little more creative than a basic carrot cake. I don’t quite know how this idea popped into my mind but one moment I was thinking: “classic carrot cake.” Then moments later I thought: “what about Carrot Cake Croissants?”
Almond Croissant Meets Carrot Cake
I’m not even going to try to be humble right now LOL, but I’m pretty damn impressed with myself for coming up with this idea and my execution of the recipe. I, personally, haven’t seen Carrot Cake Croissants anywhere or even a recipe for them. Nonetheless, I’m pretty sure outside of my own recipe, someone else has probably already come up with this idea. BUT I still like to think this was a pretty unique and cool idea XD! T
So you may be wondering, “what are these Carrot Cake Croissants you speak of?”
Imagine this: A delicious, flaky almond croissant meets a warm spiced carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and they have a baby. The base of this recipe is an almond croissant. However, I swapped and added in a few ingredients to replicate the classic carrot cake flavor. Instead of only using granulated sugar, I swapped in some brown sugar for that molasses-y taste; I also mixed in cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to give it that warm spice flavor; and of course, I added in grated carrots! Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. After the croissants are filled and baked, they’re topped with chopped pecans and cream cheese frosting!
These Carrot Cake Croissants are honestly one of my proudest creations! They are SO FREAKING DELICIOUS and surpassed my initial expectations. Like ya’ll. I did not expect them to be this good. They match every expectation you may have when you think of Carrot Cake Croissants.
Storing and Reheating
With these croissants, I think storing and reheating are SO crucial because these croissants are definitely best served warm. When you store them, they do tend to get soft and lose that crispy croissant flakiness. But don’t you worry. If you follow these steps, you’ll easily be able to turn these Carrot Cake Croissants back to their tip top shape!
If you plan on eating all of the croissants right away, allow them to cool for 8-10 minutes and feel free to top all of them with frosting.
However, if you know you’re going to have leftover croissants, follow these steps to store and reheat them:
- Allow any leftover croissants to cool completely and do not top them with frosting.
- Store the croissants and cream cheese frosting in their own separate air tight containers. Keep the frosting in the fridge.
- When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 400˚F. While the oven preheats, remove the frosting from the fridge to allow it to soften.
- Loosely wrap each croissant with foil and place them onto a baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for about 8 minutes.
- Remove the croissants from the oven and top with the cream cheese frosting!
Carrot Cake Croissants
Ingredients
For the Simple Syrup
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
For the Croissants
- 4 Croissants
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
- 2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Almond Extract
- ½ tsp Lemon Zest
- ¼ cup Finely Grated Carrots (use small grater holes)
- ½ cup Almond Flour
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
- ¾ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Ground Ginger
- ⅛ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- ½ cup Roughly Chopped Pecans
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
- 3 oz Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1¼ cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
For the Simple Syrup:
- Add the water and sugar to a small pot. Heat over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and set the syrup aside to cool.
For the Croissants:
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the croissants in half and arrange them onto the prepared baking sheet. Set the top halves aside.
- In a large bowl, add in the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars together until creamy and fluffy. Mix in the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract until well combined. Then mix in the lemon zest, grated carrot, almond flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix until everything is incorporated.
- Brush the insides of the tops and bottoms of the croissants with the simple syrup. Transfer the carrot cake filling into a piping bag. Pipe some of the filling onto the bottom croissants. Then top with the top halves. Spread a thin layer of the remaining filling onto the tops of the croissants. Sprinkle half of the chopped pecans on top.
- Bake the croissants in the oven for about 18-20 minutes until the paste has dried and the croissants are crispy on the outside. When they're done, remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool for about 10 minutes until slightly warm.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Add the butter and cream cheese to a bowl. Cream the two together until they are well combined. Then add in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Mix until the powdered sugar has been fully incorporated.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe a layer of it onto the tops of the croissants. Top it with the remaining chopped pecans and enjoy!
Notes
- Allow the croissants to cool completely
- Do not top the any croissants that will be stored with frosting.
- Store the croissants and cream cheese frosting separately in airtight containers. Keep the frosting in the fridge.
- When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 400˚F.
- While the oven preheats, remove the frosting from the fridge to allow it to soften.
- Loosely wrap the croissants in foil and place them onto a baking sheet. Bake for about 8 minutes.
- Top with frosting and enjoy!
