Lucky Charms Sweet Rolls

Recipies
Written By Sarah Kelly
lucky charms cinnamon roll with lucky charms cereal marshmallows on top

I love finding variations on the classic cinnamon roll; it’s such a fun puzzle to figure out. It St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner so why not shoot my shot with Lucky Charms Rolls?

These were inspired by the cereal during Saturday Morning Cartoons of my childhood, Milk Bar cereal milk, and the creative coffee drink culture here in Columbus.

Now, know as you read below that I’m not going through my exact dough recipe, just the filling. Use your favorite cinnamon roll base dough recipe instead! Links are provided below for recommended dough recipes though and recommended batch adjustments.

Ingredients:

Cereal Milk:

  • 1 cup Lucky Charms cereal (the dry cereal, not the marshmallows) - toasted

  • 360ml milk (I always use whole)

  • 2 teaspoon brown sugar (or more to taste)

  • pinch of salt

  • a few Lucky Charms marshmallows

Filling:

  • 90g unsalted butter

  • 80g sugar

  • 30g powdered milk (toasted)

  • 6g flour

  • 1 cup Lucky Charms cereal (the dry cereal, not the marshmallows) optional: toast cereal in oven

Glaze:

  • 200g powdered sugar

  • 3-4 Tablespoons reduced cereal milk

  • pinch of salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 Tablespoon melted butter

Use Lucky Charms marshmallows for decorations on top of the finished sweet rolls

Directions:

Cereal Milk: yield is 90–120 ml - can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 5 days

  1. Optional: Preheat oven to 300*F. Spread the 1/2 cup of Lucky Charms dry cereal in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Take the sheet out of the oven and let cool.

  2. Put the cereal in a bowl, add the marshmallows and pour the milk into the bowl and stir. Let steep for 20 minutes at room temperature.

  3. Strain the mixture via a sieve. Make sure to strain completely and press the soggy cereal with the back of a spoon to get all the milk you can.

  4. Add the pinch of salt and teaspoon of brown sugar to the milk and stir to dissolve. (the original Cereal Milk Recipe from Christina Tosi uses some more sugar but i tend to like things a little less sweet. Feel free to add more)

Filling: yield is enough for a dough that rolls out to a 16 x 12 rectangle - 8 rolls

  1. Preheat oven to 300*F. - keep preheated for both the below steps

  2. Spread the powder milk in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for around 6 minutes, stop when it turns light golden and smells nutty/caramel-like. Take the sheet out of the oven and let cool.

  3. Spread the cup of Lucky Charms dry cereal in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 300*F for 15 minutes. Take the sheet out of the oven and let cool.

  4. Crush the toasted cereal. I do this by placing it in a ziploc bag, closing it with little air as possible, and using a rolling pin to crush it. Set the crushed cereal aside.

  5. In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Then, mix in the toasted milk powder and flour.

  6. Roll out your cinnamon roll dough. Spread out the butter paste made in the previous step evenly on the rolled dough.

  7. Sprinkle the toasted, crushed cereal evenly over the buttered dough, pressing into the dough slightly. You may not use all the cereal.

  8. Roll and cut the dough into individual sweet rolls and transfer into your preferred baking dish. Cover and and do the final proof.

Glaze: yield is enough for 8 rolls - depending on the size

While the rolls are almost done being baked per your original cinnamon roll dough recipe, make the glaze:

  1. Place your cereal milk in a small pot. Simmer on a low heat to reduce the volume to about 5 tablespoons. Cool completely. (You can skip this step if you want. The reduction just concentrates the flavor).

  2. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 Tablespoon of butter, pinch of salt and 3-4 Tablespoons of reduced cereal milk. Mix until smooth.

  3. Glaze the baked sweet rolls after they have cooled a but, but not completely. Top the rolls with as many Lucky Charms marshmallows as you would like.

Notes:

Base cinnamon roll dough: I would follow your base dough recipe for rolling, proofing and baking instructions. I typically cut my dough into strips after adding the filling and then roll them up into swirls. Some people roll their dough up and then cut their cinnamon rolls. Here are some great recipes to use:

Yields: The filling and glaze above goes with a dough recipe that yields 8 rolls. Make sure you take that into account to see if you need to double the above recipe. I wouldn’t lessen it though if the dough yields less than 8.

Sarah Kelly