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Cinnamon roll cake is a favorite breakfast treat in cake form. With a quick prep and cook time it’s on the table in no time!

Cinnamon roll cake is a cake version of classic Cinnamon Rolls. If you’re looking for a shortcut, this recipe is it! And if you like this, you’ll love our Cinnamon Roll Bites too!

Cinnamon roll cake recipe on a white plate.
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A Family Favorite!

This next breakfast recipe is a family favorite.

Imagine Homemade Cinnamon Rolls in cake form. I can tell you right now that it is AMAZING, and a Family Favorite!

Why you will love it too:

  • Delicious. With loads of butter, cinnamon, glaze and flavor, this recipe always gets rave reviews!
  • Great for holidays. Make it for parties or for special mornings, like Christmas.
  • Simple. Just mix, dollop, swirl and bake. This cake comes together in no time.

It’s pretty much a family favorite dessert (and breakfast) and has become a go-to like our Easy Coffee Cake Recipe.

Ingredients

  • all-purpose flour
  • sugar
  • baking powder
  • salt
  • milk
  • eggs
  • vanilla extract
  • unsalted butter, melted

Cinnamon Topping

  • unsalted butter softened
  • brown sugar
  • all-purpose flour
  • ground cinnamon

Glaze

  • powdered sugar, sifted
  • milk
  • vanilla extract
Adding cinnamon batter to white batter in a baking dish.

Just Mix and Bake!

  1. PREP. Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. Grease a 9-x-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. BATTER. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla together. Slowly stir in melted butter and pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
  3. CINNAMON TOPPING. In a medium bowl, mix softened butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Dollop over the top of the cake mixture evenly.
  4. SWIRL. Swirl your topping and cake mixture with a knife, only inserting it halfway into the cake batter and going up and down the length of the pan.
  5. BAKE. Bake for 28โ€“32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. GLAZE. Meanwhile, mix all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the warm cake.
Swirling cinnamon batter into the white batter of a baking dish.

Recipe Tips

Do not overmix. If you over-mix the cinnamon swirls it may take longer for the cake portion to fully bake.

Flour. If you have self-rising flour, you can use 3 cups of that, but you will also need to omit the baking powder and salt as the self-rising flour already has it mixed in.

Mix-ins. You can add raisins or chopped nuts to the cake.

Swirling cinnamon batter into the white batter of a baking dish.

Storing Info

STORE. Allow homemade cinnamon roll cake to cool before covering it with foil or saran wrap and leaving it on the counter before reheating. If you are making it ahead of time, I recommend serving it within 24 hours but leftovers will keep for 3-4 days.

FREEZE. Let the easy cinnamon roll cake recipe cool and cover it tightly in plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can reheat pieces in the microwave or the whole pan at a low temp in the oven.

Cinnamon roll cake slice served on a white plate.

For more Cinnamon Roll recipes:

5 from 218 votes

Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe

By: Lil’ Luna
Cinnamon roll cake is a favorite breakfast treat in cake form. With a quick prep and cook time it's on the table in no time!
Servings: 12
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 40 minutes

Ingredients 

Cake

Cinnamon Topping

  • ยพ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Glaze

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-x-13-inch baking dish and set aside.
  • Make the cake: In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla together.
  • Slowly stir in melted butter and pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
  • Make the cinnamon topping: In another bowl, mix softened butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Dollop over the top of the cake mixture evenly.
  • Swirl your topping and cake mixture with a knife, only inserting it halfway into the batter and going up and down the length of the pan.
  • Bake for 28โ€“32 minutes.
  • Make the glaze: Mix all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the cake while it is still warm.

Video

Notes

Make ahead of time.ย We love making this fresh to serve warm, but you can also make it 24 hours in advance and store, unglazed, covered at room temperature. Just reheat it in the oven for a few minutes to get warm before drizzling with the glaze.
Frosting. This recipe uses a glaze topping, but you can make a cream cheese frosting instead.ย 
STORE. Allow homemade cinnamon roll cake to cool before covering it with foil or saran wrap and leaving it on the counter before reheating. If you are making it ahead of time, I recommend serving it within 24 hours but leftovers will keep for 3-4 days.
FREEZE. Let the easy cinnamon roll cake recipe cool and cover it tightly in plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can reheat pieces in the microwave or the whole pan at a low temp in the oven.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 538kcal, Carbohydrates: 82g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 83mg, Sodium: 132mg, Potassium: 270mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 56g, Vitamin A: 692IU, Vitamin C: 0.02mg, Calcium: 140mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and Iโ€™m the mom of SIX stinkinโ€™ cute kids and the wife to my smokinโ€™ hot hubby, Lo. My momโ€™s maiden name is Luna, and Iโ€™m one of the many crafty โ€œLilโ€™ Lunasโ€ in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

So Easy & So Yummy

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5 from 218 votes (78 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




382 Comments

  1. deb says:

    I made this cake and used too much butter in the batter. The ingredient list make it a little confusing. We’ll see how it turns out. Smells good!

  2. Vikky Johnson says:

    5 stars
    We made this today and it was delicious. We added cinamon 1 tbsp to the icing and the kids raved about the extra flavor. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Meka says:

    5 stars
    I made this and

    1. Meka says:

      http://instagram.com/p/t-_0RyGTM6/?modal=true
      Didnt get to finish typing. I made this and totally forgot to come back and let you know just how amazing it was! Thank you for sharing…I may go ahead and make it again this weekend! ๐Ÿ˜‰

  4. Jennie says:

    5 stars
    Very tasty and very easy to make. I had my oven on top and bottom heat and had the cake in for 50 minutes. I also topped it with cream cheese frosting. This recipe makes 12 big pieces and since I don’t eat sugar on a regular basis (I had made this for dinner with friends along with two other sweets) there was a lot left over so I put them in the freezer. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  5. Carey Daste says:

    5 stars
    I might have over-swirled also because this took a lot longer to bake than 32 minutes. But it is delicious! It’s definitely difficult to know when to take it out. Hey maybe I under swirled! ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Lil' Luna says:

      Sorry you had problems with this. Every oven is different so I would just bake for the suggested time and the middle still looks unbaked and jiggles a bit, I would bake for a little longer. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  6. Kฤฑrmadan Su KaรงaฤŸฤฑ Tespiti says:

    My mom and I have been trying to figure out how to make gluten free cinnamon roles. The results have not been fabulous.

  7. Jenn says:

    5 stars
    I just made this recipe……. uhm, I really don’t have words to express how I feel, maybe OMG sums it up! I’ve never made cinnamon rolls but I have plenty of recipes pinned because, well, I LOVE THEM! My best friend makes homemade cinnamon rolls, as far as I know they are the only homemade ones I’ve ever had and they are to die for. There is one problem with me making her recipe, no matter how much free time I have I DON’T have the patience or the process, I mean make dough then wait and let it rise and something about an 4 or 8hr process… LOL, yeah right! So I stumbled upon your recipe here yesterday. I had to make it today! It’s a TOTAL & COMPLETE HIT with the entire 4 of us! OMG it’s to die for. Now that I’ve made this I am not sure I will ever attempt the longing process of real cinnamon rolls!

    Thank you sooooooooooo much for sharing this! Finding a recipe that will be made on the regular is kind of a challenge. Point for you ๐Ÿ™‚ <3

    1. Lil' Luna says:

      Your comment totally made my day! I, too, have never tried the long process of cinnamon rolls but my mom does it all the time. We LOVE this Cinnamon Roll Cake recipe and make it all the time, though. It’s our favorite and WAY simple. If you like this then you must also try these Cinnamon Roll Bites – https://lilluna.com/cinnamon-roll-bites/. They are delicious!!

      1. Jenn says:

        ooooh, bite sized pieces :O well I will definitely be making this one next, there are only 3 pieces left of this cake so it won’t be long before the bites hit the oven :P… I will let you know on that recipe how it goes ๐Ÿ™‚ Btw, I LOVE you read all your replies!

      2. Lil' Luna says:

        LOL. I try to read them all, but I do miss a few every once in a while. Let me know what you think of the Cinnamon Bites. They are SOOO good and really quick to make. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Merry Christmas!!

  8. Her Mommy09 says:

    5 stars
    I love this cake. i made it and now my entire family thinks I can cook/bake. I made this on wed and by wed night i had three family members requesting that i make them one ASAP. Thank you soooooo much for this recipe.

    1. Lil' Luna says:

      I LOVE to hear that – it’s a favorite of ours too. ๐Ÿ™‚