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This extra sweet breakfast recipe is a family FAVORITE!!
Imagine Homemade Cinnamon Rolls in cake form. Sounds amazing, right? It really is. Our kids clean the pan every time we whip this up.
If you’re looking for a shortcut, this recipe is it! It has all of the delicious flavors of cinnamon rolls but in a fraction of the time (only 40 minutes from start to finish!). It is pretty much on repeat at our house as a go-to breakfast – and dessert.
And if you like this, you’ll love our Cinnamon Roll Bites and Easy Coffee Cake Recipe.
Why we think you’ll love it:
- Next level delicious. With loads of butter, cinnamon, glaze, and flavor, this recipe always gets rave reviews!
- Great for holidays. Make it for special mornings, like Christmas, or a lazy Sunday morning.
- Extra simple. Just mix, dollop, swirl, and bake. This easy cake comes together in no time – it’s ready in only 40 minutes.
Cinnamon Roll Cake Ingredients and Substitutions
Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour – see How to Measure Flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt – omit if using salted butter
- 1½ cups milk
- 2 large eggs – room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted – or salted butter
- optional mix-ins – raisins or chopped nuts
Cinnamon Topping
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened – see How to Soften Butter Quickly
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar – or dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 5 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How to Make Cinnamon Roll Cake
- PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-x-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- BATTER. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla together. Slowly stir in ½ cup melted butter and pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, mix ¾ cup softened butter, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon. Dollop the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the cake mixture evenly.
- 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.
- BAKE. Bake for 28–32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- GLAZE. Meanwhile, mix powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Drizzle over the warm cake.
Cinnamon Roll Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Cinnamon Topping
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 5 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Slowly stir in melted butter and pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
- 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 28–32 minutes.
- Mix all glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle over the cake while it is still warm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Bake it 24 hours in advance and store, unglazed, covered at room temperature. You can also wrap the baked cake with plastic and foil and freeze up to 3 months. Just reheat it in the oven for a few minutes to get warm before drizzling with the glaze.
Cool and cover with foil or saran wrap. Leave it on the counter for 3-4 days or wrap and freeze it for up to 3 months.
More Like This
Cinnamon Roll Recipes
Mini Cinnamon Rolls
1 hr 30 mins
Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe
52 mins
Cinnamon Bites
30 mins
Cinnamon Roll French Toast Casserole
6 hrs 50 mins
Breakfast Cakes
New York-Style Crumb Cake
45 mins
Bisquick Coffee Cake
45 mins
Coffee Cake Muffins
40 mins
Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
30 mins
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This recipe was originally published January 2013.
It´s in the oven! Smells great, but its taking longer than 30 minutes…. i´m adding another 10 minutes or so because its still runny in the middle. I’ll take a bite in a few! Will let you know how it turns out! =)
OH MY GOD!!! This is sooooo DELICIOUS!!! my mom and grandma loved it and i know everyone else too!! Thank you so much, it’s so easy to make and it tastes great!
I am making this right now. However, I added an additional 10 minutes and it still isn’t done. Has this happened to anyone else? Thank you!
Did this turn out, Sonja? I haven’t had anyone who’s had problems with it so far. :/
Yes I did and I cooked it for about 48 minutes and it is awesome!I guess I over swirled it but it came out great.
Glad it turned out! It’s seriously our favorite! I hope everyone liked it. 🙂
You definitely don’t want to over swirl. If you do, like I did, you will have to add on some extra time. Still yummy and would make again. Thanks for the great recipe..
I am currently on the fence. I just cut thru this and anywhere there was the brown part it’s soggy as… And so as soon as I am done, I am going to throw it back in the oven and hope for the best, but I can honestly see myself throwing this in the garbage or eating around the brown. I am wondering if this much butter is necessary? It seems excessive somehow and I can’t understand why the white is cooked and the brown is nearly ruining the cake. Of course it tastes good, but I probably shouldn’t have tried it with it being so gooey. Sigh.
Since I saw these on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago, they have been on my mind! I have made cinnamon rolls once since being married, but the amount of work was a bit daunting (especially since I’m not a morning person!). This is such a fabulous idea! I’m making these this afternoon for a mom’s group tomorrow- thanks so much for the idea!
This cake is a new family favourite in my house too! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I hope you won’t mind me sharing a Britished-up version (weights rather than cups) on my blog. I will of course link back to your original recipe.
I hope you can, as I know that US and UK measures can vary. Also, I’m not well acquainted with the old imperial measures.
I so love when I get a craving for something sweet and I have all the ingredients in the kitchen without having to go out. This cake is an absolute HIT!!!
YAY! So glad it was a hit. It’s so easy to make too which helps!! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Recently, I saw a recipe for putting tortilla wraps in a muffin tin, and topping them with chicken and cheese. Did I see that recipe here? My computer was down and I wasn’t able to print it. I love your site!
Just made this!! Very tasty!! I halved the recipe because with the two of us we didn’t need all of it. I will make again.
What size pan did you use when you “halved” the recipe? Thanks.