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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
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Adding cinnamon batter to white batter in a baking dish.
Swirling cinnamon batter into the white batter of a baking dish.

How to Make Cinnamon Roll Cake

  1. PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 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 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.
  3. BAKE. Bake for 28–32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  4. GLAZE. Meanwhile, mix powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Drizzle over the warm cake.
A slice of cinnamon roll cake served on a white plate.
5 from 219 votes

Cinnamon Roll Cake

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 only 40 minutes!
Servings: 12
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 40 minutes

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

Frosting. This recipe uses a glaze topping, but you can make a cream cheese frosting instead. 
Make ahead of time. 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 for up to 3 months. Just reheat it in the oven for a few minutes to get warm before drizzling with the glaze.
Store leftovers, covered, on the counter for 3-4 days or wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.

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.

Recipe FAQ

Make ahead of time?

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.

How to store?

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.

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This recipe was originally published January 2013.

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About Kristyn

Kristyn Merkley is a published cookbook author, wife, mom of six, and major food enthusiast! For the past 15 years, she has been sharing foolproof, family-friendly recipes—each one tested in her kitchen—that anyone can master. As a seasoned recipe creator, she loves making cooking simple, stress-free, and totally doable for everyone!

More About Kristyn

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5 from 219 votes (78 ratings without comment)

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383 Comments

  1. SKH says:

    If a recipe calls for baking powder and salt then the flour is all purpose. Self rising already has those ingredients in it.. If you’d like to substitute self rising for all purpose omit the baking powder and salt.

    Reply
  2. Linda says:

    My family loved it, but it took almost 20 extra minutes to cook through. It’s very sweet and rich.

    Reply
  3. Ines says:

    5 stars
    Wonderful recipe! I take it! I love cinnamon! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Su T says:

    5 stars
    So I made the cake and it is VERY good! Perfect with a hot cup of coffee. I made a couple of mistakes – 1) of adding one too many Tablespoons of cinnamon, but really, I love cinnamon so it was a good mistake (lol) and 2) I didn’t measure the powdered sugar – tried eyeballing the two cups, but clearly it wasn’t enough. The glaze wasn’t thick enough like your photo but i think its still amazing.

    This one is a keeper.

    Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Reply
  5. Su T says:

    Getting ready to make this today. Questions: 1) reading comments, so me are saying “don’t over swirl” what does that mean?? 2) in measuring flour I typically use a spoon to scoop the floor into a measuring cup – should I do same for this recipe or do you just put your measuring cup straight in a scoop up – I think it makes a slight diff ??

    Has anyone tried cutting back on the sugar and buttuer? If so, what amounts did you use?

    Thanks – this is worth trying for sure since I LOVE cinnamon rolls! Will post when its all done!

    Reply
  6. Maria Laura says:

    5 stars
    Did it twice in 4 days…… Enough said hahaha. Everyone LOVES IT! I took it out of the oven 2 hours ago and im afraid its not gonna last through the night!
    Great recipe! A billion stars!!!

    Reply
  7. Andrea says:

    Hi I was wondering if you could substitute the butter with margarine. I can’t wait to make this! It looks so yummy!! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Maria Laura says:

      I tried it with margarine and didn’t like it that much….

      Reply
  8. maria says:

    This looks easy enough to make. Will give it a try and pinning it.

    Reply
  9. Ginger says:

    I was wondering do you use self rising or plain flour. I think someone already asked this question , but did not see the answer. Can’t wait to fix this 🙂

    Reply
    1. Lil' Luna says:

      Regular flour 🙂

      Reply
      1. LINDA says:

        ive never seen regular flour … here where i live there is only plain and selfrising