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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. 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.

  2. Linda says:

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

  3. Ines says:

    5 stars
    Wonderful recipe! I take it! I love cinnamon! ๐Ÿ™‚

  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.

  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!

  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!!!

  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!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Maria Laura says:

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

  8. maria says:

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

  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 ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Lil' Luna says:

      Regular flour ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. LINDA says:

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