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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!
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
Just Mix and Bake!
- 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 melted butter and pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
- CINNAMON TOPPING. In a medium bowl, mix softened butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Dollop over the top of the cake mixture evenly.
- 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.
- BAKE. Bake for 28–32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- GLAZE. Meanwhile, mix all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the warm cake.
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.
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.
For more Cinnamon Roll recipes:
Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe
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 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 28–32 minutes.
- Make the glaze: Mix all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the cake while it is still warm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow, nice job on those swirls. I would probably mess them up but somehow, I don’t think it would matter. Beautiful work overall!
I took this to a church potluck and had tons of requests for the recipe! Thanks for sharing it!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Always unsalted in my baking. 🙂
I have made this twice. I used the ingredients as written and baked it exactly 32 minutes, as directed. It was perfect. We love it. I believe the trick is in the swirling method. I let the knife only sink about an inch in the batter, so that the topping stays mostly on top. When checking for doneness, I inserted the toothpick in a place where there is only cake, without topping. I am cooking for two, so there was a lot. I froze individual servings for breakfasts later. It freezes well. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
You’re welcome, Leslie! This is one of our favorites too. 🙂 Thx for stopping by!
Could I prepare this the night before, leave it it the fridge, and cook it it the morning? I’d love to make this, but I’m short on time with company! 🙂
Unfortunately, I’ve never it tried it that way. Let me know if you do it and if it works. 🙂
I’m making this right now! Can’t wait to serve it tonight after dinner!
How did everyone like it?
This recipe is to die for good!! I had it over the weekend at a friends house, so of course I had to make it for my family today.
YAY!! LOVE to hear that you love it. It’s one of our favorites too. 🙂
I usually cant make a cake to save my life but this was a huge success
My only issue was spreading the topping evenly enough for it to bake consistently
so! today Im going to try this as cupcakes.
Ooooh – cupcakes would be awesome! Let me know how it goes. 🙂