Cinnamon Roll Cake
This cinnamon roll cake is fabulous! An easy one-bowl, fluffy vanilla cake is swirled with cinnamon and sugar and glazed warm from the oven. So yummy!
I don’t know if there is a cake quite as delicious as this craggy-topped cinnamon roll cake. Warm and cinnamony, it is divine served with a scoop if ice cream!
One Bowl Cake Batter
I know it might feel wrong in a hundred different ways to throw all the cake batter ingredients in a bowl at once, but just go with it, because it works!
There’s no need to cream the butter and sugar together separately. Everything goes in one bowl, and you end up with the fluffiest, softest cake ever.
Cake ingredients:
- flour
- sugar
- baking soda + baking powder + salt
- vanilla + eggs
- butter
- sour cream
Mix until the batter is mostly smooth. A few tiny lumps are ok, but there shouldn’t be any dry streaks remaining.
Cinnamon and Sugar Swirl
The soft cinnamon and sugar swirl is equal parts butter and brown sugar, plus a spoonful of flour and a delightful amount of ground cinnamon.
This mixture should be soft and spreadable so that it swirls easily into the cake batter.
Swirling Cinnamon Roll Cake
Dollop the buttery cinnamon sugar mixture by heaping spoonfuls over the cake batter.
Use a butter knife to swirl the cinnamon mixture into the top of the cake batter. Don’t dig the knife all the way to the bottom of the pan while swirling and don’t over mix.
Just swipe through the top of the batter once or twice to create generous loops of cinnamon and sugar.
It is normal for *some* of the cinnamon sugar mixture to sink while baking. There will still be delightful ribbons of cinnamon running throughout the cake. However, to prevent *all* the cinnamon mixture sinking to the bottom, make sure the butter in the cinnamon/sugar mixture is really soft. Also, as mentioned above, only swirl through the top part of the cake batter (and don’t over do it!).
Glaze the Cake While Warm
Let the cake cool for just a few minutes after baking before spreading the glaze over the top.
As a finishing touch, the glaze sinks into the nooks and crannies of the warm, craggy-topped cake enhancing that delightful cinnamon roll vibe.
How to Serve Cinnamon Roll Cake
This cake is unbelievably delicious served warm or at room temperature.
It doesn’t need a lot of add-ons since it is wonderful served on its own, but if you want to level up just a bit, try a piece slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla (or cinnamon!) ice cream. 😍
I’ve been making this cake for years, and it is a family favorite. It has also saved me on more than one occasion when I needed a quick, showstopper dessert. One bowl cinnamon roll cake to the rescue!
Rave Reviews
Jamie: This was delicious!! I made it gluten-free with Grandpa’s Kitchen Flour and it turned out perfect. It was moist, flavorful, and soooo yummy.
Brenda: Delicious! My husband LOVES this cake! Tastes exactly like a cinnamon roll!
Elizabeth: Oh my goodness! I made this cake over the weekend and it was delicious! I love this type of breakfast cake/coffee cake/cinnamon-y cake and this may be the best I’ve tasted!
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Cinnamon Roll Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ⅓ cups (302 g) light or regular sour cream
- ⅔ cup (151 g) salted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 large eggs
Cinnamon Swirl:
- ¾ cup (170 g) salted butter, very soft (but not melted)
- ¾ cup (159 g) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Glaze:
- 2 cups (228 g) powdered sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- For the cake, in a large bowl, combine all the cake batter ingredients and mix well. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
- For the swirl, in a medium bowl, stir together the butter, light brown sugar, flour and cinnamon until well-mixed and smooth. Dollop the cinnamon swirl mixture by heaping spoonfuls over the cake batter.
- Use a butter knife to swirl the cinnamon mixture into the TOP of the cake batter (don't press the knife all the way to the bottom of the pan – swirl just into the top half of the cake batter). Try not to over swirl or over mix. A few generous loops through the batter should be just fine.
- Bake the cake for 30-32 minutes until the top springs back lightly to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour the glaze evenly over the warm cake.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe Andreya L. sent me (used the cake recipe from my chocolate chip cake recipe, adapted glaze and cinnamon/sugar/butter mixture slightly from the recipe she sent) – thanks, Andreya!
Recipe posted September 2013; updated May 2023 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Could I make this in bread pans!? What temperature and time would you suggest?
Hi Sarah – do you mean bake it like a quick bread? I haven’t tried it to know if the batter will rise and bake ok in a loaf pan. Definitely worth experimenting! I’d suggest 350 degrees F and baking for 45-55 minutes (if the pan is full)
We love this cake! You can’t mess it up and it’s soft and delicious!
My only question is this: it’s not done after 32 min. As in its very jiggly. Usually I have to bake it for 10-15 additional min. If I up the temp to 375 on convection, and bake for 25 min ish would that help? What do you recommend. Thanks Mel!
Hi Ashlee – what kind of baking pan are you using? Is it glass? Adding extra time like you have been doing is the best method. Increasing the baking temperature can result in the outside edges of the cake being over done while the inside is still under cooked.
What about adding raisins?
Could definitely experiment with that!
Delicious cinnamon cake.
Reminds me of homemade cinnamon rolls.
OMG. I just made this evening to have with Easter Brunch tomorrow. I have a severe egg allergy so I substituted homemade cinnamon applesauce for the eggs. I was anxiety ridden about the cinnamon mixture sinking to the bottom so I’m gonna tell ya….I over swirled even though we were instructed not to. Lol. Absolutely perfect! So decadent. It will be perfect with some savory breakfast items tomorrow! Thanks Mel!
Yum yum. All I can say. One brother ate half and another said it was sinful. Great recipe Mel.
Oh my goodness! This is the BEST dessert! It is just as good of flavor of a cinnamon roll and our family devoured it. Thank you so much for this wonderfully, simple and delicious piece of heaven.
I love that you add the weights of things! It’s easier to weigh than measure sometimes! This is so delicious
Hi Mel, This is another Mel and I made this wonderful, scrumptious and easy cake. My bestie loves cinnamon rolls but takes so long to do ,so this will be my go to. Thanks
I brought this cake to a family dinner despite reviews suggesting that the filling sank. I made sure the butter in my filling was nice and soft, but not melted, before starting. I mixed the butter up well so it was fluffy and it did not sink. The cake turned out perfectly! I only used 1 cup of sugar in the cake batter and the whole thing was still plenty sweet. Next time, I would halve the glaze and just drizzle it on. As written, the recipe had enough glaze to cover the entire cake. Overall, everyone who tried this cake, loved it and had seconds. This was a dangerously quick and easy way to enjoy the flavor of cinnamon rolls.
I had high expectations as I love the cinnamon rolls on this site. But the cinnamon mixture sank, as several others mentioned. That wasn’t too bad, and the texture is light and stays moist for days. For me (and my husband) they were just way too sweet. I reduced sugar by half a cup in batter, but should have also reduced it in the filling. I’m looking for something more like a cinnamon roll in a cake form.
I made this a few months ago and it was SO good. I made someone else’s version of this recipe today since I didn’t have any sour cream and I have to say while it was good and my whole family loved it, we all agreed that yours is way, way better!!
Now you have done it, Mel. After dear folks in my life tasted your yummy Cinnamon Roll Cake, I get “sure like the Cinnamon Roll… hint, hint”‼️The local farmer and I have struck up a deal. . . I get fresh tomatoes once they have ripened in exchange for a Cinnamon Roll Cake.
Thank you for such a popular goody.
This was delicious!! I made it gluten-free with Grandpa’s Kitchen Flour and it turned out perfect. It was moist, flavorful, and soooo yummy. We served it a dish of vanilla ice cream and that really took it to the next level! Thanks Mel!
Delicious! My husband LOVES this cake! Tastes exactly like a cinnamon roll!
I make this ALL the time it’s delicious! I will say it takes longer to cook, at least in my oven. People love it!
I was so excited to try this recipe because my husband loves anything cinnamon roll. Well it was a disaster. I took my time, followed the recipe exactly and every step looked identical to the video. Well the brown sugar mix fell to the bottom and the cake had a very odd texture. It was light but yet gummy. I have made so many of Mel’s recipes but this one was an absolute miss for us…on to the next recipe.
Super easy – came out great.
Hi Mel! I’m excited to try this recipe but I wasn’t able to find sour cream. Could I possibly use a buttermilk substitute instead (milk and lemon juice)? I’m new to baking and am afraid to mess up the consistency/flavor of the cake! Would love your thoughts 🙂
Hi Renee, do you have yogurt?
Unfortunately this did not work for me. I think my cinnamon mixture must have been too thick. It all sank to the bottom and made a real mess. I know the recipe says it’s not suppose to be a soupy mixture to marble through the cake but I think that might work better for me. Any other suggestions on why it may have not worked out?
I think you could try thinning out the cinnamon mixture a bit? Maybe not until “soupy” but thinner so it doesn’t sink to the bottom.
I just halved the sugar. Otherwise a super receipe
Oh my goodness! I made this cake over the weekend and it was delicious! I love this type of breakfast cake/coffee cake/cinnamon-y cake and this may be the best I’ve tasted! Some of my cinnamon mixture ended up stuck on the bottom in places but I think I may have swirled to deep. I will try to keep my cinnamon mixture near the top next time. I also ran out of sour cream and only had about a cup so I’m not sure how that affected it but it was just incredible! Thank you for all the time you put in on these amazing recipes!
This is amazing! My entire family loved it!