This Quick and Easy Cinnamon Roll Cake has all the decadence and sweetness of homemade cinnamon rolls, including a white glaze and cinnamon-sugar filling, with less time and effort.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This easy cinnamon roll cake is a show-stopping treat that’s easier to make than you think. It’s perfectly sweet and has a short rise time and no rolling so you can have the flavor of freshly baked cinnamon rolls with minimal work.
Tips for Making Quick and Easy Cinnamon Roll Cake
I recommend having all the ingredients measured out and ready to use before you start. This way, your cake will come together quickly and smoothly.
In addition to greasing the cake pan, I recommend lining it with parchment paper as well. This makes it easier to lift the cake out of the pan for cutting. Make sure you have about an extra inch of parchment hanging over on two sides for easy lifting. If you don’t have parchment paper, aluminum foil works well too.
Make sure you have rapid rise or instant yeast. It’s important as there is minimal resting/rising time. Likewise, the milk must be warm, as this helps activate the yeast.
If you’re using raisins, break any clumps apart and spread them around as needed when folding them into the dough. Of course, if you don’t like raisins, just omit them.
When running your brown sugar and butter mixture through your food processor, use the “pulse” feature. Then scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl as needed. Pulse at 10 second intervals until the ingredients are completely combined and resembles wet sand. You can also cut the butter in with a pastry cutter.
Next, when sprinkling the brown sugar mixture over the dough, make sure it’s evenly spread out into the corners. The mixture will be a thick covering and you will not see any dough through it. If you don’t want to get your fingers sticky, you can use a spatula to press the sugar onto the dough. Press gently but firmly so the mixture adheres to the dough.
As the dough bakes the brown sugar coating will melt and bubble. This becomes a sugar coating that really makes this cinnamon roll cake something special.
Cinnamon Roll Glaze
The glaze for your cake is straightforward to make with just a whisk or fork. The most important thing is to make sure there are no clumps of powdered sugar left.
Wait to glaze your cake after at least 30 minutes of cooling. This allows the topping to stop bubbling, firm up and set. The cake will still be warm and can be glazed and served immediately after 30 minutes.
To glaze the cake, drizzle it on with a spoon or put the glaze in a Ziploc bag and snip off a corner. If you glaze the cake when it’s still warm, the glaze will remain soft. Once it cools it will set in place and harden up.
Serving Cinnamon Roll Cake
When you’re ready to serve the cake, run a knife around the edges to loosen the sugar and bread from around the edges. You can serve warm or at room temperature
Storage Suggestions
Store leftovers in an airtight container or plate covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for two to three days.
Leftover cake can be served at room temperature or warmed lightly (5-10 seconds in the microwave).
More Cinnamon Roll Recipes
Try these other similar recipes next if you love cinnamon rolls as much as I do:
- Cinnamon roll coffee cake is shaped like a giant rose and covered in a sweet, sticky glaze.
- Easy homemade cinnmaon rolls are our go-to for a breakfast treat with the whole family.
- Cinnamon roll liege waffles are crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies from the The Stay At Home Chef with all the goodness of cinnamon rolls in a sugar cookie.
Cinnamon Roll Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 package 2 ¼ teaspoons rapid rise yeast
- ⅔ cup warm milk 100-110F; low fat is fine
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup raisins optional
FILLING/TOPPING
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground cardamom
ICING
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
Instructions
- Lightly grease an 8×8-inch square baking pan.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture.
- Mix well, until very smooth. Stir in raisins, if using. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
- While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a food processor until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula.)
- Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.
- Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.
DONNA GRAY
For some reason, no recipe comes up when I click on “jump to recipe”. I scrolled all the way through, and still no recipe shows up.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Donna – it’s working for me, perhaps it just needs more time to load? Sometimes a restart on your device also helps. Thanks!
Mary
I made this yesterday: Quick and Easy Cinnamon Bun Bread
It is sooooooooooooooo easy and quick and delicious. OMG! I am going to make this for our office after Easter. It really was so flavorful. I used a combination of craisins and golden raisins.
Thanks for your version and for sharing. I always come back to your site when I need to impress people.. 🙂
Barbara Schieving
Thanks so much Mary! Sounds like delicious additions.
Lorraine E
That bread looks so incredibly luscious and good! 🙂
Erica
This looks like a fabulous recipe! I love that you talked about how it took a few trys to get it right! Baking recipes take time to develop! Looks like you have a winner 😉
RecipeGirl
Snow??! I can’t even imagine. It’s still shorts and flip flop weather around here 🙁
What a great idea to make it in a pan all together. Looks quite delicious right now as I’m craaaaving cinnamon rolls this AM!
Jenny
Talk about yummy! Those buns look incredible! It’s hard to imagine snow going on right now. It’s beautiful in sunny AZ right now! I guess we deserve it after our brutal summer!
Ralonda
Your cinnamon bun bread would be a big hit around here… now if only we could have some of your snow!
Joy the Baker
Looks great! I’m so glad you nailed it!
Maria
Yum! looks like a great breakfast treat! I was sad we had snow already! I am glad it is mostly melted!! Here comes winter!
Lisa magicsprinkles
Wow! Congratulations on your award and thanks for passing it along! That was a very lovely surprise. Snow? {{brr}}
The Blonde Duck
That bread looks wonderful! Perfect for breakfast on a cold day.
Snow? I want snow! We’re still at 88 degrees!
Deborah
I know – what’s up with the snow already!!?? I had to scrape over an inch off of my car yesterday…
The bread sounds delicious – the perfect thing to warm you up on a cold morning!
Barbara Bakes
Thanks everyone for the “sweet” comments. I do live in Utah and snow this early is definitely weird!
audax artifex – I didn’t think about using the pieces – good idea!
Audax Artifex
Dear Barbara I noticed that you have a broken pizza stone (from the pictures in the DB forum) there is no real need to buy a new one. I have used a broken one for years now and it works just fine, just move them as close as possible and just use parchment paper the slight crack will not affect the final result. No point in wasting money for this nobody sees it except you.
Marisa
The cinnamon buns looks so good!! I cannot believe you have snow already. My whole family is in Utah and they also got snow today (maybe that’s where you are too). I’m sad to say that we were taking a walk in shorts today and loving the warm fall weather. We’re in OH and have a longer autumn. But I did see it’s supposed to be 71 on Friday in utah while it snowed today…such crazy fall weather :-). Anyways–thanks for the cute comments about my blog! I totally appreciate it.
susan
snows come already? wow, and your bread looks delicious!
Tami
I’m can’t make up my mind which looks better–the cinna buns or the snow! The buns look delicious! I’m from Pa. but I live in NC now and I miss the snow!
Congrats on your cool new award!
HoneyB
No, no, no. If I woke up to that this morning already, I’d be in tears! We had a beautiful fall day here today and I will have a post up later with the pics of it!
The Cinnamon Bun Bread looks delish AND congrats on the award! 🙂
Stephanie
That’s the second blog I’ve seen this morning with a picture of snow. Stop it – you’re making me feel colder than I already am!! 🙂
That cinnamon bun bread looks very good; I love the idea of cinnamon bun flavor with less work.
~Priscilla~
snow already?? i sure am not ready for that yet!! it does look pretty though. those cinnmon buns looks really good – i am looking forward to trying ’em!