Easy Cinnamon Roll Cake is absolute perfection. It’s simple to make, crazy delicious loaded with cinnamon sugar and covered in sweet icing!
This cinnamon roll cake recipe is easily a favorite in my house. I actually thought I had shared the recipe for this cake a long time ago…turns out I didn’t. You see when you bake as often as I do things get jumbled. Maybe it’s all the sugar? Nah…
Anyhow, this is the world’s easiest cake. My kids even request it for their birthday cake which seems so weird to me…hello no buttercream…but we all know kids are weird. Or maybe they aren’t…this cake is that good.
Yes, my cake mix-phobic friends I short-cutted this. I know, I know, you are all probably so disappointed in me. I am always looking for doctored up yellow cake mix recipes, and this cinnamon roll cake is the perfect example of when it’s RIGHT to use a cake mix. But yes please, if you would like to use your own cake recipe please do so. Just start the recipe when you add cinnamon sugar…I’ll explain that in a minute.
But first let’s take a look…the gooey cake, the drippy icing, the swirly cinnamon.
Hold me.
How to make Easy Cinnamon Roll Cake
Like I said the cinnamon roll cake itself it super duper easy. You’re basically doctoring up a cake mix a little bit.
THEN you make a little (a lot) of cinnamon sugar.
You sprinkle that all over the top of the batter…
And gently swirl that in with a knife…
Don’t over swirl it though. You don’t want to mix it all in, you want gorgeous ribbons of cinnamon throughout.
Bake it up and it behold…
And then make a quick icing and behold again…
Your cake will be drowning in icing and loving every minute.
And if you can, wait until the icing sets up to cut it…
Or don’t. I get you.
Make it. Eat it. Love it.
This Easy Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe will quickly become a favorite in your house!
PrintEasy Cinnamon Roll Cake
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Prep Time: 10 minutes - Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 10 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
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This recipe is one of the most requested cake recipes in my house. My family loves it!
Ingredients:
- 1 (15.25- ounce) box yellow cake mix
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup sour cream (not light)
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Coat a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, vanilla and sour cream. Mix on low for 30 seconds and then raise the speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Spread the cake batter into your prepared pan. In a medium bowl whisk together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle this evenly on top of your cake.
- Using a butter knife gently swirl the cinnamon sugar into the cake batter. Don’t over-swirl, as you want ribbons of the mixture throughout the cake.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool cake for 15-20 minutes.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and milk. Pour this over the slightly warm cake. Allow the icing to set, or eat right away!
Notes:
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Keywords:: cake, yellow cake mix, cinnamon roll, breakfast
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Helpful tip… Out of sour cream? Here’s a sour cream substitute!
Hi! I’m Shelly and I’m an addict. Of the buttercream sort. I started this site a few years ago as a way to justify my sugary, buttery obsession with desserts. It has worked out well for me so far, because as it turns out you guys all love sugary, buttery desserts too! It feels good to know you're not alone, doesn’t it?
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I made this tonight. It was moist and fabulous. I too thought maybe it could have been just as good with half the brown sugar. I read a review that said the cake would be dry using the oil, it was NOT. It was very moist. Thank you so much Shelly for sharing this with us. This is the first recipe I’ve made of yours, but look forward to making many more.
CAN i make this without sour cream or yogurt? I am completely out of both ?
No sorry! You won’t get the same results.
Can I substitute the sour cream with anything else?
Greek yogurt!
I made this today at our restaurant…it was delicious!!! It’s our dessert of the week next week!! So yummy!
Thank you?
This cake was very very good. My family wanted to know if I could add apples to this recipe. Have u tried it with apples? Has anyone? If so did you apple pie filling or fresh apples? Thank you
This cake is delicious. And easy to use
Definitely a keeper.
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it and perhaps recommend it to my blog readers!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it and maybe recommend it to my readers!
we don’t have that cake mix here, what can i substitute it with?
I don’t know what yellow cake mix is, sorry but I’ve never heard the term
I don’t use already made cake mix, is there a recipe a could use instead? Sponge cake recipe maybe?? Thank you.
Oh my goodness, Shelly, this cake is too good for words! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this over the past couple months! Gotta have my cake! I’ve had it warm, unwarm and even without the icing because I ran out of powdered sugar. It was superb no matter what! Thanks so much!!
Hi , is anybody there ?! I am in France , we do not have yellow cake mix, what can I use as a substitute ?
Thnk you for your help ?
is the brown sugar paced?
Yes 🙂
This is the same exact recipe i found on food.com a couple years ago and make for birthdays all the time its called quick cinnamon roll cake. My family always requests it for bdays and get togethers and they call it heaven cake.
I felt the cup of sugar/cinnamon sprinkled over the top of the batter too much. Half that amount would have been sufficient. The cake itself was nice and moist.
I felt the cup of brown sugar sprinkled on the top was too much. I ended up scraping it off. I think half that amount (unpacked) would have been sufficient. The cake itself was nice and moist.
★★★★★
Made your Easy Cinnamon Roll Cake yesterday afternoon. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Definitely going in my “Always Regarded as Delicious Recipe (ARDR) File”!! But, I just now ordered your NEW COOKBOOK on Amazon – so all of your recipes that I have printed out, and made, can just be stuck in your NEW COOKBOOK!! And, you won’t believe it, but the UPS man just this minute delivered my new Instant Pot, that I also ordered from Amazon – BECAUSE OF YOUR INSTANT POT SALSA VERDE CHICKEN recipe!! The hubs and I couldn’t stop eating it. Can’t wait to make it in the Instant Pot. Thanks for all of your efforts to give us such delicious recipes, and always with a smile!
THIS IS AMAZING!! I am SO glad you got the IP… it’s FANTASTIC! And thank you so so much for ordering the book!!!
I have made this twice now in a 9×13 and both times I couldn’t get it to bake through until after an hour. The bottom stays gooey. Any one deal with this? The top ends up browning and the bottom stays wet.
Have you checked your oven temp lately? It sounds like your oven might be a little hot. I have this happen from time to time… Just buy a cheap oven thermometer and give it a quick check!
I am not a fan of the frosting but the cake itself is delicious.
So glad you liked it!
I accidentally left out the oil. How bad do you think the cake will be? 🙁 no time to remake it.
hmmm… it might be a little dry and dense. Let me know how it comes out!
Not “phobic” about cake mixes; just prefer to use trusted ingredients.
This cake was very good using a from scratch yellow cake recipe. Everyone who ate it raved about it.
Thanks.
awesome!! good to know!!
This cake is just completely amazing. I must eat this!
Do you think I can make it the night before and ice it in the morning, for breakfast?
Sure!!
Yum! I’m thinking cupcake cinnamon rolls…
I made this and it turned out very moist. It was amazing. I loved it
Oh wow, this looks practically pornographic. PHWOAR
Made this today. It is excellent. I will be making again to take to work. Thanks so much.
Oh my goodness!
I just make a pancake version of this since I didn’t have any yellow cake mix. My husband loved them and now he’s offering to do all the weekend chores.(hehehe devil face emoji, did I plan for that to happen?)
Thanks, Shelly!
This post is Wonderfull . I love it and I am going to share it with my friends. Hope you will share also .
May be you will like to know about Nutribullet recipes http://www.nutrirecipes.org/
So hilarious!!
What was the pancake version receipt as I don’t have cake mix
OMG this must be DELICIOUS. I will try this next weekend.
★★★★★
I made this last night for guests we’re having this wknd, & it was incredibly easy & incredibly yummy! My hubby was literally moaning as he ate it this a.m. 🙂 The only change I made was to sub the oil for applesauce (I always do this to make cakes moister & healthier). I wasn’t sure where the vanilla was supposed to come into play, though, as it’s omitted from your instructions. I assumed in the cake mix since that’s where it’s listed w/ the rest of the ingredients, but I usually put some in my icing, too, so I ended up putting a tsp in both. 😉
Oh yes! good catch…I added the vanilla to the recipe steps!
SO glad y’all liked it!!
Hi, the cake is delicious! How can I improve on the grainy sugar?
Where do have grainy sugar? In the icing?
Would this still be okay with a white cake mix? I don’t have a yellow one on hand. Thanks!
★★★★★
Yes, it will be fine!
I live this recipe and make it all the time. Have you ever added blueberries to it?
No I haven’t but you absolutely could!
#2 in the instructions above lists the vanilla to add with the other ingredients…
Yes, if you’ll notice Shelly’s comment above, she added it later in response to my question.
hi julie can you tell me how much applesauce you put in? thanks
Sure! It’s a 1 for 1 sub so 3/4 c. I do this in all my baking. 🙂
This is one of my favorite cakes too! I use butter instead of oil though…usually oil in a cake makes it dry (in my opinion—even if it does add flavor), but with all that lovely sour cream, you can get away with using butter and still have a moist cake. I’ve never tried both versions (butter vs. oil) side by side though….too many experiments, too little time. 🙂
I LOVE cinnamon rolls! Will have to try this. We aren’t big cake eaters at my house, although “coffee cake” type things don’t last long. Pinned!
I love, love, love that you have the picture of the food on the printed recipe. I am sure that we will all love this cake as well. Will be trying it for a birthday party soon.
I would be eating this straight out of the pan. So delicious!
Oh, lovely. I would love to have this cinnamon roll cake for my birthday too. Even without the buttercream.
That dribble of frosting down the middle of the cake is for me! I just know it!