This homemade Cinnamon Roll Cake is a tender vanilla cake swirled with a brown sugar cinnamon roll filling. It has a cinnamon icing on top, making it a truly decadent breakfast cake or dessert.

My sweet tooth is as alive and well as it was when I was five, and I never pass up an opportunity to eat something that could technically be classified as dessert for breakfast.

If you’re like me, then this Cinnamon Roll Cake recipe is the one that you straight up need in your recipe box. It’s a cross between a cinnamon roll and a coffee cake, and it’s nearly perfect.

It’s a tender vanilla cake that has a gooey cinnamon roll filling swirled in the center. It’s the texture of a classic coffee cake with all of the flavors of a homemade cinnamon roll.

Brunch, breakfast, or dessert, this Cinnamon Roll Cake is definitely a holiday necessity! (Hint hint—make it for Thanksgiving breakfast or Christmas morning!)

What To Love About This Recipe:

Easy: It’s an extremely easy breakfast cake! The cake is made in just one bowl, and the filling recipe comes together with just a few ingredients.
Make Ahead: You can definitely make this cinnamon roll cake ahead of time! It can be made the night before, and it can be served cold, warm, or at room temperature.
Sour Cream: Sour cream is one of the best secret cake ingredients. It adds so much body and texture to the cake!
Double the Recipe: This is a really easy recipe to double if you need to serve a crowd! Make it in two cake pans, or use a large 9×13 baking dish!

From Scratch Cinnamon Roll Cake Ingredients:

Flour
Sugar
Baking Powder + Salt
Canola Oil: This cake uses canola oil (or vegetable oil), as it creates a really moist and tender cake.
Eggs
Milk: You can use whole milk, 2%, or skim milk—whole milk makes the texture richer, but 2% or skim will work as well.
Sour Cream: Sour cream makes this cake incredibly rich in flavor and texture. This recipe is a lot like a sour cream coffee cake (with a cinnamon filling), so definitely opt for the full-fat sour cream.
Vanilla Extract

Cinnamon Cake Filling:

Sugar
Brown Sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Flour
Unsalted Butter

Cinnamon Icing:

Powdered Sugar
Milk
Ground Cinnamon

How to Make This Cinnamon Roll Cake From Scratch:

Dry Ingredients: Whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.)

Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl (or large liquid measuring cup), whisk oil, eggs, and milk together.

Well: Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients (which means to make a hole in the center of the ingredients, pushing them up the sides of the bowl), then add in the wet ingredients. Stir until combined.

Sour Cream + Vanilla: Lastly add in the sour cream and vanilla, and mix until combined.

Filling: Mix melted butter, flour, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon together.

Assembly: Pour half of the cake batter into the bottom of your cake pan. Sprinkle half of the filling over the cake batter. Then top with remaining cake batter. Then top with remaining filling.

Bake: Bake until a cake tester comes out clean.

Icing: Whisk the icing together, pour over the top, and serve.

How To Store This Cinnamon Breakfast Cake:

Room Temperature: This is a cake that can easily be stored at room temperature for a couple of days (as long as it’s relatively cool/comfortable in the house). Store it in an airtight container or on a covered cake stand.

Fridge: Store this in an airtight container in the fridge. This cinnamon cake is really good warm, room temperature, or cold so you can eat/serve it directly from the fridge. Or, you can let it come to room temperature before serving (or warm it in the microwave).

Freezer: You can freeze this cake without the icing! Let the cake cool completely before wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and storing in an airtight container in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat it, thaw it in the fridge (overnight) and then warm it in the oven on the ‘warm’ setting. Then top it with the icing!

Can I Make This Ahead Of Time?

Absolutely! This is one recipe that can easily be made the night before, and it will still taste great the next day.

My best suggestions for making ahead of time are:

Warm Before Serving: While this cake can be eaten at room temperature or straight out of the fridge, I suggest warming the cake a bit before serving (especially if you haven’t added the icing yet).
Icing: Add the icing to the cake 10-15 minutes before serving. If you icing the cake the night before, the icing might be a little sticky the next day.

What Baking Dish Do I Need?

Springform Pan: I used a 9” springform pan for this recipe, because I like the ease of a springform pan. However, if you don’t have one, you have other options!

Circular Cake Pan: You can use a 9” circular cake pan. Don’t forget to grease the pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (trust me, it will make getting the cake out of the pan so much easier—once it’s cool, use a knife to loosen the edges, then place a large plate on top of the pan, and holding the two together, flip them over. The cake should fall right out.)

Square Pan: You can also use a 9×9 square baking pan. It will bake the exact same way! Like above, don’t forget to line it with parchment paper!

Quick and Easy Baking Tips:

Over Bake: Be careful not to overbake this cake, as an over baked cake will be very dry. If the top of the cake seems to be browning faster than the center is baking, tent a piece of non-stick foil on top.
Make Ahead of Time: Don’t forget you can make this cake ahead of time! It’s a cinch to put together, so it’s the perfect breakfast cake for a Thanksgiving brunch or Christmas breakfast. Less stressful than trying to prepare something the day of!
Icing: If you don’t want to add an icing on top, you can leave it plain or you can top with frosting instead. A cream cheese frosting would be perfect!

Other Fall Brunch Ideas To Try Next: