Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake is the best of all worlds, easy, sweet and impressive! It has all the flavors of a delicious cinnamon roll with about 5% of the effort. With a delicious sweet glaze, and even a few seconds in the microwave the following day, it will be the best accessory to that cup of coffee we all look forward to in the morning.
Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday and I’m not too excited. We live pretty far from family, so there is no celebration to attend and our little ones are too young to understand what Mother’s Day is. Instead, I am using it as an opportunity to save my calories until Memorial Day when I blow through them with lots and lots of bbq. That being said, I will take any excuse to make a delicious meal for someone, especially a brunch meal. This week we will explore some delicious Mother’ Day options for your weekend needs.
Let’s start the Easy Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake by setting the oven to preheat at 350 degrees.
Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder with a whisk. In a separate bowl mix the milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix the wet and dry together, then add in the melted butter.
Use some baking spray to spray a rectangular cake pan, 9×13, then pour the batter evenly into the pan.
Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and spread evenly on the cake.
Using a knife or fork, start swirling the brown sugar and cinnamon into the cake until it resembles this picture. Bake for 30 minutes, let cool completely.
Mix the powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and water until it is a consistency like pancake syrup. Pour over the cake and it will set into a harder glaze. Enjoy this Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake with a fantastic cup of coffee.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Set oven to preheat at 350 degrees.
- Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder with a whisk. In a separate bowl mix the milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix the wet and dry together, then add in the melted butter. Mix until well combined.
- Use some baking spray to spray a rectangular cake pan, 9x13, then pour the batter evenly into the pan.
- Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and spread evenly on the cake. Use a knife or fork to swirl the sugar and cinnamon into the batter.
- Bake for 30 minutes, let cool completely.
- Mix the powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and water until it is a consistency like pancake syrup.
- Pour over the cake and it will set into a harder glaze.
- Enjoy with a fantastic cup of coffee
Nutrition
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It’s a nice cake but at 30 minutes mine was still very loose and not baked through. I had to bake it an additional 20 minutes. I don’t live in high altitude and I bake in a Viking oven so I’m not sure what happened there. Other than that, it’s a nice cake for brunch.
That is odd Mindy, I’m sure you were careful when measuring the ingredients so I’m not sure how to troubleshoot this for you.
In my years of making this recipe, I genuinely cannot remember a time where I didn’t get a frantic text begging for the recipe after a friend got the chance to try it! So so easy and so so delicious.
Loved this comment Maggie…made me smile and thanks so much for the five star review.
This was a wonderful recipe, i baked just as directed and it turned out so good. I used a cream cheese topping. How do you think adding some chopped apples would work?
Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Dave! Chopped apples will emit liquid as it cooks so perhaps a bit more flour? I haven’t tested this recipe using fruit so I can’t give you exact measurements and directions.
Just a couple suggestions for “coffee cake” type recipes with apples for you…
1. Apple Crisp Crumb Cake https://dinnerthendessert.com/apple-crisp-crumb-cake/
2. Armenian Apple Chunk Cake https://dinnerthendessert.com/armenian-apple-chunk-cake/
I love Sabrina’s recipe’s and have been a Sabrina groupie for years and years. She is wonderful — I especially love the fact that in addition to the recipe’s Sabrina gives us so many hints on different options, storage etc etc. And although she often has “healthy” recipes what I love the most about Sabrina is that she isn’t afraid to use butter, sugar, whole milk etc. I will never stop having her in my life. P.S. The only disappointing thing is my children are all grown and along with our living far away it’s only my husband and I. I bring goodies everywhere I can which is always appreciated but it isn’t as much fun as when I had oodles of people to feed.
Thanks Barbara! High praise indeed 🙂
This could be renamed Very Easy Cinnamon Roll Anytime Cake. The ingredients, bowls, some measuring equipment, a spoon, a scraper, a way to melt butter and a little over an hour are all you will need. When there is a sweet tooth emergency, this is the recipe. The frustrating part is waiting for the cake to cool for the glaze. I made half a recipe in an 8×8, gave half of that to neighbours. They ate it for dessert at dinner and fought over what was left at breakfast. I made the 9×13 version a week later and used a little less glaze the next time, but prefer the original. This goes to the top of the Emergency Recipes for Unexpected Anything File.
Do you recommend whole milk? And would it still be good if I substituted the milk for almond milk?
I do recommend whole milk and yes you can substitute almond milk; however, know that you will have a slight nutty taste added to your Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake (which sounds yummy, by the way!)
Just made this on a chilly damp Sunday morning . It is so moist and so delicious!!! Only thing that needs to be corrected is the powdered sugar to water ratio. Need more water than two tbs to get pancake syrup consistency. And you don’t need as much powdered sugar . So next time I will cite back to two cups .
Could you make the batter along with the cinnamon and sugar topping, cover and refrigerate over night, then bake? Would it turn out? Ever tried it?
I haven’t tested this method. Did you? How did it turn out?
This was delicious! Saved me in a pinch when I only had 30 minutes to throw something together! Everyone loved it!
(Also, I’m Caryn’s friend and I’ve heard great things before I happened upon this recipe!) Thanks for sharing!
One of the best recipes I’ve tried in a very, very long time. Thank you. We love cinnamon buns and this tastes exactly like one without the goo…… I modified the recipe slightly. Used Truvia Sweet Complete Granular and Truvia Sweet Complete Brown in place of the sugar and it is amazing
Does this need to be refrigerated??
If you want to save it longer than 1 day, yes!
Goodness gracious, what a delicious treat this was!! I’ve always wanted to make cinnamon rolls without the hassle, and this is the solution. So so easy and turned out perfect! I made sure to work in the cinnamon and brown sugar topping to match the picture, which I think was a great tip, and because I baked it in a glass pyrex, I extended the cooking time by about 10 minutes but also lowered the temperature to 325 during that time. Will definitely make again and highly recommend! Oh, and I substituted for a cream cheese glaze that I knew the family would appreciate. So good! Thank you for sharing!
The cake is excellent! Perfect texture & taste. However, the icing is way too sweet and I had to add more water than the recipe called for while making it because the following the recipe’s measurements led to a stiff, crumbly sugar ball (nowhere close to the texture of maple syrup). I would recommend using less powdered sugar in the icing.
I wasn’t sure how to store the cake, but when in doubt, cut it up and put the pieces in airtight containers and refrigerate.
I’m very happy with this cake and I’d love to make it again!
Great recipe for a quick sweet craving fix. I wanted cinnamon rolls but I didn’t feel like going through all of the steps (rise, roll, rise, etc) so I googled “cinnamon roll coffee cake” and this recipe was at the top of the search results. Just made it a second time. I did find the original to be very sweet, would prefer less sugar. This time I cut the sugar in the cake by half, and also used approx. one third less sugar in the sanding and icing. Still waiting for it to come out of the oven. Either way, I liked it and my teens liked it too.
SO good! I cut the recipe in 2 and made muffins with it! Turned out great. Definitely recommend
I’ve never commented on a recipe before, but I make this so frequently that I thought I’d finally add my praise to the heap, as well as a thank you. I often double the recipe for a 9×13 because, well, our teenage son would eat an 8×8 by himself if he could, but that also is a testament to how well-received this recipe has been with my family.
I used a 9×11 pan, added 1/2 cup of chopped pecans to the brown sugar cinnamon and increased the cook time an additional 20 minutes. My family absolutely loved this cake!
Tastes great right after glazing! Should this be refrigerated?
I made this for a Christmas pajama breakfast party and it was delicious!! I added about a 1/4 cup of sour cream and it took a total of about 40 minutes to bake. I also did a cinnamon brown sugar swirl in the middle of the cake. Excellent recipe!
“batter” ended up doughy and extremely sticky. Reccommend cutting at least 1/2 cup of flour maybe more.
Thank you for sharing the recipe for breakfast p
Can I substitute sour cream for the milk?
I like to use about 3/4 cup sour cream and then mix in enough water to make the 1-1/2 cups of “milk.”
I was in the mood for cake for breakfast and came across this recipe. It’s so good. I only had 2C of flour in my house though, so I cut the entire recipe in half, baked it for a little over 20 minutes and it was perfect. I pinned it to a Recipe Board on Pinterest so I can find it easier next time. Thanks for sharing!
This is so good! Every bite was like the middle of a cinnabon. I used a cream cheese frosting, so good!
Hi! First of, this recipe is great and it turns out perfect for me everytime. But just wondering, could I half the recipe and bake it in an 8×8 pan, and what would the baking time be?
I haven’t tried it that way so I am not positive to the exact times :/
I actually just did this exact thing, half the recipe, 8×8 pan. I mean just did it, literally. I just drizzled the icing on it and cut it for the family a few moments ago. I only had 2C of flour left but REALLY wanted cake. Lol. I halved everything and was surprised to see it take a little over 20 minutes. I started it at 15 (half the recipe, half the time was my logic) but ended up adding a few more minutes to it.
I absolutely love baking & looking for different recipes to try. For the last couple of months I just haven’t been feeling like myself & have been in a funk. I found your recipe last night & decided I was gonna do my best to get back to what I loved to do. So today I did it and baked & let me just tell you OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This was the easiest most delicious cinnamon cake I’ve made yet. Thank you for your recipe & helping me get back into my baking heaven.
Thank you Michelle!
I’m praying for you Michelle! Turn to Jesus, He is the great comforter. I thank God that we can be patient in affliction, and constant in prayer, with His strength, so that we can endure hard times.
Amen!
Wow, this cake is delicious. It is very easy to make, which is great. I’m a cinnamon lover, and this is the best cinnamon recipe I’ve ever made. Thank you!
Everyone loves this each time I make it! It’s a fan fave!
I def would have given it a 5, but I found it a tad bit dry….family devoured it, but I think a bit of sour cream would make it a bit more moist…been baking for many, many years and a big fan (you have your own icon lol), but just think it would enhance it…your thoughts?
You can use sour cream if you’d like. Enjoy!
I made this the other day for a small group and everyone raved about it! This recipe is a keeper for me. I followed the directions exactly, in 30 minutes it was done and perfect. I used a dark grey nonstick 9×13 baking pan and it baked perfectly.
Next time I may pour half the batter adding some brown sugar (giving it a good swirl, pour the remaining batter and add the rest of brown sugar on top. Maybe use less brown and powdered sugar to make it less sweet… but the whole group of girls that had it did love the recipe just how it was! so 5 star for me!!
Fantastic! Thanks for coming back to let me know, Lisa. I appreciate the 5 star rating.
I highly doubt you followed it exactly.