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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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!!
Thanks, Lisa!
I made this cake and it looks amazing. I only used a cup of powdered sugar though and mine looks great. I basically mixed the topping in the pan, not thoroughly but enough to get a swirl. I think layering would be hard as the batter is quite thick. I would upload a picture if I could. I tested the cake at 30 minutes and it was not done. I cooked it for another 10 but 15 would have been perfect. Mine was baked in a glass pan. I am bringing it out to the farm hands for the ultimate taste test! The cake tastes excellent!! I will come back to this recipe!
Yay!! Thanks for coming back to let me know, Jennifer.
So does all of the brown sugar go with cinnamon on top? Just checking if any is added in the actual cake?
I used it all on top but you could add some throughout if you’d like.
Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out wonderful!! 30 min in the oven baked it to perfection! All three of my picky eaters loved it!! Thank you!!
Yay!! Thanks for the 5 stars, Grace Ann.
Because I don’t bake often I trust the written recipe to give me good directions. If I was more experienced I would have known that 3 cups of powdered sugar was way too much (as others have said) and to test it for doneness at 30 minutes (I didn’t and it was no where near done). I also should have known to pour half the batter, add the brown sugar, then add remaining batter so there would be a swirl in the cake. Sigh. The part of the cake that was done was good after scraping off the icing. I may make it again with the reviewers’ comments in mind. A good recipe for those who know how to tweek things a bit. Sounds llike a great success when making those changes.
Would like to know if this would be good if it is made the night before
Of course 🙂
Add some German roasted walnuts on top for that little bit of deliciousness more!
I love any dessert with cinnamon so I thought I would give this cake recipe a go…it is soooo yummy! I was a bit worried I messed up the batter because it was very thick, like a dough, but I just went with it and I’m glad I did. The cake is so soft and fluffy. I used a smaller pan so I increased the cook time to 1hr. I will definitely use this recipe again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sasha.
This was my first time baking this (I am definitely not a baker!) Turned out delicious! IWill be a household staple from now on! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Layla.
Delicious cake! I did decrease the powdered sugar to one cup and used about 1tsp vanilla extract and 4 tsp milk. Come out great! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for the 5 star rating, Aida. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Delicious, and easy, but seriously–had to bake it for over 45 minutes, not 30. Reading other reviews, I see I am not alone. Perhaps you have a typo?
Oven temperatures do vary. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
This didn’t work well at all! The middle didn’t cook at all….. the parts that did cook didn’t really taste good, overall I don’t recommend
The cake was great but I had to make a lot of changes. First of all the batter was way to flowery! It tasted like I had a wet lump of flower, cinnamon, and sugar in my mouth. Then when I baked it it was completely raw at 30 minutes so I doubled it. Overall it was delicious and a perfect winter treat with some hot cocoa.
wow this recipe is AMAZING. it’s so easy to make and i had all the ingredients at home. i added a little bit of nutmeg too. i definitely recommend it’s so good.
This was a complete disaster. Not only was the cake raw in the center and overdone to the point of fail on the edges, the glaze required much more than 1-2 T of water and tasted awful. What a disappointment. Wish I had tested the recipe prior to having several people waiting to eat cake.
Made this for my family just for fun and it was a big hit!!! I over baked it slightly because our oven is being temperamental, but even with that slight hiccup it was very well received. I also very much enjoyed it, and I loved how simple a recipe it was!! Thank you!!
Do you use vanilla powder or vanilla extract?
Extract 🙂
Enjoy!
This recipe did not work ?, wouldn’t recommend!
Hi Brittany, this is one of the most made recipes on the site, I would love to help you troubleshoot it if you’d like? Happy Thanksgiving!
Umm I will bake tomorrow
Really beautiful cake that came out perfectly! Tastes amazing!
Something for me went wrong in the baking process because the center of my cake wont cook.
it was the best cake I have ever made!!!!! It tasted so good!!
I loved this recipe!!! It worked so well!! and for this being my first time making a coffee cake it worked pretty good!!!!
Hello! Just wanted to ask, is the yield (servings) function broken? I tried to change into 4 servings and click on the bar, but it didn’t change the number of servings 🙁
So sorry about that. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll have someone look into it.
I thought this cake AND icing were perfect! My family loved it! Made one last night and got another in the oven tonight
..at families request. I too give it 5 Stars!!
I made this recipe as directed, except I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour. This was a success, and the mixed crowd eating it said it “didn’t seem gluten free” which I’ll mark down as a success!
The glaze for the top I just winged it and wound up with enough for a decent criss cross drizzle, but next time I’ll probably use the full 3 cups to get a heavier coating.
cake was amazing however the glaze was absolutely too sweet. I ended up tossing that batch and I opted for a cream cheese icing instead. Was delicious. DO NOT waste 3 cups of powdered sugar for this- you will be disappointed. The recipe I went with called for 7 TBSP butter (softened), 2 oz cream cheese (softened), 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp vanilla 2 TBSP milk and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Cream the butter and cream cheese, add vanilla and milk. Sift together sugar and salt and add gradually. Was delicious with the cake.
My batter was really thick, is this normal?
I love the coffee cake recipe. I give it 5 stars
Great recipe and very easy to put together. I didn’t bother taking out the mixer and mixed it all by hand. I sprinkled 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts over the top before baking for some extra crunch and it needed 45 minutes to bake through. At 30 minutes it was too wet. I only used one cup of confectioners sugar with 2 Tbs milk to make a drizzle across the top. I gave some to neighbors and received rave texts. I’ll make this one again!
Super confused how 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1- 2 ablespoon of water is suppose to create a syrup. This isn’t working well for me.
I agree. Are you sure 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1-2 TB water? Maybe you meant one cup of powdered sugar with that amount of water. 3 cups of powdered sugar was dry and not even mixable with only that scant amount of water. Just asking. Let me know.
Use as much liquid as you need to thin the glaze to your desired consistency. Enjoy!
the cake itself turned out super well, and tasted wonderful, but the glaze definitely calls for way too much powdered sugar. you only need 1.5 cups, if that. it turned out really chalky and hurt our teeth.. but again, the cake was wonderful
It was amazing me and my family loved it my 10 year old daughter made it.
Oh my! What a delightful and easy cake to whip together. My family loved it. Best coffee cake recipe I’ve come across, and I’ve made quite a few different ones over the past few years. Moist, just sweet enough and overall oh so yummy!
Absolutely delicious!!!
How much milk is used in the recipe? It says 1? I want to make this coffee cake because it looks tasty!
Sorry about that there was a glitch in the recipe card, I fixed it.
Really good and easy! Ours came out great. We cooked 10 minutes longer because all I had was a 9×9 pan. Will make again, thank you!
Made this for my family for breakfast.(Substituted protein powder for 1/3c flour, to feel better about serving cake for breakfast ?) Delicious! Though, I will make a better attempt at getting the topping swirled in next time. I may have missed it, but are there freezing instructions? Would you glaze before you freeze it, or does it matter? I plan to divide into smaller pans next time, since it makes such a big cake. Thanks!!
It doesn’t really matter if you glaze it before or after freezing. I’d suggest wrapping it tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap and then place it in an airtight container or storage bag. I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
How much salt do you use?
Sorry about that there was a glitch in the recipe card, I fixed it.
This was one of the best cakes I have ever had!!!
Thank you!!!
Great recipe! I had no problem with the proportions or the cooking time. Everything was perfect, except… the glaze. I do believe that the cake needs the glaze to taste exactly like cinnamon rolls. But 1/2 or 1 cup of powdered sugar is enough. Overall, it is amazingly delicious and I’ll be making more of it in the future. Thank you for sharing!
What kind of flour should I be using?
All Purpose Flour 🙂
This was perfect. I was just like, “I want to make something good that’s not too labor intensive,” then I saw this, and it’s perfect! This fresh out of the oven with a mocha latte is just… *chef’s kiss*
Yay!! Thanks for the 5 stars, Chloe.
Oh forgot to say… we used a butter knife and really went to town… most of our topping was swireled into the cake… not sure if that was right or not… but went over well.
You get a 5 star for how easy this was to put together. Next time I will have my kids make it for us.
Everyone loved it. We did however leave the Sugar topping off because you really don’t need it. Goes lovely with coffee or tea (Chai).
Very soft with a little crunch on the top… I may someday make this with a cream cheese drizzle…
Thanks for the 5 stars. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much.
Excellent taste and texture. However I would put half the batter in pan and then some brown sugar mix and swirl then the rest of the batter and swirl again. That way the swirl would be all the way through out the cake. But this is definitely a keeper recipe. Thanks so much. Sally
Just what I was looking for, quick and easy but a great morning treat with coffee. Thanks so much.
I am from the UK and love your recipes but I am unable to change the weight measurements to metric as I am unsure of the size of US cups. Please help.
I think the glitch has finally been fixed. I just checked the recipe card and it looks to be able to switch to metric. Just click on the green metric link. Thank you so much for you patience.
I was looking up for easy to bake recipes and this came up in the list. Baked it same day. Topping was a bit sweet (my fault for adding too much sugar) but this is a really good recipe. It’s worth it and I love it!
I made this because I was bored and omg. I was not expecting it to be that good ? this is an amazing recipe
I’m glad to hear it was a hit!
I made this recipe but I made into cupcakes and omitted the powdered sugar drizzle. It took a little longer but came out very well. I also use the silicone cupcake cups and the cakes slide right out. (If you haven’t used the silicone cups, I highly recommend them.)
So, my batter was thicker than I was expecting and it was a challenge to swirl in the topping. I was a little worried as this went into the oven, but I shouldn’t have been because it’s delicious! My husband isn’t a big fan of frosting or glaze, so we tried it first without and it’s so good. I don’t miss the glaze at all! Definitely will add this to my recipe box.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, John. Thanks for the 5 star rating.
This cake was absolutely delicious, i left some coarse grains of brown sugar at top it made it even better.
Not sure I can post a pic, would’ve loved to
You can always post your photos to Instagram and tag #dinnerthendessert
I love seeing everyone’s photos! So glad you enjoyed it.
This was the best cake I’ve ever made!! Thank you!
It turned out great! The texture is like the center of a cinnamon roll. I’m 11 years old and this is my first time baking by myself. Everyone loves it!! It’s definitely something I’m going to make again! It’s really easy I would definitely recommend it.