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.
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
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
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Set oven to preheat at 350 degrees.
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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.
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Use some baking spray to spray a rectangular cake pan, 9x13, then pour the batter evenly into the pan.
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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.
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Bake for 30 minutes, let cool completely.
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Mix the powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and water until it is a consistency like pancake syrup.
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Pour over the cake and it will set into a harder glaze.
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Enjoy with a fantastic cup of coffee
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.
How much salt do you use?
Sorry about that there was a glitch in the recipe card, I fixed it.
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.
Oh. My. Gosh! This cake is AMAZING! I took one bite and just sunk in my chair. It has an absolutely delicious crunchy top layer and a soft, moist middle. I didn’t end up using the icing as it was way too sweet and tasted overwhelmingly like powered sugar. I also baked it for an extra 5 minutes as it was a little too liquidy in the middle. You HAVE to try this recipe! I will definitely be making it again!
Yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Lilly!
This was delicious and my husband loved it! This recipe was so simple and I chose to drizzle the glaze instead of cover the cake with it as needed. I baked in a convection oven at 350 for 30 minutes and it was just right. Thanks for sharing!!
This was so much easier than making cinnamon rolls. Everyone in the family loved it! I made a cream cheese frosting instead and lightly drizzled it over the cake so it wasn’t too sweet. This recipe is a keeper.
I’m a terrible baker and this was super easy and DELISH! Thank you! 🙂
I’m so glad you decided to give it a try….and don’t be so hard on yourself!
Cake was good. However, baking time is wrong. I baked for the 30 minutes recipe instructs. When I took it out of oven it was raw in the middle. Put back in for another 10 minutes and still raw in the middle. Baked another 15 minutes. So a total of 55 minutes to get it done. I did not put the icing on. It is plenty sweet without it.
Amazing and delicious!?
I was wonder if this recipe changes at a high altitude. If so what do you recommend doing.
I’ve not tested at high altitude.
The cake itself tastes great. It was easy to make and I’d make it again. However, the icing just tasted like pure sugar and I had to throw it away.
did you use powdered sugar or regular sugar?
I made it and it turned out really good. I am sharing it with my family so they can make it too.
Absolutely delicious!
My husband ate like half the cake after dinner last night. The only thing I changed was the bake time by adding 5 minutes. I also didn’t add the glaze frosting. The cake was soooo moist!
Thank you for such a wonderful recipe.
I made this for Mother’s day and it was easy and simple
I’m also only 14 so it was very fun.
Good job! I’m sure your Mom appreciated it.
Which brown sugar is it? Light or dark?…
I like to use dark for a richer flavor but you can use whatever you prefer.
Can you make this the night before and put it in the fridge to bake the next day?
I’ve not tested it before. I think your best bet is to make it ahead of time and just warm up in the oven.
SO GOOD ! If Cinnabon was a fluffy and moist piece of cake. 10/10 will be making this again VERY soon lol
Off the charts!! Super air and light when made with bread flour instead of regular flour. I’m 14 and made this easily with no assistance.
Good for you!
Absolutely love this! It was fun to make, my boys love it. It reminds my husband of those honey sticks from timmies back in the day! I recommend you try this.
It was okay. I had to throw it out and it was a waste of a good and healthy supply of ingredients. My son told me he could taste the burnt cinnamon based on the cooking time and it was burnt through the outer section but gooey in the center.
This recipe has a lot of errors, 1 being the quantity of brown sugar for topping, is completely too much And the icing quantity is way too much, even for those who have big sweet tooth’s. Then there’s the cook time, which is to generic and should prompt to test for done-ness. The icing and topping should be separate recipes on this same thread to keep from confusion. All in all it wasn’t too bad, but it could lead to a lot of mistakes for someone who isn’t as experienced and only knows to follow a recipe.
Made this last night ..
It was PERFECT! Bravo!
The topping needed less powdered sugar or more water. Three cups makes a lot. It would have made the top layer too sweet with the already sweetened top layer. Definitely a great accent and always one of my favorite toppings. All the elements really work in flavor and texture. The cake alone is the perfect cake composition. My one question, not a rhetorical one, is why did this call for melted butter rather than softened. Really great work here!
I don’t think it’s 3 cups of powdered sugar because when you add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of water that is still a lot of powdered sugar not absorbed in any kind of liquid it almost comes out like a hard dough you have to continue adding a lot of water. Are you sure it wasn’t one cup of powdered sugar? Besides that it taste very good!!
this is a favorite recipe in our house! Fast, easy, and delicious every time!
I made this, the brown sugar was to much, and the powdered sugar needed way more than two table spoons. It took longer than 30 minutes to cook, the middle was not cooked. Over all it was good, just had to improvise a bit.
Haven’t tasted it yet but 4 cups of sugar for the topping?! Seems a bit excessive so hopefully it won’t be too sweet!
The icing after adding 2 tbsp of water and the 1 tsp of vanilla was like little hard balls. I had to add another 2 tbsp of water And 1 tbsp of cream before it had a proper consistency.
My family and i thought the glaze on top would be way too sweet, but even without it, amazing. Would definitely make this again soon!
There’s no indication of doneness specified here. Just a time to bake, which can go wrong depending on the oven’s efficiency.
Amazing!!!!!! So good and would highly recommend! But it needed almost twice the amount of water
What’s the oven temperature?
350 degrees
Is it 4 tsp of vanilla in the cake and 1 for the glaze? Or is it 3 and 1?
4 tsp for the cake and 1 for the glaze.
Some how mine turned out great. I used a 2 inch smaller pan so knew my cooking time would increase a little but I baked it for an hour and a half lol. I was worried it would be burned on the sides and bottom but it wasn’t. My batter was also like a dough consistency for some reason but it turned out so I’ll keep the recipe
Excellent recipe..easy to make and everyone loved it.
Please specify measurement of butter in cup or grams.
1/2 cup or 113 grams
The cake was awesome!! I used about 3 tbs less brown sugar than called for and added approx 1 cup finely chopped pecans. I wanted a taller cake so I baked in my 10″ cast iron skillet which took more cooking time. Surprisingly, although it was crunchy on the outside, the inside was still moist. I’ll try my larger skillet next time, YES, there will be a next time! I can’t complain about the crunchy crust, it was actually good.
I also found the glaze unusable per the recipe and ended up dumping about 1.5 cups, I poured in some pure maple syrup and milk instead of vanilla & water.
My husband and son loved it!!
Glaze needs work! WAY too much powdered sugar. Cake recipe is fine but could use more flavor. Love baking and enjoyed the experience. Thanks 🙂
Love the recipes. Easy to follow,
Glaze needed way more liquid & vanilla because you couldn’t mix it & it tasted just like a mouthful of powdered sugar.
Oh no! Glad you were able to adjust.
Thank Goodness, I thought I was the only one. My cake also took 40 minutes not 30. I will try another topping.
This was great! It was so simple I was worried, but it was a HUGE hit at our house this morning! A definite keeper, thank you!
So glad you liked it! It is SO easy, it’s almost unbelievable 🙂
Made this for my family and we all loved it. Used a vanilla, butter, powdered sugar, water glaze recipe for glaze. It was sweet and rich, we will try this again with no glaze and maybe a cream cheese topping
Yum, a cream cheese frosting sounds delicious!
Not my liking . Not enough flavor in my opinion
The cake was delicious. Way way way too much sugar. Cut the top off and just ate the cake. It literally tasted like a teaspoon of raw granulated sugar in every bite.
Not really anything different than a typical cinnamon coffee cake. The cake itself is very moist. The topping didn’t produce the cinnamon roll taste that I expected. Waiting for the cake to cool prior to frosting prevented the frosting from soaking into the topping.
It’s very good cake, but I didn’t use 3 cups of powder sugar, I just used less than 1 cup with 2 water spoons, and I made vanilla cream, the ready powder that you mix with milk, it made it so fresh, also I used white sugar cuz I didn’t have brown
This would have been great had it explain at the top of the recipe that the brown sugar and cinnamon were to be done separately as well as the powdered sugar and vanilla. I’m new to baking and I followed the recipe and did each step as I read it then came to find out I mixed all the dry ingredients together and wet ingredients together then combined them. On a positive note I’m still going to bake it the way I did it. You never know it could be delicious.
I followed everything exactly, after 30 minutes my cake isn’t done. I just put it back in. I don’t understand what could have happened.
Mine didn’t look like anything on this picture but hey…. Tastes good ??
Same as mine! I think I baked it for more or less an hour before it got fully baked.
This is very delicious and had rave reviews from all who ate it. For me the 3 Cups of glaze was too much. I made the whole amount, but did not use it all. I poked the caked with a fork all over the top and poured the glaze on after resting for probably 10 min out of the oven. The glaze set up nicely and I enjoyed the places where the glaze kind of dripped into the cake. You couldn’t tell from the top that I had “poked” it. I did put the rest of the glaze on the table in a gravy boat and people who wanted more added a bit of fresh glaze on their cake. It was delicious!
For the icing, is it just 1-2T of water? I added that to the 3 c of powdered sugar and there’s only clumping! Do I simply add water until the consistency of syrup? Thank you!
Yes, add water little by little until it reaches the consistency you’re looking for. Enjoy!
I have baked for over 50 years. This is the best coffee cake I have made. Very easy!
I think there is a mistake with the powered sugar. Either too much sugar or not enough water. No way you are going to be able to mix 3 cups of PS with just 2 Tbsp of water. Way too little water.
Hi! How much is a ‘stick’ of butter? Thanks
1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons.
when i mixed it became dough what should i do!!
Yikes! Not quite sure why it would do that. Did you change any of the ingredients or amounts?
Did you mean 2 cups or 2 tbsp of powdered sugar? I feel it’s a typo.
Nope, not a typo. You can always make less but we love the glaze on ours.
Im making a day ahead of time do I refrigerate the cake and take out and add icing before serving? Or do I ice it and refrigerate it?
No need to refrigerate the cake itself, though I would ice it fresh before serving. Old icing loses it’s moisture.
What kind of flour and sugar is it x
All Purpose Flour and granulated sugar 🙂
Do you pore the glaze on the hot cake? Or wait till it cools?
You’ll want to make sure the cake cools completely before adding the glaze to the top. Enjoy!
The recipe is great. However I think that there is something wrong with the icing recipe. Had to add much more water to the powdered sugar in order to get the right consistency. Actually the cake tastes better without the icing.
This is an easy and tasty dessert. I followed the directions exactly except for the icing. I used about half of what was listed and found it to be still pretty sweet. Also, next time I might not use as much brown sugar for the topping. I definitely am writing this one down in my personal recipe book, it was great!
I am trying this for first time. 3 cups of powdered sugar for icing, is this right? Mine is not runny at all, it’s still in clunks with just 2 tablespoons of water
Feel free to add more water until it’s the consistency of syrup. Hope this helps.
This came out amazing,
My husband and kids really loved it
Will definitely make this again
I have to make this recipe all the time as this is a family favourite! I love all of your recipes! Thankyou!!
I made this exactly as the recipe called. The cake itself was good but the icing just tastes like powdered sugar, not like a cinnamon bun icing. And the cake became wet after adding the icing. I’ve had much better coffee cakes, would not make this again.
The number of 5 stars for this recipe very deceiving as most of the comments are saying the recipe “looks” great, and they haven’t actually made it. This site, and many others, should not allow a “comment” section to rate the recipe. Only reviews should be allowed to rate the recipe. Comment and reviews are two different things.
I made this for our family to taste before I made one to send to a Breakfast For Dinner at the hospital! I quickly mixed up another one and it’s baking now! It is amazing!!! The bake time was perfect and the recipe was clear and easy to follow! I only used half of the glaze and it was perfect for our taste but i think it would have been great using the full amount, too!
Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and letting me know, Robin!
Would this recipe work with 3 eggs instead of 2? I need to develop a child’s tolerance to baked egg by using recipes with 3 eggs. This looks delicious, but would a third egg alter it too much?
I haven’t tested so I’m not sure. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. I hope you all enjoy it!
Thanks–we all loved it! If I weren’t needing it for the baked egg tolerance, I would stick with 2 eggs. I think the third egg makes it a little too fluffy for a coffeecake. Even so, it’s still very good and we are gobbling it up. 🙂
Glad to hear everyone loved it!
Hi Sabrina,
Can you tell me whether the brown sugar should be loosely or firmly packed please?
Packed 🙂
I loved the cake but the icing was not so good. To much powder sugar and had to had put a lot of water to make it like syrup.
This is a really good recipe! Everytime I make it and take it places, everyone raves over it!!!
How awesome! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know!
So I’ve made this recipe about 5 times now, and I absolutely love it. Delicious, makes a big batch, and there’s no crazy ingredients so it’s easy to make in a pinch. I will say though, the one thing I change about it that’s always made it just a bit tastier, something I did as an emergency the first time that I didn’t realize was so impactful: substitute a cup or so of flour for corn meal. Less if you want, but at least half a cup. Also add a tsp or 2 of extra baking powder, and add a pinch more salt than the recipe calls for. I find the cake in the original recipe a little bit plain and a little too dense, but these changes add some depth to the cake flavour and give it a more crumbly consistency. Soo good!
Thanks for the suggestion! I’m so glad it’s a favorite of yours.
Hi Emily! That sounds very interesting and delicious! What kind of cornmeal did you use? Was it white or yellow, finely ground, or… ?
Thanks ?
I haven’t finished making it yet… the house smells good though! I baked it for 30 minutes and it was still jiggly; it seems even more so then when I put it in. I put it in for an additional 15 minutes twice. I let it cool for 30 minutes and the center fell and also seemed to wet still. I’m hoping this will do the trick. The only thing I’m worried seeing is I didn’t beat the wet and dry, but thoroughly mixed them by hand. Any advice for next time?
That’s odd! I’ve made this a million times and never had an issue with it not cooking all the way through. Have you had any other issues with your oven temperature?
I’m going to make this for Thanksgiving morning. Have you thought about adding cooked bacon pieces to the mix? I’m going to try it but wondered if you ever thought about it. Wish me luck!
It sounds delicious!
I just made it and it was delicious 🙂 I will definitely keep the recipe. Thank you!
Can the baked coffeecake be frozen for 4 days and after thawing reheated in the oven before serving? I would add the glaze before serving.
Yes, just thaw it in the refrigerator overnight beofre baking the next day. Enjoy!
easy and delicious. only change my would make is a thicker frosting.
Made this and it was incredible warm from the oven. It is a bit loose if eaten warm, but it firms up more as it cools. It really doesn’t even need the glaze, it’s a bit too sweet with it, so next time I’ll skip that. In order to get the cinnamon swirl deeper into the cake, I layered the batter and cinnamon sugar mixture and that way, when marbled, there is plenty of “the good stuff” throughout. Much prefer the texture of this to that of a cinnamon roll which ends up being dry and stale, apart from the gooey center. Thanks for the recipe:)
So glad you enjoyd it, Jonna!
i felt the glaze way waaay to much. I would half it next time. other than that it was good
Delicious coffee cake! 38-40 min in my oven and a knife came out clean.
One night I told my three teenage boys I was going to make them cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We’ll, after getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning to make the yeast bread for the cinnamon rolls the yeast didn’t “proof“. I didn’t want to run out, in the early morning hours, to the store so I Googled for a quick easy cinnamon roll breakfast recipe. And, my search lead me to your wonderful easy to make coffee cake. I followed the directions as instructed. Except, I dusted the powdered sugar over the cake. There was three slices left on my 9×13 glass pan which my kids devoured for after school snack. Surprisingly, the coffee cake stayed moist and spongy. Other coffee cake recipes I baked before became dry and crumbly after it sat around for a few hours. Your coffee cake is my new go-to breakfast. Thank you for this scrumptious recipe.
How awesome! So glad to have saved the morning!
Just finished making this recipe, although I changed the glaze a bit. I decided to add lemon zest to the glaze and it compliments the cinnamon really nicely. I see a lot of comments saying they needed to add 5 minutes while I actually cooked it for 5 minutes less. It probably just depends on you oven. Overall I have to say great recipe and I will definitely be making it again 😀
The recipe tasted delicious! However mine came out a lot more dense than it was supposed to be. WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!?!
Oh no! It sounds like the cake was mixed a bit too much once the flour was added. Next time, try to only mix the wet and dry just until mixed. Don’t over mix. I hope this helps!
The coffee cake is delicious however the recipie calls for too much powdered sugar for the amount of water. Three cups of powdered sugar make a significant amount of icing. The next time I make it I will use 1and 1/2 cups for the icing. I also baked it for five minutes longer.
Best cinnamon cake I’ve ever made and tasted! Made it for an office party and everyone came back for seconds and asked for a recipe ? Will definitely make it again.
I’d call that a success!! Thanks for coming back to let me know.
So good! Mine was done at 30 minutes. I did cut the icing drizzle down by half. Everyone loved it!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I am going to to make this tomorrow but we like pecans so I’ll add pecans in with the swirled in cinnamon and sugar. Thanks for the recipe
This cake tasted so good! The icing tasted really off to me though I used the exact recipe and it just tasted like pure powdered sugar with a very fake taste. I will use a different icing recipe next time, but the cake was delicious!
I made this yesterday for my Sunday School class. Yes, I also found that the timeing is off. It should take at least another 10 minutes to cook. Also, I thought I had folded in the brown sugar, cinnamon enough. I used a fork and swirled it around. The finished product showed I should have swirled more. I’m wondering if doing two layers, swirling each before adding the next, then giving it a big swirl at the end might help. Also there is no need for 3 cups of powdered sugar. One is sufficient. Everyone enjoyed the cake so I will make it again.
Great cake
Recipe says 3 cups powdered sugar
That ratio to the water is wrong
1-2 tbs water …. more like 1/2 cup or more
Just saying
I really enjoyed the cake, it was really moist and fantastic. I wasn’t really the biggest fan of the icing though, and I’ll definitely use a lot less if I make this again. Altogether it’s a great recipe!
Made it and use half the sugar needed for the cake .. even better and not to sweet especially with the brown cinnamon sugar added on top. It was served with vanilla ice cream !! Omg !! To die for !! Thank you for sharing xo
did you use cake flour or plane flour
All purpose flour 🙂
I can’t even tell you how delicious it was, and here’s a tip for people making this ‘drizzle melted marshmallows’ on this and it is AMAZING, HEAVENLY AND ??!!! It sooooooooo goood
That sounds like a delicious addition!
This is a great recipe and forgiving. I forgot to put in the butter the first time I made it and drizzled it on top and it was still great. I put in 1/2 the sugar the second time and it was still good. I do only use 1 c of powder sugar for the icing. I do recommending swirling the brown sugar/cinnamon well.
Thanks for the 5 stars Shanua!
This has been a major hit with everyone. My new “go to” pot luck recipe.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!
My 8 years old daughter loves cooking this recipe. So YUMMY!
This was easy and delicious! Just what I was looking for to bake on Saturday morning chilling out with the family.
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I decided to make this as a quick fix for a sugar craving. My cake was still soup after 30minutes, so I covered my pan with foil and lowered the oven temp by 25 degrees. After about 15 minutes, I took it out and it was done, if a little more over cooked on the edges and top than preferred . I didn’t have the ingredients for the icing, so I left it off…Even with all that, this cake turned out great! The cake itself wasn’t overly sweet, and it was plenty moist, with a soft delicate crumb. I will absolutely make this again, and even use it as a base for some other cakes. There’s a lot of potential here for some creative flavors: orange zest, almond extract, even substituting buttermilk, or frosting instead of cinnamon crumb.Thank you for this recipe!
I was searching for an easy & delicious coffee cake to serve at our monthly men’s prayer breakfast. In addition to the eggs, ham, potato casserole, biscuits & gravy, & fruit, the guys always appreciate something sweet. This is perfect! The recipe couldn’t be easier. I will be making it the night before since the guys come at 6:00 am. Thank you! I’m pretty sure this will be my new go-to coffee cake recipe.
Thanks Linda!
So good!! Made it this morning and my family loves it
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
I was looking for a recipe that was fast, simple and used stuff I already have in the house. Since mom recently moved into a senior residence shes missed having some home baked treats for her coffee so I’ve started bringing her something every time I go see her. Since a recent hip injury (word of caution to people in a rush like I usually am – while bringing laundry downstairs make sure your foot is completely on the step before moving down ) I haven’t had a chance to see her never mind bring her anything. This recipe seemed perfect! It took all of 5 minutes to whip together. I cut the recipe in half and baked in a 9″ square pan. I put half the batter in the pan, sprinkled it with half the sugar/cinnamon mixture and then dropped the other half on top in dollops, spreading out carefully before using the last of the sugar mixture. Of course I had to test a small corner of it to make sure it was ok lol. Not only does this cake taste really yummy it makes the house smell amazing!
I feel like it was your duty to taste test….good for you for showing restraint and just taking the corner, haha!
Just to let you know, the cake was a success! Mom wolfed down 2 pieces before she got halfway through her coffee lol. She’s even requested that I make it again the next time I go visit her 🙂 Thanks for helping me put a smile on her face again!
I’d definitely call that a success!
I also wanted to know if the recipe could be halved. It seems like Jane had good results. Am going to try today
Can we put it in a muffin tray?
Of course 🙂
I made this and it was pretty good, I probably should’ve swirled the topping into the cake more. The taste was nice, the cake was a tiny bit dry for my liking.
This is twice as yummy if it’s warm!! Fantastic!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I didn’t enjoy this as much as most apparently. It is quick and easy relative to making cinnamon rolls, but it was too sweet (and I only used half the icing) and I found the cake a bit to dense for my taste. I guess I was looking for something more crumbly, crusty and less sugary flavor.
I wouldn’t turn anyone off it though. It’s relatively quick, go light on the icing and it’s goes down pretty well with a cup of coffee.
Thanks for sharing the idea.
Was thinking of making this cake it sounds delicious but where is the coffee ?
Coffee cake is just a term used for a cake you serve when having company over while drinking coffee. 🙂
Made this and it came out amazing!
I brought over a piece for my husband, then headed back to the kitchen for my coffee, only to hear a loud “ohhhh gaaahhhh this is amazing!!!” From the living room. That’s pretty much the exact reaction you hope for, the first bite usually tells it all.
I followed the recipe basically to a T. The only change I made was baking it for 5 minutes longer as it was not completely done. Also, I had a little over a cup of powdered sugar on hand, so just scaled it down a bit on the icing. Honestly the cake was already so sweet, I thought that amount of icing was plenty and it perfectly cover the entire cake.
Thank you, Sabrina!!!
I shall now explore your other recipes
What an awesome reaction!! I love it! Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know.
I just made this cake and it turned out wonderful! The bated was a bit thick so you don’t need to worry about that. I baked it for about 15 extra minutes. My only problem was that the brown sugar mixture didn’t mix into the batter enough t create a swirly line throughout the entire cake. I recommend swirling it a lot and really getting into the bottom of the batter before you bake it. Other than that, the cake came out great! As for the glaze, I had to add a few extra tablespoons of water. I’ll add less sugar bext time. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
The recipe time was too short bs the icing wasn’t accurate for powder to water ratio. I would definitely halve the icing portion. As well as do it over heat which I didn’t see listed in the recipe. But the actual cake itself was pretty good. I ran out of milk and had to water down light cream and her cake recipe is definitely solid because it worked still with a tweaking.
Is the cake batter supposed to be very thick? I just made this and it’s in the oven atm. I was unsure and kept re-reading the ingredients and directions while mixing everything together.
How did they turn out?
I do have a quick question about the recipe, I know you’re supposed to use the 9×13 pan, but have you ever tried it in miniature loaf pans? I’m making several for my coworkers for my Christmas goodie basket and this recipe caught my eye, but wanted to make sure it was a good one to use in the loaf pans. But so excited to try it!!!
Hmm, good question. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work out, you’d just get less of that swirled surface area that is super delicious.
Concerning the butter, Is it being mixed in until well combined? Thanks!
Yes, you’ll want to add in the melted butter and mix it until well combined. I’ll edit the recipe to clarify to avoid any other confusion. Thanks for asking! I hope you enjoy it!
I’m making this for my Mom’s Bible Study this coming Tuesday. It looks so yummy.
Hope everyone enjoys it!
Hi
Please could you tell me how much a stick of butter is…..I live in Africa so do not know how many grams of butter to use.
Thank you Jenny
1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams.
I was looking for an easy coffee cake to make and ran across this recipe. My kids and I absolutely love it! It only took me a few minutes to prepare. It was so moist and tastes just like a cinnamon roll. Why make cinnamon rolls that take forever when you can enjoy this cake that tastes just like one. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I love this!! So glad you all enjoyed it Stacey!!
Do you think this could be made earlier like the night before and then refrigerated? All except the frosting of course.
I would hesitate to say yes because I’ve never tried it and am not sure how it would turn out sitting for so long before baking. If you decide to try, I’d love to hear how it turned out.
Hi Sabrina,
I would like to know if I could halve this recipe and if so do I use exactly half of the ingredients? Sorry for the silly question.
The cake looks delicious , I just wanted to make a smaller size version of it.
Thanks,
Marta
Not a silly question at all! Yes, you can! Enjoy!
Instead of cutting the recipe in half, I just divided it into two smaller pans and after they baked and cooled, I put one into the freezer to enjoy later.
The glaze turned out strange tasting to me. I had to add about 3 tblsp to make it syrupy. Seemed like too much powdered sugar?
So sorry this message got snagged in my spam filter! Glazes can be tricky sometimes depending on how packed your powdered sugar is, but the measurements I listed are pretty standard for my cinnamon roll baked goods. Did it taste overly sweet because you had to add more sugar than expected?
omg my mouth is watering at the moment. I’ve made Cinnamon coffee cake in the past. Regarding the melted butter I’d use unsalted. Normally I don’t add melted butter to cake batters. I bet if I ask my husband to make this cake he’d make it. I knew what to do with the sugars just by reading the ingredients. Similiar to mine but mine has a crumb topping. Made one for a neighbor who reported back that she couldn’t stop eating it.
Have him make it for you and then you can sit back and enjoy! 🙂
I just made this for my husband’s office. Super fast and easy. Tasted delicious!!! Definitely printing this one out for my folder!
So glad it worked out for you!
This turned out so yummy!! I would recommend cutting the brown sugar amount in half because it’s way to much! but other than that this was very good and fluffy.
I only had the printed copy of the recipe and it doesn’t say to swirl the cinnamon and sugar mix into the cake, so I have a huge amount of sugar and cinnamon just running free. Please edit it so people don’t end up with my mistake.
Sorry about that, I’ve fixed the recipe now! Thanks for letting me know about the mistake!
Made these last night- love them! Was for a bake sale and they went so fast, everyone loved them!
Aww, that’s so sweet, you made my night! I’m so glad you came back to tell me about it!
I was looking for an easy and fast coffee cake recipe that used simple ingredients readily available in my pantry and VOILA – yours was perfect! Although it’s wonderful how many comments you received about how good the photos looked – the only comment I found truly helpful was from Christine who actually tested the recipe and gave feedback on how your coffee cake is in real life. Thank you Christine! Based on Christine’s comments and my own preferences, I altered the recipe slightly and couldn’t be happier with the results. Your recipe is easy, fast, moist and delicious. It’s also really easy to adjust!
In case anyone’s interested – here are my little alterations. I used 1/4 stick more butter in the batter since I knew I’d be baking this a little longer. I used raw sugar for the batter which made it a little less sweet. The cinnamon mix is where I really changed things up because I love my coffee cake with nuts and coconut! I melted a 1/4 stick of butter, mixed in the brown sugar, threw in 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, added in 1/3 cup of toasted coconut and then stirred in the cinnamon. Mixed everything so that is was moistened by the butter but all was still very crumbly and loose. When everything was ready, I poured half of the cake batter into the pan, then poured 2/3 of the cinnamon/nut mix evenly over the batter, then poured in the rest of the batter to cover everything completely and then sprinkled on the remaining cinnamon nut mix. I took a chopstick and swirled everything together (a fork or butter knife would also work). I baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes (depending on where you live and how moist you like your cake – I’d say baking anywhere 40-50 minutes)
This came out so amazing and I couldn’t have done it without this recipe. Your site is great and thanks so much for the fantastic recipe. Hope my feedback is helpful for others and I highly recommend the coconut/pecan additions!!
xo
Abby Shepard
Oh my goodness, thank you SO much for coming back and leaving this feedback! I agree too, I love it when the comments reflect people making it and rating it. I know I am pretty guilty of commenting before I make something and failing to come back and leave a note, so I really appreciate you doing so! And I am so happy you enjoyed it!
I found this a few days ago and wanted to make this for a church gathering this weekend, so I did a trial run for breakfast this morning. It was a WIN WIN WIN!!!!! My husband (who thinks coffeecake belongs in parlor rooms with tea and crumpets) absolutely LOVED it!
I followed the recipe to a “T” save adding an extra 1.5 TBSP water to the icing to make it spreadable and the icing hardened up perfectly. This recipe is easy to follow, easy to make, and turns out absolutely delicious without having the dryness that often comes with coffeecakes. The only thing I’ll do different next time will be to swirl the topping down into the batter a bit more than I did. I only swirled it through the surface, but I think I was supposed to do a deeper swirl than what I did. Also, this is a very thick batter, so make sure you THOROUGHLY work it into the corners evenly BEFORE you put the topping on and swirl it in…mine domed more in the middle than what I would like in the future.
This is my new go-to recipe for a quick and delicious coffee cake and I just may keep it on hand for friends who stop by! Thank you so much! Blessings!
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know you enjoyed it!
Yw Sabrina! When I read comments on a recipe I am looking for a review from someone who has tried it, so I’m hoping my review and comments can help someone else making it for the first time. 🙂 I was a lot more impressed than I thought I’d be!
Totally agree! I do the same thing on blogs! I hope your review gives people a feeling of confidence that is really is a recipe that works too! 🙂 Thank you again!
Christine, thank you so much for commenting on how it turned out! Yours is exactly the kind of comment I like to see on these blogs 🙂 I was wondering if you could tell me how well it holds up the next day? I’m hoping to make this for breakfast, but I’d prefer to make it the night before if it will still be good the next morning.
Not to interject myself, but it’s just as good if you prepare it the night before, and we keep it in the fridge for a few days. If you ice it and wrap the pan in foil, it will help to keep the cake moist!
I was able to serve this to friends 3 days later and they raved so much that I was printing copies of the recipe for them! Everyone was amazed at how moist and flavorful this was THEN they were amazed at how simple the actual recipe was! FYI : I used a 14×9 (3qt) Pyrex pan that has a lid, so I kept it on the countertop and it was still good a week later when we finally finished it. This made a VERY thick cake, so next time I’ll probably separate the batter into that pyrex and the next size down (11×7) for more manageable pieces.
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!! And I am so glad it kept well for you 🙂
I’ve got it in the oven now. Looks amazing!
Wonderful!! Hope you love it!
Found you from Pintrest. This does look good. But I have a question. Does this really call for 5 cups of sugar (1 cup regular + 1 cup brown + 3 cups powdered) to 3 cups of flour? Also just a minor detail but in ingredients list it reads “1 stick melted” but doesn’t specify what. I assume you meant butter.
Yes, LOTS of sugar, but to be fair the three cups is all in the glaze. You technically could leave it off and the cake is still delicious, but it is sort of how cinnamon rolls go. Also good catch on the melted butter! I am off to change that now!
Hey there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Exceptional blog and great design and style.
This sounds so delicious! I bet I could get one of my kids to make this for me!
Yes! It was made for me on Sunday!
Hi Sabrina. I shared this recipe on pinterest. It looks delicious.. I LOVE anything cinnamon.
Anjanette, thank you so much! This pan went to my husband’s office and came back nearly empty, so that has to be a great sign. I only took a few bites since I am still getting back to pre-pregnancy form.
Oh my word does this look amazing! I love cinnamon roll cake so darn much! Yum!
Oh my word does this look amazing! I love cinnamon roll cake so darn much! Yum!
me too!
Oh wow… if only that cake was in front of me now! Looks amazing. Will have to try this soon!
Hope you like it!
I didn’t think coffee cake could get much better – but this looks AMAZING!! I cannot wait to make ti!
I hope you enjoy it! It was so easy to make!
The coffee cake looks so good. I may try to make it gluten free with a gluten free baking mix.
Oh my gosh this looks so good. How do you stop from eating the entire pan?
This looks absolutely delicious. Definitely pinning for my next brunch since you aren’t hear to make it for me!
Wish I was!!
This looks absolutely delicious. Definitely pinning for my next brunch since you aren’t hear to make it for me!
This looks so delicious. I want to make it for my family this weekend.
Perfect for a sweet tooth. I haven’t had coffee cake for years, I’d love to have some again!
This IS perfect for Mothers Day. I will leave this recipe open on my computer so my family will see it and make it for me. Hopefully they will bring it to me in bed.
I like your style!
Yes, please. This would be perfect with a little tea. Yum!
You are speaking my language here. This would be such a wonderful Mother’s Day brunch for me and my mama.
Hope you enjoy them!
This looks delicious! Your pictures are making me hungry – I will be making this for dessert.
That looks absolutely delicious!!! Moist and full of flavor, I have to try it!
Hope you like it!
That looks super yummy! I’m not much of a baker, but even I could do this – but I need someone to make it for me for Mother’s Day!
Thanks! You deserve to have someone do it for you instead!
Mouth watering! Looks soooo good!
thanks 🙂
This looks so goooood. I would love a slice right now
Really hard to type right now. Mouth is watering.
The swirled brown sugar and cinnamon are definitely what I need! Perfect idea for Mother’s Day!
Thanks!
Perfect indeed! I could go for a slice with my morning cup of coffee before anyone else wakes up and just savor some peace and quiet.
I couldn’t agree more. As much as I love my kids, the hour or so I am awake before they are in the mornings with my cup of coffee and some completely not g-rated show like a housewives show is on the tv is the best hour of the day!
This sounds really, really good! I think I will actually make this for my mother-in-law for MOther’s Day this weekend.
Hope you like it!
That looks too delicious. I’d really like to make some of that soon. It would be gone very quickly.
Thanks!
Oh my gosh this looks so incredible! I need to make this asap! Looks so delicious!
Hope you like it!
Ugh, you are killing me Smalls with the food! It looks absolutely amazing!! We don’t celebrate mother’s day at our house either. Happy Mother’s Day!
Haha, well at least you get to actually enjoy some of it! Bringing a new recipe from tonight over tomorrow morning 🙂
I can’t say no to cinnamon. This cake looks perfect for Mother’s Day! (Plus, I can’t believe Memorial Day is just around the corner…and then it’s SUMMER! )
I definitely think this year is flying by too. I need it to slow down! 🙂
I don’t think I have ever wanted to lick my computer screen before today. That looks incredible. I am going to ask my husband to make it for me for Mother’s Day!
Aww thanks! I hope you like it!
That looks DELICIOUS! My husband LOVES Cinnamon buns.
Thanks!
I’ll take that for Mother’s Day! That looks so delicious! If my husband surprised me with this, he’d have brownie points for days.
That is soooo totally drool worthy. You have no idea how much I want that right now. Yum!
Thanks! I had to stop myself at one small piece and sent the rest into my husband’s office so I didn’t keep eating it!
I forgot to ask this question. This cake pan – greased or ungreasted. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Yes, I use a baking spray. Enjoy!
After baking 30 minutes my toothpick was not clean when I tested it to see if it was done. There is no mention of testing it in the recipe. I’ve put it back in the oven. Is this necessary or should I just bake for 30 minutes without testing it??? Thanks.
Sorry I’m just now seeing this 🙁 Depending on how the temp in your oven runs, I would leave it in for a bit longer. Hopefully it turned out well for you!
The Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake was delicious. I toothpick tested it after baking 30 minutes and decided to leave it in the oven longer. Then some family members didn’t want the extra sugar so I put the glaze on only half which made everyone happy. My glaze ended up too runny after adding a little more water, but it didn’t make a difference in taste. I would definitely make this for guests – it will be a go-to coffee cake in my house! The ingredients are things I always have around for a last minute occasion.
Yay! So happy to hear everyone loved it!! Thank for letting me know 🙂
I added another five minutes, then it was perfect. I will make less icing next time and just drizzle it, it made it too sweet (yes, there is such a thing!)
I also had to add some time, about 15 minutes. I only used half the icing since it’s so sweet. These came out amazing! Such an easy but impressive cake.