With the great taste of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, this quick and easy Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe has it all, from buttery and tender cinnamon-swirled cake with carmalized streusel topping and a sweet glaze. An 8X8 small batch recipe that is simple to make smaller or bigger, it is the perfect breakfast, brunch, or dessert recipe for a holiday or everyday.
🥮Ingredients
Flour
Sugar—white, brown, and powdered
Cinnamon
Vanilla extract
Milk, butter, and egg
Pantry ingredients—salt, baking powder
Optional nuts—walnuts or pecans
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🥮Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Make Cinnamon Coffee Cake—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- 🤔When is the cinnamon coffee cake done?
- 👍Tips to make it perfect every time
- 🍽️How to serve
- ↕️How to make this recipe smaller or bigger
- 📋Other breakfast and dessert recipes
- ❄️Storage of leftovers
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
- Small Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Featured Comment by Beth:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Best Cinnamon Roll Cake EVER!!! It is so moist! It's hard to stop at one piece."
This wonderful Cinnamon Coffee Cake recipe is made from scratch with pantry ingredients. Loaded with butter, sugar, and gooey cinnamon swirls, it's topped with a glaze for that great cinnamon roll taste; it will be your new favorite dessert recipe.
Serve with baked sausage patties or crispy baked bacon.
👨🍳How to Make Cinnamon Coffee Cake—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Add the flour to a large bowl with cinnamon, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Optional—sift the flour for more tender results.
2. Add the wet ingredients: an egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Mix the melted butter into the cake batter.
4. Pour into a prepared 6X9, 8X8, or 9-inch round baking dish.
5. Mix topping by cutting cold butter into brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Add nut is you wish.
6. Add the topping to the batter. Cut it into the batter with a knife to make swirls. Bake at 350° until a toothpick comes out clean—about 30 minutes.
7. Mix a glaze of powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.
8. After the cake is partially cooled, drizzle the glaze over the warm cake and evenly spread it over the cake.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🤔When is the cinnamon coffee cake done?
Your cinnamon cake is done when it is browned nicely, and the cake starts pulling away from the sides. And a toothpick or narrow knife will come out clean.
If unsure, the internal temperature of the cake should be 200° to 210° when checked with an instant-read thermometer.
Time estimates for baking recipes are estimated for planning, but there are many variables, like the oven and thickness, which depend on the pan
👍Tips to make it perfect every time
Standard white all-purpose flour is fine. Cake or bread flour is unnecessary, and whole wheat will fight the taste and texture.
Sifting the flour will add lightness to the coffee cake. It is optional but suggested. If you don't have a sifter, use a large strainer instead.
Add the optional nuts to get the full cinnamon roll experience when they sink into the cake with the crumb topping when baked after cutting the knife through the batter, making the swirl effect.
🍽️How to serve
I suggest a smaller serving. There is so much butter and sweetness that a smaller serving will make most people happy. But, I have set the nutrition to six relatively large servings.
Serve with American Fries. Breakfast meat is a must at our house. If you have not tried it, check out how to bake bacon or baked breakfast sausage.
Bacon Baked in a Convection Oven
The easiest way to cook crispy bacon is in a convection oven on aluminum foil for easy cleanup of the bacon grease. Use standard or thick-cut bacon to make great crispy bacon strips for breakfast or other uses.
↕️How to make this recipe smaller or bigger
This small recipe is already "for two with leftovers". If you decide to make a half recipe, you need to use a 6-inch round or 5-inch square pan and will cook 5-10 minutes quicker depending on the pan.
A double recipe uses a 9 by 13-inch cake pan and will take about 10 minutes longer to cook. Use the same endpoints.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
📋Other breakfast and dessert recipes
Check out other breakfast baked goods recipes, like Small French Toast Casserole, Glazed Cinnamon Biscuits, Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, Blueberry Cake, and Baked Blueberry Pancakes. Or some delicious dessert recipes like Flourless Chocolate Cake and Old Fashioned Apple Crisp.
This recipe is featured in Mother's Day Recipes, Valentine's Day Recipes, and Christmas Recipes roundups.
❄️Storage of leftovers
The cake is best served warm out of the oven. Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days but best if only one day. If you add the optional cream cheese to the frosting, you should store in the refrigerator and not at room temperature.
Freezing is acceptable for up to 3 months, but I suggest freezing without the glaze and adding it later.
Reheat in the microwave. If you want to reheat in the oven, it should be covered.
❓FAQs
You may add 2 tablespoons of cream cheese to the frosting glaze for great cream cheese flavor. If you add cream cheese, the cinnamon cake must be refrigerated and not left at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
No. The top may overcook before the batter is cooked. This is true of most baking, only use convection if instructed.
📖 Recipe
Small Cinnamon Coffee Cake
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour - sifting suggested
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup butter
Topping
- ½ cup butter - cold
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ⅔ cup chopped nuts - optional. Walnuts or Pecans.
Glaze
- 1 cup powder sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° conventional.
- Sift 1 ½ cups flour into a large mixing bowl. You could skip the sifting, but it will improve the texture. You can also strain or whisk the flour for a few seconds.
- Add ½ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons baking powder to the flour in the large bowl. Mix dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients: 1 egg, ¾ cup milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well.
- Melt ¼ cup butter in a microwave. Mix the melted butter into the cake batter.
- Prep an 8X8, 9X6, or 9-inch round baking dish with PAM cooking spray. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Mix the topping in a medium bowl: cut ½ cup cold butter into a mixture of ½ cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon flour. Mix until crumbly. If you wish, add ⅓ cup chopped pecans or walnuts.
- Add the cinnamon topping to the cake batter. Cut it into the batter with a knife. Move a butter knife in 1-inch segments in both directions several times. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
- Mix the glaze of 1 cup of powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk.
- After the cake is partially cooled, drizzle the glaze over the warm cake and evenly spread it over the cake.
- Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- An easy recipe to double using a 9 X 13 standard cake pan. Cooking time will increase a bit to 35-40 minutes. A half recipe will fit in a 6-inch round pan and will cook 5-10 minutes faster.
- Butter is a key component of this cake. Please use real butter.
- Sifting flour will make your flour "lighter" and your final results lighter and less dense. I think this is quite noticeable in this recipe. If you don't have a sifter, running the flour through a strainer will work. If you don't have that, a whisk or fork can help. Or you can skip it.
- You can add 2 tablespoons of cream cheese to the frosting glaze for more taste, but because of the cream cheese, you MUST refrigerate leftovers.
- Best warm out of the oven but otherwise store at room temperature covered tightly for up to 3 days, but only one day is better.
- It can be frozen for up to three months, but I suggest freezing it without the glaze and adding it before serving.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Based on Cinnabon Cake on Food.com.
Editor's Note: Originally Published December 12, 2015. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
marilyn says
I love your recipes! These fall under my idea of uncomplicated or ordinary food if you will. I'm very fussy not by choice just is! These are perfect for my husband and I. Trying something different everyday.
Thank You so Much!
Heather says
I didn't have much luck with this cake. I bake quite a bit, so I know what I'm doing and was quite disappointed. I followed the recipe exactly. I had to cook it at a lower temperature for another 20 minutes to get the centre to cook. I think gently folding the cinnamon mixture in the entire batter would allow for better consistency to the better and a better set up. The batter/cake takes very much like pancakes, so not a big hit in my household. Not happy about the time, effort and ingredients that I used up to make this cake.
JoAnne says
I discovered your blog while searching for a cinnamon roll recipe. I made this cinnamon roll cake recipe with gluten free flour because I have celiac disease.
It turned out really moist and delicious...everyone loves it. I’ve always made it in a glass baking dish, but now want to take it to a party. Do you think it will turn out okay if I bake it in a disposable foil pan?
Thanks for sharing all your recipes. Reading your cooking instructions is so entertaining. Much more so than actually cooking👩🍳
DrDan says
Hi JoAnne,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad it works well for you. The aluminum pan will probably decrease the cooking time by about 5 minutes (total guess there). So do the toothpick test at about 23-25 minutes.
Thanks for the note and glad you're enjoying the blog.
Dan
Julie says
Hey Dr Dan- made this for Christmas morning breakfast this year. It was a big hit, my family went gaga over it and ate up the whole pan! I enjoy your site, especially doing steaks on the stovetop and then finishing in the oven. Keep the great ideas coming. Happy New Year.
DrDan says
Hi Julie,
Welcome to the blog.
I love this recipe. TO MUCH. I don't make it much due to all the butter but it is great for a special occasion.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Marty says
Wow! Tried this recipe yesterday and loved it. We will be making this again, and soon. Thanks!
DrDan says
Hi Marty,
Welcome to the blog.
This is one of my personal favorites but I'm cinnamon roll obsessed and lazy.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Donna R says
I can’t wait to make this. I was thinking, however, about using bread flour. Thoughts on that? Thanks!
DrDan says
Hi Donna,
Welcome to the blog.
Yes BUT... you always can use bread flour for AP but it is higher in protein and tends not to "fluff" up with sifting. So the results will be a bit denser. In a yeast bread, you get more gluten formations and that is great but that will do nothing in this recipe. I somewhat prefer AP flour here.
Dan
Donna R says
Sounds good! Thanks for the explanation of the two flours. I basically use the bread flour only for kolaches, but was curious about using it for cake. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jodi says
I would love to make this Christmas morning as my in-laws are coming over to watch kids open presents and id like something easy and impressive. How can i prep some of this overnight for a quicker process? I'd have to start this before everyone gets up or comes over and id also need to do my other Christmas prep that morning so anything to make it quicker? Can I premix dry ingredients the night before? Maybe the icing? Thank you!
DrDan says
I would premix the dry and make the topping. But I would not do the icing ahead.
Amy says
Simple and delicious! I agree with Dr. Dan-sifting the flour makes for a perfect texture. It is a big hit with my family...and my coworkers! Thanks for yet another excellent recipe!
RossC says
Made this this morning...
Couldn't wait for it to cool so it was, oww, yumm, oww, yum...
We loved it and will make it for our Canasta card buddies... :O)
DrDan says
I always like a simple recipe,
Thanks so much for the note and the rating.
DrDan
Anne says
Just wanted to thank you for this great recipe - so easy and so good. I made it for our niece who is visiting from Utah who is a cinnamon roll expert. She proclaimed this fantastic. We're having a party in a couple of weeks, and I'm planning to make it then. Thanks again for this recipe as well as your excellent blog!
Maureen says
The coffee cake recipe was absolutly delicious! My Mom mailed the recipe to me and I tried it out on my boys this morning -- I called it the "Back to School Cake".
DrDan says
Excellent, say hi to your mom for me.
Dan
James Chapman says
Dan, the recipe looks great. I too love cinnamon rolls, but not all the effort. Will have to try soon. One small note, it is sifting the flour , not shifting. Might have been your spell checker giving you grief. Happens to me all the time. Just cooked up some filet mignons using your sear roast method, and they turned out perfect. Thanks so much.
DrDan says
Thanks for the proof read. Enjoy your filet and you will love the cinnamon cake.
Dan
Bob P says
..and a Happy New Year Dr Dan. :)
DrDan says
I found it amazingly good. Much better than it has any right to be considering the work. It made #2 on the top ten for 2015.
Happy New Years to you to and thanks for the notes.
DrDan
Bob P says
BINGO! This sweet treat is the real deal. This is more scrumptious than any cinnamon rolls I've had. Don't have to make any more trips to bakery.
FYI I used an 8" x 8" dish and it worked out fine. Thanx for the recipe Dr Dan. :)
Betty Taylor says
Is the size of the pan correct? I would think it should be 9 by 13 in. I haven't made it yet. It looks fabulous. Call me anonymous.
DrDan says
Hi anonymous....
Yep it is a small 9X6. Most recipes are double this and use about 9X12 size. So double if your not cooking for two. I cut about 2X2 pieces and that was fine for me but most would like a bigger piece so although I cut 12 for use, I used 8 as the number of servings in the recipe.
Laura says
Oh my, that looks fabulous! I may have to try that this month before I go on my post-holidays weight loss kick, Lol!
DrDan says
Exactly the reason I made this now. I won't allow myself in January.
DrDan
Laura says
Well, I have been craving cinnamon rolls lately but didn't want to do the work so I made this late last night. You are right about it being a five out of five! If there are any other readers with Celiac/that eat gluten free, I added an extra egg and used namaste gf flour blend which has guar gum in it. I am going to have a hard time keeping my hands off the leftovers!
DrDan says
That is about the fastest somebody actually bake one of my recipes.
Thanks for the GF tips and the rating
Dan