How is this different from cinnamon rolls?

There's no yeast and no rolling — it's a poured cake batter with the cinnamon swirl marbled in, so it comes together in about an hour instead of several.

Can I make it in a different pan?

A 9x13 gives thin, gooey squares. You can use two 9-inch rounds or an 8x8 for a thicker cake, but add a few minutes to the bake time and check the center.

Why add flour to the cinnamon swirl?

The little bit of flour thickens the buttery swirl so it stays suspended in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Name: Cinnamon Roll Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 32 min
Total time: 67 min
Yield: 15 squares
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 cup all-purpose flour; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 tbsp baking powder; 0.5 tsp fine salt; 1.5 cup buttermilk; 2 egg large eggs; 0.5 cup unsalted butter, melted; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 0.5 cup unsalted butter, softened; 1 cup packed brown sugar; 1 tbsp ground cinnamon; 2 tbsp all-purpose flour; 1.5 cup powdered sugar; 3 tbsp milk; 1 tsp vanilla extract

A soft buttermilk sheet cake with ribbons of cinnamon-sugar swirled through the batter and a vanilla glaze poured over the top — all the flavor of cinnamon rolls, none of the rolling.

a single-layer cinnamon roll sheet cake in a baking pan cut into squares (AI-generated editorial image) — Image: CinnamonRollsRecipe.com · AI-generated editorial (Flux)

Total time: 1 hr 7 min
Bake: 32 min
Yield: 15 squares
Level: easy

The quick answer

Cinnamon roll cake is a single-layer buttermilk cake with a cinnamon-brown-sugar swirl marbled through the batter and a vanilla glaze on top. Swirl the cinnamon mixture with a knife (don't fully mix it in) and glaze the cake while it's still warm so it absorbs.

When you want cinnamon rolls but you don't want to knead, proof, roll, or slice anything, you make this cake. A tender buttermilk batter goes into the pan, then a buttery cinnamon-brown-sugar mixture gets dolloped on and dragged through with a knife so it bakes into gooey swirls all the way through. A thin vanilla glaze poured over the still-warm cake soaks into every crack. It's the taste of a pan of rolls in about an hour, cut into squares.

a single square slice of cinnamon swirl cake on a plate showing the marbled cinnamon ribbons through the tender cake crumb (AI-generated editorial image) — The soft, pull-apart crumb you're after.

Ingredients

Make

squares

Cake batter

3 cupsall-purpose flour
1 cupgranulated sugar
1 tbspbaking powder
½ tspfine salt
1½ cupsbuttermilk — room temperature
2 eggslarge eggs
½ cupunsalted butter, melted
2 tspvanilla extract

Cinnamon swirl

½ cupunsalted butter, softened
1 cuppacked brown sugar
1 tbspground cinnamon
2 tbspall-purpose flour — keeps the swirl from sinking

Vanilla glaze

1½ cupspowdered sugar
3 tbspmilk — plus more to thin
1 tspvanilla extract

a butter knife dragging a cinnamon-sugar mixture into pale cake batter in a rectangular pan to marble it (AI-generated editorial image) — A look at the method — follow the steps below.

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9x13-inch pan.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla, then fold the wet into the dry just until smooth. Spread into the pan.
Batter is thick and spreadable, no dry streaks.
Mix the softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour into a paste. Drop spoonfuls all over the batter.
Swirl mixture sits in soft mounds on top.
Drag a butter knife through the batter in long S-shapes to marble the cinnamon mixture through — don't fully mix it in.
Visible dark ribbons run through the pale batter.
Bake until the center is set and a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs, not wet batter.
Center springs back; toothpick has moist crumbs.
Whisk the glaze until pourable and drizzle it over the cake while it's still warm. Let it soak in before slicing.
Glaze seeps into the surface and sets slightly.

Make ahead, store & reheat

Make ahead: Bake the cake a day ahead and glaze the morning you serve it, or glaze ahead and cover — the cake stays moist for two days. The cinnamon swirl paste can be mixed and refrigerated up to 3 days.
Storage: Cover and store at room temperature up to 3 days, or refrigerate up to 5 days.
Reheating: Warm a square in the microwave 15 seconds to bring back the just-baked gooeyness.
Freezing: Freeze unglazed squares up to 2 months; thaw, warm, and glaze before serving.

Substitutions

Milk soured with 1 tbsp lemon juice per cup instead of buttermilk
Cream cheese glaze for a tangier, cinnabon-style finish instead of vanilla glaze

Troubleshooting

Swirl sank to the bottom: Add the tablespoons of flour to the swirl paste and keep it thick — a runny swirl sinks. Don't over-marble.
Cake came out dry: Pull it as soon as a toothpick shows moist crumbs; buttermilk cakes overbake fast at the edges.
Glaze slid right off: Glaze while the cake is warm, not hot — hot cake makes the glaze too thin to cling.

Tools I reach for

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Frequently asked questions

How is this different from cinnamon rolls?: There's no yeast and no rolling — it's a poured cake batter with the cinnamon swirl marbled in, so it comes together in about an hour instead of several.
Can I make it in a different pan?: A 9x13 gives thin, gooey squares. You can use two 9-inch rounds or an 8x8 for a thicker cake, but add a few minutes to the bake time and check the center.
Why add flour to the cinnamon swirl?: The little bit of flour thickens the buttery swirl so it stays suspended in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan.

Nutrition (estimate): 1 square (of 15) · ~360 kcal. Nutrition is an automated estimate and will vary with brands and exact quantities.

Food safety: don't taste dough containing raw flour or raw egg. Refrigerate anything with cream cheese frosting, and reheat leftovers until piping hot.