This super moist Cinnamon Roll Swirl Coffee Cake is worth making from scratch! Rich, moist coffee cake is swirled with a cinnamon roll filling and topped off with a simple glaze. It is to die for!

The first time we made a cinnamon swirl coffee cake was years ago from a fellow family member’s blog (that’s right, blogging runs in the family). The recipe was called Honey Bun Cake. It was absolutely delicious, and we’ve made it several times since. Her recipe uses a cake mix but we wanted a “from scratch” version, since that’s more The Stay At Home Chef style. We know how easy it is to reach for the cake mix, but trust us, it is worth the extra effort to make coffee cake from scratch.
We’ve all experienced dry, crumbly, sub-par coffee cake. It is usually store-bought and always served at a women’s luncheon of some sort. We make it a rule to avoid the coffee cake at such events because we have simply become so spoiled with this homemade coffee cake. It is super moist, and thick, and decadent….everything a coffee cake should be. The batter is quite thick, much thicker than a cake mix so don’t be surprised by that. That’s exactly how it is supposed to be.
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Swirl Options:
You have a couple of different options for the cinnamon swirl. You can simple swirl it in up top like we’ve done here, or you can layer it by pouring half the batter into the pan, doing a swirl layer, then the remaining half of the batter and another swirl layer. Feel free to do whichever works best for you.
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Why Doesn’t it Have Any Coffee in it? Why do they call it a coffee cake?
Now, before anyone gets mad about calling it a coffee cake, let’s get one thing straight: coffee cake doesn’t have any coffee in it and it isn’t supposed to! It’s called coffee cake because it is meant to be served up with coffee. The sweetness of the cake is a delightful balance to the bitterness of coffee.
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Storage Instructions:
This cake stays good for about 3 days before it starts to dry out. Make sure you cover it after it has been sliced into, otherwise it will dry out immediately. Store at room temperature.

If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious pastry dessert recipes:
- Homemade Glazed Donuts
- Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins
- The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Ever
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Cinnamon Roll Swirl Coffee Cake From Scratch

Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups butter softened
- 3 cups white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping:
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar using a hand mixer until creamy. Then mix in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract until combined. Beat in 3 cups flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.
- Make the topping in another mixing bowl by whisking together melted butter, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon. Spoon in globs over the top of the cake batter. Then use a butter knife to swirl it into the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in another bowl. Drizzle over the cake while it is still warm.
Watch 2 or 3 different recipes of yours and absolutely had to follow you from here on! You are so knowledgeable and amazing and you don’t drag on and on and on chatting about things. You get it done so we can make the recipe as well! You are the best Rachel!
This is extremely delicious. The only problem is the directions state to bake 35-40 minutes. Mine was in no way completely baked. I had to bake it 50-60 minutes. Otherwise, awesome!
I enjoy watching you cook/bake every recipe. Please keep helping us become good cooks. You are terrific!
Absolutely delicious!!! I love to bake, but trying to lose weight, so I share your yummy desserts with my neighbors… Honey, we got two thumbs up! Thank you for your recipes. I haven’t tried one that wasn’t a success…you’re the best!
I also made it and it was DELICIOUS!!!!
Can this be made the day before?
Yes, it can.
This coffee cake is delicious I give this recipe a 5 star.
I made this recipe and it was great. Thank you for putting your recipe on line.
Wonderful coffee cake
Love the cinnamon coffee cake, I hope to make it for my family. Your recipes are so easy to follow.
Delicious cake. The only problem I had was I had to cook it 15 minutes longer. I added foil to the top to keep the cake from getting too brown. I think my problem was that when I tested with a toothpick, it was the cinnamon filling that was coming out on the stick and not the cake itself.
Made the coffee cake absolutely delish. Tasted before I put the glaze on so delish. Put the glaze on and now way to sweet. I would definitely make again without the glaze. I did half the recipe 35 minutes was perfect.
Melt in your mouth yummy! I halved the recipe and baked it in a 7×11 pan, and I had to add about 7 minutes to the baking time. My family loved it! I will definitely be making this more often.
Smells delicious. Looks amazing. Have to wait for additional cook time to try it. You may want to update that as I had to go back online to read the reviews to which some said the same thing. UP TO 50 minutes now and it still jiggles when I pull out the oven rack.
Love your recipes lotsa
Excellent videos
Am going to try your cinnamon cake this evening
Thank you 😊
WOW! My family loves this so will be in regular rotation. While it isn’t cheap to make (1# butter …) it is easy & fairly quick. I made only half of drizzle and found it to be enough for us. A small family may want to bake in 2 smaller 8″ pans & have 1 pan for freezer. Yummy!