Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe

This Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe skips the yeast and rising time for a fast, easy bake. Finish it with a quick cream cheese glaze and serve warm.

The Best Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe

Cinnamon rolls are an iconic dessert, but they can be time-consuming. Waiting for the dough to rise twice, plus making the dough, filling, and glaze—it’s a lot.

While I spent months perfecting my Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe (with no kneading, no mixer, and the quickest dough prep possible), it still takes a fair amount of time to get from start to cinnamon rolls on the table.

That’s why this Cinnamon Roll Cake recipe is the best:

• All the flavors you love from cinnamon rolls.
• No kneading, no rising, no mixer needed. We don’t even make the dough, thanks to a shortcut ingredient!
• This cake can be on the table in about 30 minutes. Seriously! The prep and bake time are both quick.
• It’s fun! This cake is a blast to assemble and even more fun to eat (obviously!).

The “Short-Cut”

So how do we finish this cake so quickly? With refrigerated buttermilk biscuits!

The biscuits are the perfect substitute for cinnamon roll dough, and no one will know you used a store-bought shortcut because this cake is just that good!

I like to grab a 4-pack of buttermilk biscuits to make either one large cinnamon roll cake or a couple of smaller ones. If there are leftovers, I use them for a breakfast favorite; Biscuits and Gravy!

Featured Comment

“Holy Cow!! This was DELICIOUS!!!! My family rated it a 20+ out of 10! Fantastic…and so easy. I don’t have a skillet, so just used an 8″ cake pan, and it worked perfectly. THANK YOU for the awesome recipe!”

– Kara

147 More Reviews

How To Make This Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe

The full recipe is on the recipe card, but here’s a quick overview:

1. Flatten each biscuit as thin as possible using a rolling pin or your hands.
2. Dip the biscuit in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar.
3. Roll the coated biscuit tightly into a cylinder and place it on the outer edge of the skillet or pie pan.
4. Continue placing the biscuits in a spiral, seam side down, until they reach the center.
5. While the Cinnamon Roll Cake bakes, whip up the glaze to spread over the warm cake!

What Pan To Use

This recipe is very forgiving. As long as you have plenty of butter, sugar, cinnamon, and biscuits, you can make the cake as big or small as you like.

I often make this cake in a small 6 to 8-inch cast iron skillet, but if I’m feeding others or feeling extra hungry, I use a 9-inch pie pan.

The bigger the pan, the longer the preparation takes, but you’ll be impressed by how quickly it comes together once the assembly line is set up.

Cinnamon Roll Cake Glaze Tips

• Set out the butter and cream cheese an hour before baking to reach room temperature. If they’re cold, the glaze may have unpleasant cream cheese chunks. To speed this up, try these quick methods for bringing butter and cream cheese to room temp.
• Salt and vanilla extract add essential flavor to the glaze. Even small amounts make a big difference!
• Slowly add powdered sugar to taste. More sugar makes the glaze sweeter and firmer; less keeps it tangier and softer. Adjust to your preference for this Cinnamon Roll Cake!

More Cinnamon Roll Favorites:

Desserts

Cinnamon Roll Cookie Recipe

Desserts

Cinnamon Roll Popcorn

Desserts

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecakes

Breakfast

Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

Tap stars to rate!

4.95 from 17 votes

SaveSaved Pin Print

Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe

By Chelsea Lords

This Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe has all the flavor of cinnamon rolls without the hassle! No yeast, no rising, just quick and easy baking! Top it with cream cheese frosting and enjoy.

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings (9-inch pie pan; or smaller skillet)

Video

Equipment

• Pie pan or cake pan or skillet—really any size works! see note 1
• Hand mixer

Ingredients

1x2x3x

Cinnamon Roll Cake

• ▢ 2 7.5-ounce packages buttermilk biscuits see note 1
• ▢ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• ▢ 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze

• ▢ 2 ounces cream cheese softened see note 1
• ▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons milk I use whole milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions 

• Prepare Pan: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a pie pan, cake pan, or skillet with cooking spray.
• Flatten Biscuits: Remove biscuits from packaging. Flatten each with a rolling pin or your hands.
• Coat Biscuits: Dip each biscuit in melted butter, shake off excess, then coat in cinnamon sugar. Shake off excess again (see Note 2).
• Assemble Cake: Roll biscuits tightly and arrange in a spiral pattern in the prepared pan, starting at the outside edge and working inward.
• Bake: Bake for 20–25 minutes, adjusting for pan size. If edges brown too quickly, tent with foil.
• Make Glaze: Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat until light and fluffy.
• Glaze Cake: Let cake cool 5–7 minutes. Spoon glaze over warm cake, letting it drip into crevices. Add more glaze once cooled slightly, if desired. Slice and serve warm.

Final step! Please let us know how it was by leaving a review.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: This recipe is flexible—as long as you have enough butter, sugar, cinnamon, and biscuits, you can adjust the size. I often use a small 6 to 8-inch cast-iron skillet, but for larger servings, a 9-inch pie pan works well. Just melt more butter and mix extra cinnamon and sugar if needed. The recipe quantities are for an 8-inch skillet, with a few leftover biscuits for Air Fryer Donuts!

Note 2: You may need more or less cinnamon sugar depending on how heavily you coat the biscuits. Extra cinnamon sugar is great sprinkled on oatmeal. If the butter firms up, rewarm it briefly in the microwave.

Storage: This cake is best enjoyed the same day, especially warm. The biscuits will harden and lose flavor the longer the cake sits out.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 570kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 700mg | Potassium: 182mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 482IU | Vitamin C: 0.05mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!