Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
A buttery one-pan cake with a thick brown sugar and cinnamon swirl marbled through the middle and a vanilla glaze poured over while it is still warm. No yeast, no rising and no rolling, and it feeds twelve.
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup whole milk room temperature
Cinnamon Swirl
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour this is what holds the swirl up
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Vanilla Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp milk added half a tablespoon at a time
Equipment
- 9x13-inch Baking Pan
- Mixer (stand or hand)
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Spatula
Instructions
Make the Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides so you can lift the cake out later.
- Cream the softened butter and granulated sugar with a mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is visibly paler and fluffy rather than grainy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in the vanilla extract.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl. Add them to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Mix just until smooth and no further. The batter will be thick.
Add the Cinnamon Swirl
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and level the top. Stir the melted butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl until the mixture is smooth and thick.
- Drop the cinnamon mixture over the batter in spoonfuls, spacing them out rather than pouring it all in one place.
- Drag a butter knife or a skewer through the pan in long S shapes to marble the swirl into the top half of the batter. Four or five passes is plenty. Distinct dark streaks should still be visible on the surface.
Bake
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick pushed into a pale patch between the streaks comes out with moist crumbs and no wet batter. The edges should have pulled slightly away from the sides of the pan.
Glaze and Serve
- Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes. Whisk the powdered sugar with enough milk to reach the thickness of pancake syrup, adding the milk half a tablespoon at a time.
- Drizzle the glaze over the still-warm cake so it thins out and settles into the cracks. Let it set for a few minutes, then lift the slab out by the parchment and cut it into 12 squares.
Notes
Make it ahead: bake the pan a day early, cool it and cover it at room temperature, then warm it for 10 minutes at 300°F before glazing so the icing still melts in. The swirl paste can be mixed the night before and left in a covered bowl, but bring it back to room temperature before using it.
Storing: covered at room temperature for 2 days, or refrigerated for 5 days. To freeze, cut it into squares, freeze them on a tray and then bag them for up to 3 months. Leave the glaze off anything going into the freezer and whisk up a fresh batch on the day.
Substitutions: beat 4 ounces of softened cream cheese into the glaze for a bakery finish, stir half a cup of chopped pecans into the swirl, or use oat milk and a block-style vegan butter for a dairy-free version.
Doneness: test in a pale patch between the dark streaks rather than in the swirl itself, because the swirl never fully sets. Moist crumbs on the toothpick are right, wet batter is not.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 380kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 170mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 510IU | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 1.5mg