- Last updated on February 26, 2025
Father’s Day is coming up soon and this cinnamon swirl coffee cake is my stepdad’s absolute favorite. It’s literally a cinnamon roll in cake form, with cinnamon sugar swirled in moist vanilla cake topped with a sweet glaze.
As an added bonus, this recipe uses a little shortcut- a box of white cake mix. With just a little doctoring up, it turns into a light and super moist cake, which is important because who likes a dry cake? Nobody.
If you are a cinnamon roll lover, I strongly suggest you give this coffee cake a try. Read on for the recipe!
Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake
Equipment (Shop on Amazon)
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- 1 Betty Crocker white cake mix (14.25 oz)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¾ cup avocado or other neutral vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract (shop my favorite on Amazon)
Cinnamon Sugar Swirl
- ⅓ cup brown sugar (light or dark- whichever you prefer)
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- approx. 2 tbsp water (or milk)
Instructions
Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake
- Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Using a hand mixer, combine all the vanilla cake ingredients in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.1 Betty Crocker white cake mix, 4 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, ¾ cup avocado or other neutral vegetable oil, 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Pour approximately ⅔ of the cake batter into a sprayed 9 x 13 pan. Set the remaining ⅓ aside.
- Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.⅓ cup brown sugar, 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the cake batter in an even layer. Then pour the remaining ⅓ of the cake batter over the cinnamon sugar layer.
- Lightly swirl the cinnamon sugar into the cake batter using a knife or kitchen skewer.
- Bake the cake for 32-35 minutes at 325°F, or until the top of the cake is golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire cooling rack. While the cake is cooling, prep your simple glaze.
Simple Glaze
- In a small bowl, mix all the glaze ingredients until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency with no lumps.1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbsp maple syrup, approx. 2 tbsp water (or milk)
- Once the cake has cooled for about 15 minutes—it should still be warm but not hot from the oven—pour the simple glaze over the top. Then enjoy!
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Have you tried this cinnamon swirl coffee cake?
If you have, leave a rating down below to let me know how you like it. If you’re looking for another yummy cake to bake, check out my very favorite double chocolate zucchini cake or this pumpkin vanilla swirl cake.
Pin the image below to come back to this cake mix recipe later!
2 Responses
Followed your recipe just as written and wouldn’t change a thing. I’d have to agree with your stepdad – I think this is my new favorite cake too!
This just made my day—I’m so glad you loved it as much as we do!