Y’all my homemade Honey Bun Cake recipe is about to take you on a trip down memory lane. It’s a simple and buttery sheet cake with a cinnamon spiced swirl and sweet glaze that stays hittin! This honey bun cake tastes even better than that classic treat you used to snag out of the gas station! Now you can relive the nostalgia with a twist that’s just as delish.
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I can’t be the only person who has fond childhood memories of the corner store y’all. That’s right, the bodega, the drugstore, the deli or whatever else you may have called it back in the day. My neighborhood market was filled with all my fave goodies: candy bars, chips, ice pops and best of all, honey buns.
On warm days after school, I would grab one, along with a fruit punch, and get down. This honeybun cake gives you all those vibes without a lot of fuss. You can throw this together when you get a craving, and it tastes just as bomb, or maybe even better, than the real thang!
What is a Honey Bun Cake?
A Honeybun Cake is basically a doctored cake mix with a cinnamon swirl that’s topped off with an easy sticky glaze. It has all of the components of a honey bun but in cake form. It’s super moist, sweet and delish, not to mention easy to pull off.
The Lowdown on this Homemade Honey Bun Cake Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Nostalgic Southern Comfort
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: For my boos with restricted diets, you need to sit this one out.
Key Flavor: Sweet, Sticky, Buttery, Cinnamon Notes
Skill Level: Easy! (No Sweat Fam!)
- Moist and Flavorful: This cake gives moisture and a perfect crumb. Honey, ain’t a dry bite in sight!
- Breakfast or Dessert: You can serve this for coffee in the morning or for dessert after dinner.
- Entertaining: Everyone will love this easy cake you can throw together in minutes. The adults go just as crazy for a slice as the kids do! Trust!
- No Equipment Needed: No stand mixer or fancy gadgets required.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make this Easy Honeybun Cake Recipe
- Yellow Cake Mix: This cuts the work in half y’all. And don’t frown on this easy hack. We doctor it up making the flavor pop even more like in this gooey butter cake! Plus the fluffy texture can’t be beat.
- Sour Cream: This keeps the honey bun cake moist and soft with every bite y’all. The tang adds additional flavor too.
- Vegetable Oil: Everyone knows that oil cakes stay super tender even if you happen to slightly overbake them. It just gives us extra insurance which I love.
- Eggs: These are our binders that give structure and richness.
- Vanilla Extract: This provides warm aromatic vibes in the cake and glaze.
- Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and Nutmeg: I love the warmth and molasses style sweetness this provides.
- Powdered Sugar: This is gonna give our glaze that perfect sticky sweet texture.
- Milk: Just enough to get us to a creamy and smooth consistency.
How to Make Honey Bun Cake
Step 1: Prep the Cake and Cinnamon Swirl
- Mix the cake mix, oil, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla together.
- Pour half of that thick, creamy mix into a well-greased 9×13 pan.
- Stir up the cinnamon swirl by combining the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Step 2: Swirl it Up and Bake
- Sprinkle all of the cinnamon swirl over the cake batter.
- Pour the remaining cake batter on top and carefully swirl a knife through the batter. Have a little fun y’all!
- Bake until a toothpick comes back moist but mostly clean.
PRO TIP: Make sure you don’t over swirl the cinnamon swirl. If you do, the layers of cake and cinnamon will blend too much, and you won’t have the different flavors and textures of a honeybun.
Step 3: Glaze it Up!
- Mix all of the icing ingredients together until pourable.
- Pour over the cake and let set.
PRO TIP: Make sure you let the cake cool till it’s room temp before adding the glaze. Or it will melt completely off the cake boos.
How to Serve Honey Bun Cake
- Brunch: This honey bun cake recipe is so bomb served for an easy brunch menu. Serve it up with this savory bacon quiche, grits, and hash browns.
- Potluck: This cake is great to bring to a potluck. It’s easy and it feeds a large amount of folks.
- Garnish: Serve it up with some whipped cream or even a sauce like this strawberry sauce or a seasonal cranberry sauce during the holidays.
- Comfort Dinner: This is fantastic after a delish meal of baked chicken, creamed corn, green beans, and butter swim biscuits.
Recipe Substitutions
- Cake Mix: You can definitely sub in a homemade cake base if you prefer. Try this yellow cake recipe or sour cream pound cake for a more dense texture!
- Add Sweet Potato: Before you turn your nose up at me, it’s so good that I even developed an entire recipe for it, so go get at my sweet potato honey bun cake!
- Sour Cream: You can easily replace the sour cream with greek yogurt. It has similar tang and moisture properties.
- Oil: This honey bun cake recipe uses vegetable oil but you can also use canola oil or even melted butter. Applesauce is also a popular substitution when you want to reduce the fat.
- Powdered Sugar: You can totally make this from scratch. Use my powdered sugar recipe.
- Spices: Swap out all of the spices for a pumpkin pie or apple pie spice.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Icing Switch Up: Use a citrus juice (lemon, orange or grapefruit) or buttermilk for a tangier icing. Add a little zest as well.
- Nuts: Add some chopped up walnuts or pecans to the cinnamon swirl for some added texture.
- Change the Cake Mix: You can mix the entire cake up by switching out the flavor of the cake mix. From white cake and chocolate to carrot, lemon and spice cake, you can have so much fun with this honeybun cake recipe making it your own. Do you boo!
- Cream Cheese: You can add some dollops of cream cheese into the batter for a creamy texture vibe.
- Booze it Up: Give the adults a fun experience by brushing the cake with a bit of bourbon or rum.
- Coconut: Swap out the milk with a coconut milk and top the icing with toasted shredded coconut.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Room Temp: Make sure the eggs and milk are room temperature so the cake batter ends up smooth and well mixed.
- Grease Well: Make sure you prep your pan well so the cake doesn’t stick. I love to use my cake release so my cakes come out clean as a whistle boos.
- Glaze Tip: To really let that glaze seep into the cake, poke the cake with holes on the top so it infuses each bite.
- Let it Set: To get that iconic hardened glaze on a honey bun, make sure you let it set up before you cut it.
How to Store Leftover Honeybun Cake
- Room Temp: This cake keeps for at least 3-4 days at room temp. Just be sure to either tightly wrap it in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container.
- Fridge: It will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just keep it wrapped well y’all.
- Freezer: Wrap the same way and it will stay for up to 2 months.
- Serving Again: Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving. Try warming up your leftovers in the microwave for a few seconds and serve with a glass of milk! So delish y’all!
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are planning to eat it in a day or two, nope. But if are keeping it longer, pop it in the fridge and just make sure it’s wrapped tightly.
I love to use the toothpick trick. Gently insert a toothpick or skewer into the center of a cake, and if it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, you are all good.
Because we are using sour cream, it will be kinda thick but it will still bake up perfectly.
Other Cinnamon Recipes To Try
Honey Bun Cake
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Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 box yellow cake mix 15.25 ounces
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
For the Icing
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 4 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Whisk together cake mix, oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan and pour in half of the batter and level in the pan.
- Next combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and pour on top of the batter. Pour remaining cake batter on top then use a knife and swirl through the batter.
- Bake for 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
For the Icing
- Mix together all ingredients then pour over cake and let set.
Notes
- Room Temp: This cake keeps for at least 3-4 days (at room temperature). Just be sure to either tightly wrap it in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container.
- Fridge: It will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just keep it wrapped well.
- Freezer: Make sure you wrap it well and it will stay for up to 2 months.
- Serving Again: Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving. Try warming up your leftovers in the microwave for a few seconds and serve with a glass of milk! So delish y’all!
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I just made this cake, absolutely delicious and simple to make. My husband loves honey buns, this cake will probably be gone by morning. My glaze doesn’t look like yours, I probably should’ve cooled the cake more before pouring on the glaze.
I recently(several weeks ago) made this very delicious cake, and my family and friends ate it up. I mean scraped the pan clean of crumbs and frosting bits. I had someone from Brookly, come back to my place in Queens, because she was in the neighborhood(wink wink) to say hi. Thank you, it was a great hit. Your cake just added to my reputation. As a thank you, I purchase your book & download bundle. I will put it to get use and share your name.
Another score for this cake!!!!! I swear this cake turned out aooooo so darn delicious and moist omg!!!! I absolutely love all your recipes!!!! Thanks again for this one..
I had made this cake for my craft group and it was a BIG HIT!
Fantastic! So glad you all enjoyed it!
I made this cake for a brunch I was hosting, I only had 1/3 cup of sour cream so I added plain yogurt for the rest. I also just mixed in cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar instead of swirling it in. It was a huge hit. Everyone wanted the recipe.
I made this and my family loved it, however, it’s very sweet. Next time I’ll reduce the amount of brown sugar.
I read the comments and there seemed to be some confusion about buttermilk in the recipe. I noticed a comment in the Powdered Sugar Glaze section under TIP…”TIP: If you’re looking to mix things up, change up the liquid component used in the recipe. For example, use a citrus juice (lemon, orange or grapefruit) or buttermilk for a tangier icing.”
This might be what previous comments were referring to.
The buttermilk is mentioned in the options for the icing. (example, use a citrus juice (lemon, orange or grapefruit) or buttermilk for a tangier icing.) I would assume you would use the same amount of buttermilk as is listed for milk for the icing; 4 tbsp milk! It sounds delicious Jocelyn! I may have to try this one!
Buttermilk? 4 the chicken and waffles? No buttermilk 4 the cake.
I will be dreaming of this cake now! Looks amazing…