The Baker Chick

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Gooey Cinnamon Roll “Cake”

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Gooey Cinnamon Roll "Cake"

As a food blogger, we’re always trying to come up with something new and creative to share and inspire our readers.

Sometimes we succeed and break ground with something amazing, but other times, after thinking we have achieved this, we realize that our idea isn’t quite original at all and has already been done by a few bloggers.

So is the case with this Gooey Cinnamon Roll Cake. It turns out making one jumbo cinnamon roll and cutting it into slices isn’t my original idea, but for a hot minute I thought it was and felt pretty darn proud.

Gooey Cinnamon Roll "Cake"

Either way, this recipe is the bomb. You know the gooey middle of the cinnamon roll that is just the best? The part that I personally save until the last possible moment to enjoy in its doughy melt-in-your mouth splendor?

Well that’s the texture of this entire thing! The outer-most layer stays crisp while all the others layers are ooey-gooey.

Gooey Cinnamon Roll "Cake"

Wouldn’t this be a wonderful addition to your Mother’s Day brunch spread? I like it because you’re not limited to the “one  per person” standard of rolls.

My sisters tend to cut little fractions of the individual buns off and that always drives me crazy… who can resist a whole cinnamon roll right??? Well I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I finished this whole pan off with Andy and two of our friends who came over for brunch. I mean- how can you resist a slice of Cinnamon Roll middle gooey-ness?

Gooey Cinnamon Roll "Cake"

Forming this mega roll is easier than it may look. Instead of rolling all the dough and cutting it into individual rolls, I cut the dough into strips that I rolled from the inside out, starting with one roll and gently adding to the swirl. I know this would be easier in pictures, but after I took one of the first step, baby boy got hungry and I never got to it. Luckily this dough is very forgiving. Even if it doesn’t look perfectly symmetrical before it proofs, it all puffs togethers after baking. :)

Gooey Cinnamon Roll Cake

Gooey Cinnamon Roll Cake

Yield: 1 9-inch cake.
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 egg

For the filling:

  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract if you don't have)

For the icing:

  • 1/2 a stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
  • a few drops of milk (if needed)

Instructions

In a glass measuring cup, warm the milk and butter in the microwave until warm with the butter melted.

Whisk together 2 1/4 cups of flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the milk mixture, egg and water, and mix until combined. (Dough will be very sticky.) Add the remaining cup of flour gradually, folding it in with a spatula (or gently kneading with your hands.)

When the dough comes together in a soft ball, knead on a lightly-floured surface until smooth and elastic. (When pressed with a finger tip the dough should bounce back.)

Return the dough to your bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let rest for 10 minutes.

For the filling:

Melt the butter and stir in the vanilla. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

To assemble:

Roll the dough on a floured surface into a rectangle measuring about 9x13. Brush the dough with almost all of the butter and pour the rest into the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish (or something similar.)

Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the dough and gently press it in.

Using a pastry wheel, pizza cutter or knife cut the dough into 2 1/2 inch strips. Start with one strip and roll it from one end to the other forming a swirl. Set that roll onto the next strip with the seam-side down and roll the strip onto it.

Repeat for 2 more strips, at which point the roll is probably too large to continue forming this way. Gently place it in the middle of the pan. Carefully pick up the remaining strips and swirl them around the roll in the pan. (The roll won't fill the whole pan but it will after proofing and baking!

Cover the pan with your damp cloth, and proof in a warm place for 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake in a 350F oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

For the icing:

Cream the butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and some milk if icing is too thick. Beat until light and creamy.

Spread on cake and serve immediately. (They are great room temp as well, I just don't think it will last that long. :)

One BIG Cinnamon Roll baked like a cake and sliced into gooey perfection!

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Comments

  5. I was wondering how you would assemble this– cutting into strips! What a great idea. I am going to share this with my dad who loves cinnamon rolls!

    Reply

  11. I don’t think I could love something more! This is seriously my dream breakfast, would it be wrong if I ate it all by myself?! The cinnamon gooeyness seriously has me wiping drool from the corners of my mouth! Pinned.

    Reply

  18. Made this tonight and loved it! I cut the recipe in half and it still pretty much filled a 9 inch pie plate. Truly delicious! And relatively easy to make as far as homemade baked goods go. Thanks!

    Reply

  19. I’ve definitely thought I had come up with some genius idea only to discover it’s been done before. Even if others have done this, your version looks beyond amazing. I’d want to eat the whole thing!

    Reply

  21. Hahahah, I really had to lough ;) Your story sounds soooo familiar! Sometimes I am afraid that I spend too much time to think/create new and creative recipes to share on my blog, but in the end forget to just make something that is delicious and what I actually really want to eat myself :P And I also more than once thought I had finally found something super creative, just to see that it was already out there ;) Anyway, I love your giant cinnamon roll and definitely will make it!
    Take care,
    Rebecca
    icing-sugar.net

    Reply

  22. I wanted to tell you that THIS RECIPE IS FRICKIN’ AMAZING! I made two of these yesterday…and it was such an easy recipe to follow. In the past I have steered away from rolling ANYTHING because I can never get dough to roll properly. This, however, was a piece of cake (no pun intended). It rolled out so easily and beautifully. And I LOVE the assembly of the strips! I tweaked your recipe a little to accommodate the gluten intolerance that my son has (so I used gluten free all purpose flour) and it came out absolutely amazing. Thanks for this recipe, as well as the many others that I have tried and tested on your website. KEEP ‘EM COMING!!!

    Reply

  23. Haha, that happens to me as well! Google ruins my excitement of most new found ideas. LOL

    I`ve seen cinnamon roll cakes around, but have yet to try. This is making me crave for some again!

    Reply

  25. I’m 16 years old and I made it with my 14 year old sister. We have never baked anything besides brownies so this was an ambitious weekend project . We had some problems with the dough with was too sticky but OMG IT TASTES LIKE HEAVEN. I am totally in love with it and so is my family. Definitely trying it again

    Reply

  26. I made these last night. Didn’t have AP flour but used bread flour instead and accidentally put 1 cup of milk for the dough. Added more flour to compensate and they still turned out delicious. I only let it rise once in the oven with the door cracked for 3hrs. These are goey and the texture fluffy and a bit chewy. Will make these again for sure!

    Reply

  30. Hi there :) i made this cake yesterday and it was absolutely amazing!!
    just wondering why it was not as gooey as yours.. there was none of that gooeyness goodness at the bottom and in between the rolls.. what would you recommend for next time in order to get that?

    Reply

    • The only things I can think of is that 1- you baked it a little too long or 2- some of the butter/cinnamon sugar mixture got got smooshed out. Make sure you spoon it back into the middle before baking :)

      Reply

  31. Hi! I was just curious to see of this can be prepared at night then baked in the morning? Or will it rise too much by then?

    Reply

  32. Wow! It really is gooey!! Have just finished baking it and icing it and waited about 5 minutes before I sneakily took off a piece from the outside, to hell with slicing it! So gooey and soft that the centre seemed to sink under the weight of gooeyness (not sure if that’s a word) and it tasted delicious. The recipe itself worked well, though I did have to add a little bit more flour as it was too sticky. The assembly was quite messy as it was a little difficult to roll out the strips, whilst keeping the filling inside. Whilst not aesthetically beautiful, the taste certainly made up for it!

    Reply

  33. Hi!! i was wondering if i bake this like some days in advance can i freeze or refrigerate it and then let it thaw the day im supposed to eat it? or will it be too dry? what about the icing?’ TIA!

    Reply

  34. I made this for the first time a for easter this year, and its been requested many times since! I love this recipe because its wasy and im not in the kitchen all day! Thank you for providing this! I hope to try many more of your recipes!

    Reply

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