Old Fashion Honey Bun Cake
Tender, light, buttery honey bun cake is made with a classic yellow cake, warm cinnamon swirls, and decadent vanilla glaze. This cheaper, healthier take on a convenient fast food provides an ideal snack, breakfast, and holiday treat.
Those amazing Little Debbie honey buns you see in convenience stores, vending machines, and big box stores like Walmart taste amazing. Sweet, fried, and loaded with cinnamon; what’s not to love?
Turning Honey Buns Into a Cake
Gas stations and grocery stores put these little ladies right by the checkout to tempt us. And grabbing a soft, fluffy, sweet treat satisfies cravings in a flash. Now we know that isn’t good for us, but we can’t help it, can we? However, can we turn this ultra-processed food into something almost guilt-free? Of course.
The simple solution involves using pantry staple ingredients that deliver the same flavor profile. While we won’t be using real honey, it will still have that caramely sweetness. We’re also making the cake from scratch, but the instructions for using the traditional boxed cake mix are in the recipe notes.
How to Make Honey Bun Cake
- Make the cinnamon sugar layer, cream the butter, oil, and sugar, then add the sour cream and eggs.
- Mix in the dry ingredients and vanilla extract, pour half of the batter into the greased baking dish, and sprinkle most of the cinnamon sugar on top.
- Finish assembling, bake, and glaze. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- I couldn’t help adding more spices to the streusel layer, but you can stick with the classic cinnamon and vanilla extract. I’d be tempted to add more cinnamon, though.
- Any fruit that goes well with cinnamon is a delicious topping. Peaches, pears, and apples are fantastic.
- Adding a few chocolate chips and chopped nuts to the streusel layer adds texture and flavor.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
Make this honey bun cake, cool, then slice it into serving-sized squares, and package them individually for a quick grab-and-go snack. They work great for lunches, and you’ll feel a lot better about your kids eating these than the vending machine version.
They’ll last up to a week in the fridge or 4-5 months in the freezer (thaw overnight in the fridge).
What to Serve with Honey Bun Cake
This deliciousness is the perfect finale for baked chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, and a Greek salad. Of course, a hot cup of coffee or chai tea latte is a must.
More Crave-Worthy Cake Recipes to Try
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in November 2018 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Old Fashioned Honey Bun Cake
Ingredients
Cinnamon Streusel Layer
- 1 cup (210g) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons (6g) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon (1g) ground ginger
The Cake
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (113g) neutral-flavored oil
- 1½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (170g) sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 2 teaspoons (10g) vanilla extract
Vanilla Glaze
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15g) milk
- 1 teaspoon (5g) vanilla extract
Instructions
Honey Bun Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325℉ (163℃). Grease a 9×13-inch sheet cake pan generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg in a small bowl thoroughly and set aside.
- Cream the butter, oil, and sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy and white – about 3 minutes. Add sour cream and mix for another minute.
- Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture well between each addition.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the batter, then add the vanilla extract.
- Stir well until everything is well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you mix.
- Pour half of the batter into the greased pan. Then sprinkle about ¾ of the sugar mix over the batter in the pan. Spread the remaining batter evenly over the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Next, sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on top of the cake. Make swirls with a spoon if desired.
- Bake at 325°F (163℃) until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean – about 40 minutes.
The Glaze
- Mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl and adjust the consistency with a little more milk or sugar. The glaze should be relatively thick and spreadable.
- You can either pour the glaze over the warm honey bun cake or wait until it cools completely and then add the glaze.
- Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips & Notes:
- You can use buttermilk instead of sour cream in this recipe.
- If using a box cake mix, don’t follow the instructions from the package. Instead, mix it with the butter, vegetable oil, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Then proceed with the recipe.
- How long it takes to bake depends on your oven. Check at around 30 minutes, and go from there. If it’s browning too fast, reduce the heat. If it seems to be taking too long, increase the heat just a tad.
- If you have the patience, let the cake rest for 10-20 minutes before slicing, so it will have enough time to set.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Was absolutely DELICIOUS!
Thank you:) I’m so happy you loved it!
i tried this and it was perfect
Thank you so much, Kelly! Brows the blog and try some other recipe too, I am sure you like those also:)
TOTALLY DELICIOUS! My only comment would be that the filling layer, despite putting it in the middle, was at the bottom when the cake came out of the oven!
Hi Jessica,
I have no clue why that happened. Thanks for sharing your feedback. Happy New Year!
This is excellent! My son (2 years old)LOVED this cake….kept asking for bites! (Side note….helped justify additional servings for me;) ) So moist, flavor is spot on, method simple…one to repeat for sure! I’ll be sharing what is left it at our morning Bible study tomorrow. Thank you so much!
Wondering how much salt is supposed to be used?
½ teaspoon works.
Hello! Thank you so much for this recipe. I have this in the oven right now it smells amazing!! I noticed that one of the directions seem a little off though. Step 2 mentions baking in the oven already so I was a little confused. I thought maybe I had to bake the streusel but I ultimately decided that was probably a typo because the pictures below show different directions. Also, for the glaze in the recipe box it doesn’t mention melted butter but in the instructions it does mention melted butter so I’m not sure how much butter I need for the glaze. Thank you!!!
Hi Chelsea,
Thanks for taking time to out to point this out to me. Hope it worked out well for you. Have updated recipe.
This looks amazing – cannot wait to try it!
This is truly an indulgent cake, especially if you love cinnamon rolls. Happy baking!
Well there goes the post Thanksgiving pre Christmas diet! This recipe looks too tasty!
What diet? Lol! Thank you for dropping by. Happy weekend! =)
What temperature?….325 or 350? Thanks!
It’s 325 Degrees F.
Yes, I made the traditional icing, more sugar, to test. Delicious. Food coma. I tried combining the names and came up with either “bunny cake” or “hun cake”. The first threw the kids, the second was to agressive. So, Honey Bun Cake it is. Unless you want to use “coma cake”.
Seriously, serve this, the dish will be licked clean.