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Semi-Homemade Honeybun Cake

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This super moist honeybun cake recipe starts with a yellow cake mix, a buttery layer of cinnamon swirl, and a perfect sweet vanilla glaze on top. My family can’t get enough of this cake!

A slice of honeybun cake served on a white plate. The moist yellow cake has a cinnamon sugar swirl and sweet vanilla glaze.

A few weeks ago, I asked y’all which desserts you wanted to see me upload. To my surprise, many of you requested an easy, old-fashioned honey bun cake! Well my loves, I’m here and ready to share my super easy semi-homemade honeybun cake recipe!

I’ve made this cake twice this past week because my family just can’t get enough of it – safe to say, I’ve perfected the recipe!

What Is Honeybun Cake? 

So, what exactly is a honeybun cake? Well, if you’re anything like me, you grew up eating those sinfully sugary-sweet Little Debbie Honey Buns from your local corner store. This honey bun cake recipe is inspired by that same sweet treat!

Honey bun cake (or honeybun cake—both are right!) is a simple yellow cake with a simple sweet swirl of cinnamon in the center. The warm cake is then topped with a sweet glaze, which cools into a perfectly sticky vanilla icing, exactly like a store-bought honey bun! It’s like a cinnamon roll and cinnamon coffee cake combined into the perfect dessert.

Now, we’re making a semi-homemade version – a honey bun cake with cake mix! Like Ms. Betty Crocker makes, we’re using a super moist cake mix to whip up this extremely easy cake recipe. If you make this cake recipe once, you better get used to making it A LOT because it will be a new family favorite!

Ingredients for Honeybun Cake

You only need a few simple ingredients for this semi-homemade honeybun cake recipe. It’s quick, and you don’t need special equipment like an electric or stand mixer. The ingredient measurements and directions are in the recipe card below! Here’s everything you need to make a delicious honeybun cake at home.

  • Boxed Cake Mix: you need one box of yellow cake mix for this recipe. Any brand will do, so grab whatever’s on sale!
  • Eggs & Vegetable Oil: you’ll need these two ingredients along with the boxed cake mix.
  • Buttermilk: using buttermilk in this cake recipe makes it extra moist and delicious.
  • Butter: melted butter makes the cake rich and buttery.
  • Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, & Nutmeg: these three ingredients combine to make the sweet cinnamon sugar layer in the center of the cake.
  • Powdered Sugar, Milk, and Vanilla Extract: these three ingredients make up the sweet vanilla icing for the top of the cake—- the perfect finishing touch!

Does this honeybun cake recipe need sour cream? 

I do not use sour cream in my honey bun cake! I know many recipes do, and for a good reason—it’s tangy and creamy and adds a lot of moisture to a cake. But in this recipe, that’s what we use buttermilk for! If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by mixing 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar.

Can I add nuts to my honeybun cake? 

You sure can! Nuts would be a great addition to this sweet cinnamon swirl cake. You could add pecans, walnuts, or even almonds! Crush them up and add them to the cinnamon sugar mixture in the center of the cake, or sprinkle them on top of the cake with the icing. My candied pecans would be the perfect topping!

A closeup image of a freshly baked honeybun cake, topped with a sweet vanilla glaze, in a glass casserole dish.

How to Make Semi-Homemade Honeybun Cake 

For all my readers who hate baking-from-scratch recipes, you’ll be thrilled with this easy recipe! You can make this moist honeybun cake without any stress. This simple recipe has two main parts: making the cake and making the icing. Let’s get started, fam!

First, Make the Cake Batter

The first step is preparing the honeybun cake batter.

  1. Mix the yellow cake mix, buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil, and butter into a large mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.
  2. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
  3. Pour half of the batter into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish (I use butter or baking spray to grease my dish). Sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture until it covers the first layer of butter, then pour the remaining batter on top.
  4. To make the cinnamon swirl, take a butter knife or offset spatula and swirl it around in the batter. You don’t want the cinnamon mixture to mix into the batter completely; you want lovely, sugary-sweet swirls throughout the whole cake.
  5. Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes at 325 degrees.
A closeup image of a glass baking dish of fresh baked honeybun cake. A slice has been cut from the moist yellow cinnamon cake.

How to Tell When Honeybun Cake is Done

To test the cake’s doneness, use the toothpick test! Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done! Keep in mind that cakes still cook a little bit after being removed from the oven. You don’t want to overbake the cake and have a dry, crumbly mess!

Make the Vanilla Glaze

This easy glaze is literally the icing on top of an already delicious cake! You can whip up the icing in minutes while the cake is baking.

  1. Combine the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.
  2. Pour the icing over the hot cake when it comes out of the oven, covering the whole surface.
  3. Let the cake cool until the icing starts to solidify, about 15-20 minutes (I promise, the wait is worth it, cousins!).

Serve this warm, cinnamon-y honeybun cake with a glass of milk for a sweet dessert or enjoy a slice for breakfast with a cup of coffee! It’s perfect for family gatherings, special occasions, birthdays, brunches, you name it! Just be warned: If you’re expecting a crowd, you better make more than one honeybun cake because it will disappear before you know it!

Two slices of honey bun cake stacked on a white plate with a fork stuck in the center. The moist yellow cake has a layer of cinnamon swirl and a sweet vanilla icing on top.

Tips and Tricks for Making Honeybun Cake

Y’all know I always say follow the recipe for the best results… has Cousin Rosie ever steered you wrong?! 😉 However, my readers are always asking me questions about my recipes, so I’ll answer some of my frequently asked honeybun cake questions here!

  • What if I don’t have buttermilk on hand? Can I use milk instead? Regular milk won’t have that rich, tangy flavor as buttermilk, so I don’t recommend this swap. Instead, make your own buttermilk.
  • Can I use sour cream? Yes, if you don’t have buttermilk, use one cup of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
  • I don’t have medium eggs – how many large eggs should I use? Use three large eggs in place of the medium eggs.
  • Can I use dark brown sugar instead of light? Yes, you can! The only difference is that light brown sugar has a little less molasses, so dark brown sugar is a bit sweeter.
  • Can I double this recipe? You can double it, but I recommend making two batches instead of doubling the ingredients. It’s easier to make two cakes rather than one large cake!
  • What size pan should I use? This recipe fits in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. You can half the recipe for an 8″ x 8″ pan or use muffin tins to make honeybun cake muffins!
  • How do I store leftover honeybun cake? If you have leftovers (and that’s a big IF!), store them covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. Leftover honeybun cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days!

More Tasty Dessert Recipes from I Heart Recipes

If you loved my semi-homemade cinnamon honeybun cake recipe, try some of these tasty desserts next!

A Pinterest style graphic with two images of honeybun cake -- the top image is an overhead angle of the cake in a glass baking dish, and the bottom image is of a slice of cake served on a plate. Text in the center says "easy moist honeybun cake" and "iheartrecipes.com"

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honeybun cake

Honeybun Cake Recipe

This easy, moist honeybun cake is the perfect semi-homemade treat! Use boxed cake mix to make a warm cinnamon swirl cake with vanilla icing — just like Little Debbie Honeybuns!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword brunch recipe, Honeybun Cake
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

Icing

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9X13 pan with nonstick spray.
  • In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, oil, eggs, buttermilk, and butter. 
    15 oz yellow cake mix, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 4 medium sized eggs, 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup butter
  • After the batter is well combined, pour half of it into your prepared pan.
  • In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
    1 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture on top of the batter in your pan, covering the entire area. Top with the remaining cake batter.
  • Using a knife, swirl the top layer of batter and brown sugar mixture together to make a pretty swirl design
  • Bake for 40-50 minutes. 
  • While baking, prepare the icing by mixing the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together.
    2 cup powdered sugar, 4 tbsp milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • When the cake comes out of the oven, pour the icing all over the warm cake.
  • Cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting. 
  • Serve & enjoy!
If you loved this recipe, leave me a review below. This helps future recipe makers and ensures continued high-quality recipes for years to come!
© 2025 I Heart Recipes

MEET THE RECIPE AUTHOR

Rosie

I’m a Soul Food blogger living in the Pacific Northwest, bringing Southern cooking to gorgeous Seattle, Washington. I was born and raised in the PNW, but my family roots go all the way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where my grandparents were born and raised. I live every day to bring the traditional values, recipes, and love of food to life for my family—whether they’re online or in real life. So, welcome to the party, family!

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Comments

  1. Now Rosie I know my iPad isn’t deceiving me this time…there is no video! I just had to mess with you! Happy Sunday! Pray you and the family enjoy the rest of your day!

    Reply

  5. Oooooh! I can’t wait to make. As soon as I seen the title I screamed!! LoL! I will let you know as soon as I make this cake.

    Reply

  7. Hi Rosie—
    A 15x10x1 sheet pan is what I was thinking about— We have a large family and I get told off if I make a dessert and everyone can’t get some:) thx,

    Reply

  10. 5 stars
    Hey Rosie, I made this cake and it so the bomb! I will add this to my list of cakes. Thank you for your recipes!!!

    Reply

  14. 5 stars
    Omg!! This cake was a smash hit. I made it for the first time last night and it wasn’t cut into until today. The cake is sweet but it’s delicious and needless to say the cake is gone!

    Reply

  18. Hi Rosie my name is Wanda and I’m from Missouri. I have a honey bunch cake recipe as well that I use and I use can milk instead of butter milk and I don’t use any butter in mine. I also add chopped nuts and sometimes raisins.

    Reply

  19. Hi Rosie !

    I am interested in trying this recipe! But I wanted to know could I use 3 large eggs instead of 4 medium. Medium eggs are so hard to find :/

    Thanks

    Shan

    Reply

  22. love your recipes , only problem is whenever I open your link I get an intrusion alert, could you see if you could fix this please as it makes me nervous , you know the hackers out there , thank you

    Reply

  23. 5 stars
    Hi Rosie!

    I tried this recipe last night and it was every bit of AMAZING!!! Thanks for sharing your recipes with the world. I plan on making your pecan pie, candied yams, and southern green beans recipes this Sunday!! Thanks again!

    Reply

  24. Oooowee!!! This was so good! Everyone loved it and theyre already asking me to make it again Thanks for a fantastic recipe!

    Reply

  26. 5 stars
    Greatest Coffee Cake hands down. Better than any homemade, bakery made, or fancy tea house made. Mine isn’t a true Honey Bun as I made a streusel topping instead of your icing. I cut the recipe in half so I have half of the cake mix left. Oh dear, whatever will I do with it? I know, another Honey Bun cake next week. Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply

  29. 5 stars
    Tried this today and like all your recipes, it’s a keeper. It will become a regular staple. It was super easy to make and it’s delicious. It’s not overly sweet. The perfect combination. I used half and half in place of the buttermilk (all I had) and still delicious

    Reply

  30. This cake is now a legend on our farm. I made it one harvest and they were all fighting over the last piece. I was stunned because it comes mostly from a cake mix, and is simple to make. Now I am requested to make it every year at harvest. And one of the guys has started calling it the “Honeymoon Cake!” Hilarious and yummy I guess.

    Reply

  31. 5 stars
    I made this today. It is ‘picky 5 year old’ approved. He told me that he wish he had 1000 of them because it tastes so good 🙂

    I used 3 large eggs. I added a bit more buttermilk after worrying about the viscosity of the batter. I probably would’ve been fine without the additional buttermilk as turned out to be extremely moist.

    Reply

  34. 5 stars
    I’m a mid aged woman with Arkansas roots. As I continued to look for recipes to compare the ingredients I ran across yours and let me tell you! Case closed! I was just thinking that the cinnamon by itself is going to be boring to me. The hint of nutmeg in your recipe inspired me to use a mixture of spice that I use in my peach cobblers and sweet potatoe pies. I am new to the box cake craze so I’m experimenting and remembered that I smelled a honeybun cake at a reunion in Arkansas once and decided now that I would bake one. Your recipe is a southern recipe for sure! I already know that your recipe is going to be a hit from the ingredients! Keep posting!

    Reply