This easy sheet cake tastes like a honeybun – full of cinnamon and pecan and brown sugar goodness. Make some honeybun cake for YOUR honeybun today!
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Why we love this recipe
This easy cake recipe is a conglomeration of some simple ingredients…yellow cake with a sugared nut filling and a vanilla glaze, and is about 1,000,000 times easier than making actually honeybuns. But the flavors in this cake make it taste just like one. Or a cinnamon roll. How fabulous is that?
It’s also made in a 13×9 inch pan…no cake layers, no elaborate frosting…it’s a stress-free easy sheet cake.
You take a regular box of yellow cake mix and fancy it up with room temperature butter and eggs and sour cream, and the filling is a mixture of cinnamon, brown sugar, a little of the cake mix and chopped pecans.
So if you have a honeybun of your own who might like a slice or two of this, this honey bun cake recipe is the kind of treat you can whip up on a lazy weekend afternoon just because. No reason other than you love them.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
Ingredients you need
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Cake mix: You can use any brand you like as long as it is a 15.2 ounce package
- Sour Cream: Full fat or low fat are both fine
- Nuts: Don’t like pecans? You can swap in walnuts or even chopped macadamia nuts
- Powdered Sugar: This is also known as confectioner’s sugar and you can find this super fine sugar in the baking aisle.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
STEP 2: Put 1/2 cup of cake mix into a small bowl.
STEP 3: Put the rest of the cake mix into a large bowl with the butter, eggs and sour cream. Beat with a mixer for 2 minutes.
STEP 4: Add the brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon to the reserved 1/2 cup of cake mix and stir.
STEP 5: Spread half of the cake batter in the pan. Sprinkle with the pecan mixture.
STEP 6: Drop the rest of the batter in spoonfuls over the top of the pecan filling, and then smooth the spoonfuls together until they cover the filling.
STEP 7: Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. The cake should spring back when you touch it with your finger. Let the cake cool before you glaze it (usually for about 2 hours).
STEP 8: Mix confectioner’s sugar, milk and vanilla together. The glaze should be pourable – if it’s not, add more milk by teaspoonfuls until it is.
STEP 9: Pour the glaze over the cake and spread quickly with a spatula.
STEP 10: Cool for one more hour and then it is ready to be cut into squares and served to your honeybun, with a kiss!
What to serve with this recipe
We are all about having the perfect beverage to serve to our honeybun with this cake! When the weather is warm we love a glass of strawberry lemonade or lemonade mint iced tea. And if it is chilly outside, try a cup of fresh mint tea or (our favorite!) red wine hot chocolate!
Other easy sheet cake recipes we love!
We want to know what you think! 🤔
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe.
PrintHoneybun Cake
It’s a cake that tastes like a honeybun – full of cinnamon and pecan and brown sugar goodness. Make some honeybun cake for YOUR honeybun today!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cooling Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- One 15.2 ounce package yellow cake mix
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk (more if needed to make the glaze)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
- Put 1/2 cup of cake mix into a small bowl.
- Put the rest of the cake mix into a large bowl with the butter, eggs and sour cream. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon to the reserved 1/2 cup of cake mix and stir.
- Spread half of the cake batter in the pan. Sprinkle with the pecan mixture. Drop the rest of the batter in spoonfuls over the top of the pecan filling, and then smooth the spoonfuls together until they cover the filling.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. The cake should spring back when you touch it with your finger. Let it cool for 2 hours.
- Mix powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together. The glaze should be pourable – if it’s not, add more milk by teaspoonfuls until it is.
- Pour the glaze over the cake and spread quickly with a spatula. Cool for one hour and then it is ready to be cut into squares and served to your honeybun, with a kiss!
Notes
- Cake mix: You can use any brand you like as long as it is a 15.2 ounce package
- Sour Cream: Full fat or low fat are both fine
- Nuts: Don’t like pecans? You can swap in walnuts or even chopped macadamia nuts
- Powdered Sugar: This is also known as confectioner’s sugar and you can find this super fine sugar in the baking aisle.
Gwen says
Love this recipe! It came out so perfect and was a huge crowd pleaser! Will definitely be making this again!
Hi Gwen and yay! This is a birthday favorite at our house. :)
Theresa Murphy says
You are talking my talk right here! Love honey buns! I’m thinking this would be fabulous for brunch as a coffee cake stand-in. Do you mind if I add a touch of cinnamon to the glaze? ?
But of COURSE you can add cinnamon! Happy long honeybun weekend! :)
Candice says
I have to slide out of the driveway and into town to find the ingredients for this.
Being snowed in has its upside, nothing better to do than stay home and bake and fill the house with good scents … and have honeybun cake for dinner.
What ? you don’t eat cake for dinner ? Why do I have to wait for breakfast ? :(
You can TOTALLY eat cake for dinner. Especially when it is snowing.
Candice says
I knew you would agree with me on this :)
Linda LC says
YUM! I can already smell this baking in my kitchen!
I hope you saved me a piece!! :)
Karen L in Arkansas says
This sounds so delish! I will be making this soon. Thanks for such great recipes,and I love your beautiful dog!
Thank you so much! And I hope your honeybun loves it as much as mine does. And yes, she’s a sweetie, isn’t she? :)
Karen Nelson says
What a great little recipe! Easy and Delish I have no doubt:-)
I need something for a Valentine lunch dessert for a group… this just might be the ticket!
Thanks Kate…!
Hope you are staying safe and warm. I could send you some almost 80 degree weather.. ugh!
(we desperately need rain!)
I will DEFINITELY trade you some of our snow and ice for your 80 degrees! Hang in there…