While New Year’s Eve is mostly about fancy drinks and snacks to munch, New Years Day is about 30 winks and a sweet brunch. This Cinnamon Roll Bundt (with Cream Cheese frosting) is sure to fill that morning after craving for something homey and sweet.

Now that I’m in winter break from baking classes, I’ve been zoomed in on NY Times recipes for interesting deserts that will keep me sharp for next semester. This one jumped out at me, especially the idea of getting all of those cinnamon bun ingredients into a recipe for a cake. Genius! Once this gets going in the oven, it is sure to pull your crowd out of bed to gather together happily for breakfast, or brunch (let’s to be realistic).

This is a treat that comes together in three acts: cake, crumb, and frosting. The cake portion is pretty rich, with eggs, butter, and a bit of cream cheese.

There is a crunchy portion made of browned panko crumbs, butter, cinnamon and dark brown sugar which makes up the swirl that gives this dessert its special flavor.

Multiple layers of crumb and batter are added to the bundt pan, building up the cake height.

Once the crumb and cake are baked, removed from the pan, and cooled a bit, the cream cheese icing can be generously applied.

This cake will fill your home with the sweet smell of holiday cheer. Have a Happy New Year and I look forward to sharing more great recipes in 2026.

Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake (with Cream Cheese Frosting)

Prep Time: Crumb (15 minutes); Cake (60 minutes); Frosting (15 minutes); Bake Time (60-70 minutes)

Ingredients

Cinnamon Crumb:

2 tbsp unsalted butter

⅓ cup (28g) panko bread crumbs

⅔ cup (150 g) dark brown sugar (packed)

5 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of fine salt

Cake:

2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar

1 ½ tsps baking powder

¾ tsp fine salt

5 large eggs (room temperature)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

¾ cup (168 g) unsalted butter, cubed (room temperature)

6 ounces (169 g) cream cheese, cubed (room temperature)

Nonstick Baking or cooking spray for the Bundt pan

Frosting:

10 ounces (280 g) cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp unsalted. butter, softened

¾ cup (85 g) powdered sugar (add more to taste)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of fine salt

The Recipe

Make the crumb: Melt the butter in a skillet (medium heat). Add the crumbs and cook, stirring often, until evenly golden brown (3-4 minutes). Transfer to a medium bowl, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt; stir well and let cool.
Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and coat a 9-inch Bundt pan with baking or cooking spray.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk the eggs and vanilla in a large liquid measuring cup.
Add the butter and cream cheese to the flour, toss lightly to coat, then beat with the paddle attachment on low speed until small crumbs form. With the machine running, add the eggs in a slow, steady stream. Once half of the eggs are added and the mixture forms a smooth batter, scrape the bowl and turn the speed to medium. Continue adding the eggs in a steady stream, scraping the bowl as needed for a smooth batter. Once all the eggs are added, beat on medium-high for 1 minute.
Use a large spoon to drop dollops of batter (about ¼ of it) into the prepared pan. Use a small spoon to smooth those dollops into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle an even layer of cinnamon crumbs (about ⅓ of the crumbs) on top to completely coat the batter. Dollop another ring of batter over the crumbs and use the small spoon to gently nudge the batter to the edges of the pan and the center tube. Cover with another layer of crumbs. Repeat the layering until all the cake batter and crumbs are used, sprinkling any final crumbs over the last cake layer. NOTE: Portioning out the batter equally into 4 small bowls is helpful. Since the bundt pan is narrow at the bottom and gets wider as you move up, the first layer of batter should be the smallest if you want the layers to be somewhat equal.
Bake until a cake tester or wooden skewer comes out with a few tiny crumbs attached, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then flip out of the pan onto a rack. The cake can be wrapped tightly and kept at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until smooth. Scrape the bowl, add the powdered sugar and salt, and beat again, starting on low speed, then going to medium-high, until smooth. With the machine running, add the vanilla. Taste and beat in more powdered sugar if you’d like.
You can ice and eat the cake warm if you’d like, or wait for the cake to cool completely before frosting it. The frosted cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before serving or enjoy cold.

NOTE: Adapted from a recipe by Genevieve Ko published in the NY Times Food Section (12/24/25). I swapped in King Arthur Measure for Measure (1-1) Gluten-Free Flour to make this available for most everyone.