A sheet cake version of the viral honey bun cake. Easy to make, honey bun sheet cake is soft and rich and feeds a crowd! Made with a boxed cake mix, it couldn't be easier! This post contains an affiliate link.
You might also like our apple slab pie, rocky road Texas sheet cake, or banana bread bars.
Watch our step by step video!
9x13 cakes are great, but there is just something about a sheet cake that I love! The slightly thinner slices of cake, the option to feed more friends, and the quicker bake time. Sheet cakes are easy to make, and I'll show you how to adjust the measurements for a basic box cake mix to turn it into a honey bun sheet cake, baked in a half sheet pan.
Honey Bun Sheet Cake
Honey buns are a Little Debbie treat. They are big, sticky cinnamon rolls that are a bit sweeter than traditional cinnamon rolls. Honey bun sheet cake incorporates the delicious flavors of the sticky rolls, but it's easier to make and quicker, too! Yellow cake, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter---this cake is loaded with flavor and couldn't be simpler to make.
There are quite a few versions of honey bun cake online. Some use cream cheese, others sour cream. Some have you swirl the brown sugar filling, and others have you simply place it between the cake layers. No matter how you prepare it, honey bun cake is easy to make. I prefer it in sheet cake form and think you'll love my version too.
Honey Bun Sheet Cake Ingredients
(Bake in a half. sheet pan. A half sheet pan is 18"x13"x1)
Yellow Cake
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup water
- ¾ cup melted butter (1 ½ sticks)
Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Vanilla Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp. milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Box Cake Mix Extender
You might notice in the ingredients list that I call for a cake mix AND flour and sugar. Don't worry, that isn't a mistake. One cake mix isn't quite big enough to fill a half sheet pan, but two boxed cake mixes are too much! I know this because I've tried baking a double batch in a half sheet pan in the past, only to have it bubble over and make a mess in the oven. This leaves you with two options. 1: Add an additional ½ of a box of cake mix and save the rest to use another time. 2: Use a cake mix extender. I typically use an extender. You can use this trick anytime you'd like to squeeze out a couple more cups of cake batter to make a few more cupcakes or, in this case, to fill up the sheet pan.
It sounds fancy, but to extend a cake mix, you simply add a bit more flour and sugar, as well as a bit more of the basic ingredients that you were already adding to the cake mix (water, eggs, etc). That's it. You can learn more about cake extenders and a couple of variations here.
Since I've already done the measurements for the cake mix extender, you don't need to do anything. Just grab a yellow cake mix and bake the honey bun cake as directed in your half sheet pan.
How To Make a Honey Bun Sheet Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 18"x13"x1" half sheet pan.
Place all cake ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl periodically to make sure everything is mixed in.
Pour half of the cake batter into the pan, spread evenly with a rubber spatula.
Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle mixture over cake batter.
Spoon remaining cake batter on top of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Spread cake batter with a metal spatula until the filling is covered. If the top batter mixes a little with the brown sugar mixture, it's ok.
Bake the cake for 25-28 minutes*. The inserted toothpick should come out clean.
*Note: I only bake on light colored baking sheets. If you use a dark sheet, you may need to adjust and reduce the baking time.
Mix icing ingredients together and spread over warm cake.
Let the cake cool COMPLETELY before slicing.
This cake yields 24 generous slices. Store cake in pan and cover with plastic wrap to keep fresh for up to 5 days.
Honey Bun Sheet Cake Recipe
(printable version)
Honey Bun Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Yellow Cake
- 1 box yellow cake mix 13 or 15 ounce
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup water
- ¾ cup melted butter 1 ½ sticks
Cinnamon Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Vanilla Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp. milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 18"x13"x1" half sheet pan.
- Place all cake ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl periodically to make sure everything is mixed in.
- Pour half of the cake batter into the pan, spread evenly with a rubber spatula.
- Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle mixture over cake batter.
- Spoon remaining cake batter on top of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
- Spread cake batter with a metal spatula until the filling is covered. If the batter mixes a little with the brown sugar mixture, it's ok.
- Bake the cake for 25-28 minutes. The inserted toothpick should come out clean.
- Mix icing ingredients together and spread over warm cake.
- Let cake cool COMPLETELY before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Brandy says
Hi everyone! Brandy here, I wanted to share an update. My girls brought this honey bun cake to a get-together, and it was a hit! It softens the longer it sits; we prefer eating it by day 2 or 3, but you can keep it longer.