My entire family loves this lazy day Cinnamon Bundt Cake recipe. It’s easy to throw together but it looks like it took hours to make! This will become your favorite cake to make!

Cinnamon Cake Recipe:
This is our family favorite cake. My father loves this cake and requests it every year for his birthday. Every year, I ask what he wants and he always replies with that cinnamon cake thing you made last year.
This year we also made it for Thanksgiving. My kids forgot how much they loved it and they have requested it for Christmas too! This brown sugar cinnamon swirl cake is perfect for any occasion and I know you’ll love how easy it is to make and how light and fluffy it is too.
If you love the flavor of this cake, make sure to check out this Honey Bun Cake. You may even like this Christmas Bundt Cake.

Lazy Day Cinnamon Bundt Cake:
A lazy day cake is what I call a cake recipe in which I find shortcuts to make a delicious cake recipe easier by using substitutions for some of the ingredients needed.
In this recipe instead of creating the flour mixture, I use a cake mix instead so I don’t have to worry about the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, etc for this recipe.
This helps create a great short cut but you don’t have to sacrifice any of the flavors! In some recipes, it requires you to add in sour cream but in my recipe I add in a package of delicious pudding instead which really adds in the moisture and flavor to this delicious cake.

Ingredients for Easy Cinnamon Cake:
Cake Ingredients:
- Yellow Cake Mix
- Vanilla Instant Pudding
- Vegetable Oil
- Water
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
Filling Ingredients:
- Light Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (Optional)
Glaze Ingredients:
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract
How to make Cinnamon Bundt Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First you will want to prepare a 10-inch bundt pan (also known as a 12 cup bundt pan) with grease and flour. We like spraying it with your favorite non stick spray and lightly dusting it with flour. You don’t want to skip this step so that it’s easy to remove the cake once it’s finished.
Next prepare the filling by combining the brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts together in a mixing bowl. Set aside as you’ll need this later in this process.

To prepare the cake portion you need a large bowl combine the cake mix, pudding, oil and water. Then add eggs and vanilla extract. I mixed these ingredients together using my stand up electric mixer but you can use a hand held mixer as well. Just mix these ingredients together for a few minutes until they are well combined.
Next pour approximately one third of this batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Then sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over the batter in pan. After this, pour another one third of this batter on top of the sugar mixture in the pan. Then sprinkle the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture over this layer. Next, pour the remaining batter in the pan.

Bake for 37 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check the cake around 25 minutes and if it is getting too brown, loosely cover with foil while it continues to bake.
After the cake baked, allow the cake to cool for at least 20 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges of the pan and invert the cake onto a wire rack. Let the cake cool completely on this wire rack.

Now it’s time to prepare the delicious Glaze!
Now it’s time to learn how to prepare the glaze for this delicious cake recipe. You don’t want to skip this step as the glaze is my favorite part and make this cake even sweeter and amazing!
While the cake is cooling, mix together the glaze ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl.
Then I move the cake to a serving platter and next I drizzle the glaze on the top of the cake. The glaze is thin and will drizzle over the cake perfectly. It’s not as thick as icing so don’t be surprised when it’s thinner than normal.

This cake is easy to make in no time at all but is a crowd pleaser.

Homemade Vanilla Extract is easy to make!
Have you ever tried to make Vanilla Extract? Vanilla extract is needed for most baking recipes and recently started to make my own. It’s so easy to make and really does add more flavor to my baking recipes.
I wrote an entire post on how to make your own vanilla extract here. It only takes 2 ingredients to create and I was able to make it in under 5 minutes. Also, I save a lot of money by making my own vanilla extract instead of using the store bought kind.

A Family Favorite!
All that delicious cinnamon with that yummy icing on top. It is perfect for dessert or I have enjoyed a slice with my morning coffee. I end up having to make two Cinnamon Cakes as my dad usually takes home leftovers. Have I mentioned how much we love this cake?
The best part is I bet you already have everything you need to make this easy dessert recipe! I promise, you’ll want to try this one soon.


Lazy Day Cinnamon Bundt Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 yellow cake mix (15.25 oz)
- 1 package vanilla instant pudding (3.4 oz)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup water
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Filling:
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
For the Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
See how we calculate recipe costs.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 12 cup bundt pan with non stick spray and dust with flour.
- In a small bowl, stir together the filling ingredients (⅓ cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts). Set the filling aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 plain yellow cake mix, 1 package vanilla instant pudding, ¾ cup vegetable oil, ¾ cup water, 4 large eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Mix with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, then continue mixing for 2 to 3 more minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the batter is well combined.
- Pour one-third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
- Sprinkle half of the cinnamon filling evenly over the batter.
- Pour another one-third of the batter into the pan, then sprinkle the remaining cinnamon filling on top. Pour the remaining batter into the pan.
- Bake for 37 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check the cake around 25 minutes and if it is getting too brown, loosely cover with foil while it continues to bake.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and invert the cake onto a wire rack. Cool the cake completely.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth.
- Place the cooled cake on a serving platter and drizzle the glaze over the top. Slice and serve.
Recipe Video
Nutrition Facts
More Easy Cake Recipes:
- Pumpkin Cake
- Chocolate Cola Cake Recipe
- White Texas Sheet Cake Recipe
- Chocolate Ganache Cake Roll Recipe
- Crock Pot Apple Pie Dump Cake
- Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake Recipe
- How to Make a a Mug Cake from Scratch
- Easy Caramel Cheesecake Recipe with Oreo Crust
- German Chocolate Cake Cheesecake Bars Recipe
- 3 Ingredient Strawberry Icebox Cake Recipe
- Banana Pudding Poke Cake Recipe

This recipe calls for an 18.25 cake mix store doesn’t sell them how do I do this
Larisha – Sadly, cake mix sizes have changed from 18.25 ounces to 15.25 ounces recently. The recipe would stay the same and just reduce the cooking time down to 40-50 minutes until the cake is cooked through. Let me know how it turns out!
Delicious and easy recipe and you’re right it’s perfect for the holidays. Thank you
Veronica – Thank you for sharing and for your wonderful review of this recipe. I truly appreciate it.
Such an easy and delicious recipe. My 7 year old son helped me make it this evening. It is delicious and our whole house smells amazing!
I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you for taking the time to review the recipe.
I accident bought regular pudding instead of instant. Will it still work?
I’ve never tried that, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it will.
Awesome ? thanks
This recipe is similar to an old version of ” sock – it – to me” cake. Very good!
Mine rose way too high! ? But tastes delicious! I’m not sure what I did wrong
Oh, I’m not sure either as I haven’t had that issue before. I would double check your pan size to make sure you didn’t use a smaller pan.
I made this and used milk instead of water,butter instead of vegetable oil and 2 vanilla snack pack puddings. It was heavenly! ?
1/3 cup brown sugar….
Can anyone tell me how much brown sugar to use? It only displays a “?” On my screen. Any help is appreciated. Thank You!
It’s 1/3 of a cup. The recipe has been corrected. Thanks for letting us know!
How much brown sugar please!!
It’s 1/3 of a cup. The recipe has been corrected. Thanks for letting us know!
Can anyone tell me how much brown sugar to use? It only displays a “?” On my screen. Any help is appreciated. Thank You!
Sounds and looks delicious! How much brown sugar, please? Thanks!
Hi! How much brown sugar for the filling?