secret recipe club: mini cinnamon roll cakes

we are spending the holiday weekend camping with both boys - a two year old and four month old - for the first time. the intent was to make this cinnamon bread from sweet as sugar cookies to snack on or appease a grumpy two year old. after a disastrous first try - scroll down for the result - i turned the bread into mini bundt cakes and topped them with a cream cheese frosting. they taste like cinnamon rolls with about a quarter of the work. needless to say, all six were long gone before we left for our camping trip.

the first time i made this, i ended up with a mess in my little oven. i still have no idea what i did - too much baking powder? too much baking soda? pan too small? but i'm sure it was my fault, rather than the recipe. i've followed lisa at sweet as sugar cookies for years and have participated in her "sweets for a saturday" posts in the past. i have made a handful of her recipes in the past and they always turned out well. regardless, i was able to salvage two slices out of the middle for me and my favorite two year old to have for breakfast. the rest went in the trash. it wasn't all bad - the flavor was good and i noticed the ratio of filling to bread was way off. after a few tweaks, i baked it again in mini bundts and was excited with the results. but not nearly excited as my two year old who had "cake" for breakfast. 

for more information on the secret recipe club, including the list of participating bloggers, featured recipes from members, and instructions on how to join, visit the secret recipe club website!

check out my previous secret recipe club posts: double chocolate zucchini muffins with chocolate butter, butterscotch M&M oatmeal cookies, 30 minute baked tortellini, snickerdoodle bars & slow cooker chicken fajitas, meyer lemon iced raspberry yogurt cake & slow cooker chicken cacciatore, almond strawberry jam thumbprints, almond butter cookies, enfrijoladas, chocolate snack cake, bacon topped maple french toast cupcakes, cherry sorbet, slow cooker beans & mushrooms, mojito chicken tacos, maple glazed whole wheat spiced apple pizza, pig out cookies, pasta with blistered tomatoes & arugula and iced grapefruit cookies, mushroom barley soup, scalloped ham and potato bake & andes mint cake, chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, asian pork chops, lemon lime meltaways, blueberry peach crisp, minted lemon ice, white chocolate macadamia nut blondies, raspberry cream filled eclairs, jam swirled cheesecake, whole wheat grapefruit cake, chewy no bake granola bars & carrot cinnamon waffles, cannoli, gingerbread muffins, double chocolate peanut butter chip oatmeal cookies, butterscotch peach cake, whole wheat honey pancakes, minted pineapple lime agua fresca, breakfast tacos, simple almond sandwich cookies, & roasted banana rum cake.

mini cinnamon roll cakes

adapted from sweet as sugar cookies

30 minutes plus cooling time, 6 mini bundts

for the cakes:

2 tablespoons very soft or melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

for the filling:

1/4 cup brown sugar

about 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

for the icing:

5 tablespoons very soft butter

4 ounces very soft cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1. generously grease or grease and flour a mini bundt pan or line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside. preheat your oven to 350F.
2. to make the cake, mix the butter and sugar until well blended. whisk in the egg, salt, and vanilla. add the baking powder, baking soda, and about half of the flour and mix until combined. add the milk, mix until combined, and add the rest of the flour. mix until well combined.
3. to make the filling, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into each mini bundt. top with about a half tablespoon of filling. repeat with another layer of batter and filling.
4. bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then turn out and cool on a wire rack before topping with icing.
   
5. while the cakes are baking, make the icing by mixing the butter and cream cheese together. mix in the vanilla and then gradually mix in the powdered sugar until combined.
6. top cakes with icing right before eating. store cakes in an airtight container at room temperature. store icing in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
   

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