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The Bakery 100 · make it at home

Cinnamon buns (kanelbullar)

3 hr, 40 min hands-on · 16 buns

The Nordic cinnamon bun: lightly sweet, cardamom-scented dough rolled tight around cinnamon butter and baked dark.

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The real one

You need

• Dough: 500 g all-purpose flour (4 cups)
• 75 g sugar (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
• 7 g instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 250 ml whole milk, warm (1 cup)
• 1 egg
• 100 g soft unsalted butter (7 tbsp)
• Filling: 125 g soft unsalted butter (9 tbsp)
• 100 g light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
• 1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg for brushing, pearl sugar

How to make it

1. Dough (15 min plus 1 hr): Mix flour, sugar, yeast, salt and cardamom. Add warm milk and egg and knead 5 minutes, then knead in the butter piece by piece for 8 minutes more, until smooth and springy. Cover and rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
2. Filling (3 min): Beat the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt into a soft, spreadable paste.
3. Roll (10 min): Roll the dough to a 35 x 50 cm (14 x 20 in) rectangle and spread the filling right to the edges.
4. Shape (10 min): Roll up tightly from a long side. Cut into 16 slices, about 3 cm thick. Set them cut-side up in paper cups or on lined trays (for snails, lay them flat; for big Wednesday snails, roll the dough thinner and cut 8 wide slices).
5. Proof (40 min): Cover and proof 30 to 40 minutes until puffy. Heat the oven to 220C (425F).
6. Bake (10 to 12 min): Brush with beaten egg, scatter pearl sugar, and bake 10 to 12 minutes until deep golden. Cool a little under a towel to keep them soft.

Tips

• Hot and short is the Swedish way: high heat keeps the buns soft inside.
• For Icelandic-style sticky buns, brush with a glaze of melted butter, brown sugar and cocoa while warm.

Chef Amazing's own home version of cinnamon bun, in our words; not any bakery's recipe.