Swedish cuisine

Kanelbullar

Name: Kanelbullar
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Swedish cuisine
Ingredients: 600 g Plain flour; 300 ml Milk; 10 g Dried yeast; 80 g Sugar for the dough; 2 tsp Cardamom; 100 g Butter for the dough; 120 g Butter for the filling; 100 g Sugar for the filling; 2 tbsp Cinnamon; 1 Egg for glazing; to taste Pearl sugar; 1 tsp Salt

Cinnamon buns knotted rather than rolled. The cardamom in the dough matters more than the cinnamon inside.

Prep: 120 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 135 min
Difficulty: Medium

Servings

Units

Ingredients

Plain flour600 g
Milk300 ml
Dried yeast10 g
Sugar for the dough80 g
Cardamom — ground from the pods2 tsp
Butter for the dough100 g
Butter for the filling — softened120 g
Sugar for the filling100 g
Cinnamon2 tbsp
Egg for glazing1
Pearl sugarto taste
Salt1 tsp

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1
Warm the milk to thirty-seven degrees and dissolve the yeast. Mix with the flour, sugar, salt and cardamom and knead for ten minutes.
15 min
2
Work in the soft butter piece by piece until the dough turns smooth and glossy. Prove for an hour.
70 min
3
Beat the butter with the sugar and cinnamon to a paste. Roll the dough into a half-centimetre rectangle and spread the filling over all of it.
15 min
4
Fold the sheet in three, cut two-centimetre strips, twist each one and tie it in a knot. Space them on a tray.
20 min
5
Prove them for forty minutes, brush with egg and scatter with pearl sugar.
45 min
6
Bake at 220 °C for twelve minutes. Short and hot is what keeps the middle moist.
14 min

About the dish

A Swedish bun differs from an American cinnamon roll in two ways: cardamom in the dough and no icing. What goes on top is pearl sugar, which does not melt and stays crunchy.

The cardamom has to be ground from the pods yourself. Pre-ground loses its oils within months and tastes dusty instead of resinous.

The dough should be cool when shaped. Warm, it tears, the filling escapes and the knot will not hold.

Worth knowing

— Pearl sugar can be replaced by coarse cane sugar or crushed lump sugar. Ordinary granulated melts and disappears.
— The buns are at their best for three hours. After that, freeze them as soon as they cool and reheat as needed.
— The dough can rest overnight in the fridge instead of the hour's proving — the flavour deepens and cold dough is easier to shape.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories: 380 kcal
Protein: 6 g
Fat: 16 g
Carbs: 54 g

Useful for this recipe

Oven Temperature Converter