Barley and oat porridge (Viking Age)
Crushed or milled barley cooked in water until the starch softens and the mixture thickens, the plainest way a northern household turned stored grain into a meal, here with apple and hazelnut.
Modern method
Kanelbullar (Swedish cinnamon buns)
Kanelbullar · Swedish cinnamon buns · Swedish cinnamon rolls · Kanelbulle
Soft Swedish wheat buns filled with butter, sugar and cinnamon. This 20-bun home batch uses fresh yeast, two short proofs and pearl sugar.
A Swedish coffee-break bun
Kanelbullar are wheat buns filled with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Visit Sweden describes them as a Swedish pastry served in bakeries and cafés and connects them with fika, the Swedish coffee break. The site also notes that Sweden marks Cinnamon Bun Day on 4 October. These sources document current practice; they do not establish a precise birthplace or first date.
Sources for this section
Dough and filling
This home batch makes 20 buns from 7½ dl wheat flour, ½ dl caster sugar, 2 krm salt, 25 g fresh yeast, 2½ dl whole milk and 75 g butter. The filling uses another 75 g butter, 2½ tablespoons caster sugar and 1½ tablespoons ground cinnamon. One beaten egg and pearl sugar finish the buns. Arla directs that the milk be warmed to no more than 37°C and that the covered dough rise for about 30 minutes. The filling butter should remain spreadable; melted butter would make the rolling and portioning untidy.
Sources for this section
Shape, proof and bake
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, then roll it into a 25 by 50 cm rectangle. Spread the cinnamon butter over the surface, roll from a long side and cut 20 rounds about 2 cm wide. Stand them cut-side up in paper cases on trays and cover for a second rise of about 30 minutes. The source advises checking that the buns have expanded; proofing speed changes with room temperature. Brush with egg, add pearl sugar, then bake at 225°C in a conventional oven or 200°C with fan for 6–8 minutes. Arla gives golden colour and 94–98°C at the centre as endpoints. Cool on a rack under a clean cloth.
Sources for this section
Raw flour and egg
Do not taste the uncooked dough or leftover egg wash. CDC warns that raw flour and eggs can carry germs and advises washing hands and equipment after handling them. The buns are baked before eating; the source's bake time and centre-temperature range describe this recipe, while CDC's general handling advice does not certify a particular oven setting.
Sources for this section
History
Visit Sweden identifies kanelbullar as a Swedish cinnamon, sugar and butter bun associated with coffee breaks and Sweden's Cinnamon Bun Day on 4 October. These sources document contemporary practice, not the first historical attestation.
Ingredients
Yield 20 buns · Scaling: source batch only
Wheat flourUse 7 dl in the dough and keep 0.5 dl for the work surface.
7½ dl
Caster sugardough
½ dl
Saltdough
2 krm
Fresh yeastcrumbled
25 g
Whole milkwarm to no more than 37°C
2½ dl
Butter75 g for the dough; 75 g softened for the filling
150 g
Caster sugarfilling
37 mL2½ tbsp as recorded
Ground cinnamonfilling
22 mL1½ tbsp as recorded
Eggbeaten, for brushing
1
Pearl sugar (optional)for topping
as needed
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
pathogens in raw flour and egg
Raw flour and uncooked egg can carry germs; the dough and egg wash must be cooked before eating.
Hazard sourceDo not taste raw dough. Bake the buns as directed, and wash hands, bowls, utensils and work surfaces after handling flour, egg or dough.
Control sourceDo not eat the raw dough or leftover egg wash.
- Put the sliced butter, 7 dl flour, sugar, salt and crumbled yeast in a large bowl. Warm the milk to no more than 37°C, pour it into the bowl and mix. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let it rise for about 30 minutes.
- Stir the softened filling butter with the sugar and cinnamon until spreadable. Keep it soft, not melted.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it briefly. Roll it into a rectangle about 25 by 50 cm. Spread the cinnamon butter evenly over the dough, roll it up from a long side and cut it into 20 pieces about 2 cm wide. Set the pieces cut-side up in paper cases on baking trays.
- Cover the buns and let them rise for about 30 minutes. Near the end of the rise, heat the oven to 225°C conventional or 200°C fan.
- Brush the buns with beaten egg and scatter pearl sugar over them. Bake in the centre of the oven for 6–8 minutes, until golden and the centre is 94–98°C. Transfer them to a rack and cool under a clean cloth.
Conditions
Yield20 buns
Active time45 min
Fermentation1 h
Temperature controlMulti-stage
Places
Sweden
Traditional preparation · Country evidenceVisit Sweden describes kanelbullar as Swedish cinnamon buns found in bakeries and cafés and associated with the Swedish coffee break; no more precise birthplace is claimed.
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Sources
ArlaMethod
KanelbullarMeasured 20-bun dough and filling, with fresh yeast, milk, wheat flour, butter, sugar and cinnamon; egg and pearl sugar finish.
Milk is warmed to at most 37°C; dough rises about 30 minutes, then shaped buns rise about 30 minutes.
Bake at 225°C conventional or 200°C fan for 6–8 minutes, until golden or an internal temperature of 94–98°C; cool on a rack under a cloth.
Cited in: Dough and filling; Shape, proof and bake; Raw flour and egg
Visit SwedenIdentity · Culture · History
Cinnamon buns ('Kanelbullar') – recipeDescribes cinnamon, sugar and butter buns as a Swedish pastry found in bakeries and cafés and connects them with Sweden's Cinnamon Bun Day on 4 October.
Supports contemporary Swedish cultural association, not a date or precise birthplace of origin.
Cited in: A Swedish coffee-break bun
Centers for Disease Control and PreventionSafety
Raw Flour and DoughUncooked flour and raw eggs can contain germs; do not eat raw dough and follow cooking instructions.
Wash hands, bowls, utensils and countertops after handling raw flour, raw eggs or dough.
Cited in: Raw flour and egg