Swedish Cinnamon Buns - Recipe

I don’t know how many times in 2020 I made these cinnamon buns, but it is definitely one of the few things that I can now proudly add to my baking repertoire. Swedish cinnamon buns (they also have to include cardamom, an unusual ingredient for sweet things in this part of the world) are a traditional treat, usually consumed when having fika - a short break with a coffee and something sweet. Fika is an institution in Sweden and is a chance to catch up with colleagues, family or friends to share a hot drink and a sweet bun or cake, usually more than once a day. My mum even craves a pre-fika around 11 (I guess it’s her version of elevenses) before her proper fika in the afternoon. Anyway, these buns will make a perfect treat with a cup of tea or coffee, and making them is a labour of love so be prepared to devote a few hours in total to create these heavenly cinnamon swirls. You can experiment with the filling to develop it to your taste; add more sugar for sweetness, use vanilla paste, more or less butter and the same with the cinnamon and cardamom. Swedish pearl sugar is hard to find in supermarkets but is available online, same for the ground cardamom.

Preparation time: 45 min - 1 hour

Proving time: 40 min + 40 min + 15 min roughly

Cooking time: 15-25 min

INGREDIENTS

Dough 

• 250ml whole milk heated to 36–37°C (roughly the same temp. as your finger)

• 1/3 cup or 45 g caster sugar, including sugar for the yeast

• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast or 25g fresh yeast

• 525g bread flour

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground cardamom

• 1 small egg, at room temperature

• 75g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Filling

• 90-115g unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 80-100g of caster sugar, brown sugar or vanilla sugar

• 4 tsp ground cinnamon

• 2 tsp ground cardamom

• 1 whisked egg for the egg wash

• Swedish pearl sugar to finish (optional)

METHOD

If using fresh yeast, add along with the warm milk into a mixing bowl and stir until dissolved. If using dried yeast, place the lukewarm milk and add 1 tbsp of the sugar and the yeast in a medium sized bowl, and whisk to combine. Cover with clingfilm (save for later) and leave in a warm place for about 15 minutes until its foamy. At this stage its really important that the yeast is activated - without it the dough won’t rise! If there is still no foam after 15-20, try adding a little more sugar or make it again with new milk and yeast as the temperature has to be just right.

Place the flour, salt, cardamom and remaining sugar, and mix briefly to combine. Then take your milk and yeast mix and add the dry ingredients, this is when you need to start working the dough for at least five minutes. I always make this recipe by hand but if you have a mixer you can use the dough hook attachment. Once you have a smooth dough it’s time to add the butter (make sure its at room temperature). Add a little bit at a time and wait until its fully incorporated before you add another piece. Keep mixing (if using a mixer) or work the dough for another 8-10 minutes. Kneading the dough will activate the gluten in the flour and make sure that your buns become light a fluffy!

Cover the bowl with the same clingfilm and place in a warm place until doubled in size, 45 minutes to an hour. You can also let the dough prove overnight.

Visible gluten structure in the dough

Proved dough

After this, place all of the filling ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well to combine. If you can’t find ground cardamom, get cardamom pods and take the seeds out. Then ground into a fine-ish powder using a pestle and mortar (ideally a little bit finer than ground black pepper). You can also add a vanilla pod to a bag of caster sugar and let it sit for a while (minimum a day or two, ideally a week) to induce the flavour, or use vanilla paste to taste.

Take your dough and place it onto a lightly floured surface, and use a rolling pin to create a rectangle, roughly 60 cm x 40 cm. Using a spatula or butter knife, start to spread the filling evenly over the dough, ensuring the mixture goes all the way to the edges. Holding the short side, starting on the left, fold the dough over a third, then fold the right side over so that it covers the left, the same way that you would fold a letter to go into an envelope. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet, cover lightly with your clingfilm, and place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to help the filling firm up a little.

Evenly spread filling

Dough rectangle

Remove the dough from the fridge and put in back onto a slightly flour dusted work surface. Roll out slightly. and even out the rectangle. Using a ruler (or just your eye) and a pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut the dough into strips approximately 2 cm wide along the short side.

Dough folded three times with the filling…

…and sliced into 2 cm strips

Prepare two trays and line with baking paper. Working with one strip at a time, stretch it slightly and holding both ends, twist the strip a couple of times. After, hold one end in your hand, and wrap the other end twice around your four fingers and thumb. Remove your thumb, and loop the strip over the top of the roll, and tuck it in underneath along with your thumb loop. Watching this gif is how I (eventually) managed to do it! Its a bit complicated but so worth it as the filling is evenly dispersed, and also it looks so pretty once done.

Once you have managed the twist, place each finished bun on the prepared tray, leaving a little space between each since they will prove again. Once you have made all of your buns, cover the tray loosely with clingfilm or tea towel, and allow to sit in a warm place for 30-40 minutes, or until the cinnamon rolls have risen slightly. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 200˚C. If using an AGA I would heat to 200-220˚C to make sure its hot enough before you put the buns in.

After egg wash

Before egg wash

After the last prove, whisk your egg and use a brush to egg wash each bun. If you have found Swedish pearl sugar, sprinkle generously on top of the buns. Bake for 15 minutes checking after 10, or until golden brown on top. With an AGA it might be slightly longer but be sure to check every 5 min after the first 10 to make sure they do not burn, but also be stealth and don’t let too much hot air out!

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, before transferring to a wire rack and covering with a tea towel. Eat them warm or heat up slightly before serving ❤️

Without pearl sugar, here I used some brown sugar on top to substitute

Topped with pearl sugar!

YUM!