Real Swedish Kanelbullar stand out for two things: cardamom in the dough and a double-folded cinnamon filling. Together, these set them apart from American cinnamon rolls, which rely on cream cheese icing because the dough itself has little flavour.
We first tried Kanelbullar in Stockholm, in one of those cafes where the Swedes take the word Fika seriously. Since then we have been baking these rolls regularly in the Thermomix®, and over the years we have worked out what truly sets them apart from a standard German sweet roll. We use the original recipe from the Mix Baking Book as our base, but add two things that bring the result much closer to the real Swedish version.
Swedish Cinnamon Rolls (Kanelbullar), Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 8 ✓
- 200 g butter
- 500 g milk
- 1 cube fresh yeast
- 150 g sugar
- 750 g plain flour, type 405
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 egg
Instructions 0 / 8
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1
Melt the butter.
Cut 100 g butter into pieces, place in the mixing bowl and heat for 2 min / 60°C / speed 2.
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2
Dissolve the yeast.
Add milk, yeast and 60 g sugar and heat for 3 min / 37°C / speed 1.
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3
Knead the dough.
Add flour and salt and knead for 3 min / kneading mode. Transfer to a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 40 minutes.
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4
Spread the cinnamon filling.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle. Spread the remaining butter over it. Mix the remaining sugar with the cinnamon and distribute evenly over the dough.
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5
Prepare the baking tray.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
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6
Roll up the dough.
Roll the dough up lengthways, cut into 2 cm thick slices, place on the baking tray and leave to rise, covered, for 30 minutes.
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7
Preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 250°C top and bottom heat.
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8
Bake.
Whisk the egg, brush over the rolls and bake on the middle shelf for approximately 10 minutes. Cover with a cloth and leave to cool.
Tip: Sprinkle pearl sugar over your Kanelbullar before baking, as much as you like.
Video
Nutrition per serving
What makes these Kanelbullar right
Cardamom in the dough, not just cinnamon in the filling. This is the one point that almost every non-Swedish recipe leaves out. In Sweden, freshly ground cardamom goes into every yeasted dough for Kanelbullar. We add half to one teaspoon directly with the flour, before the dough is kneaded. Without this step the rolls taste like German cinnamon buns with a Swedish name. With cardamom they become proper Kanelbullar.
Double folding before rolling. Instead of rolling up the dough straight away, we first fold it once lengthways towards the centre, spread on more butter and cinnamon sugar, then fold again. Only then do we roll and slice. This doubles the layers in each roll. During baking more cinnamon seams form, and the texture when you bite in is noticeably richer.
The Thermomix® handles the dough in 90 seconds. On kneading mode it works the 750 g flour with 500 g milk and the dissolved yeast into a smooth yeasted dough in 3 minutes. Kneading by hand takes 10 to 15 minutes, and the result is rarely as even. On top of that: we dissolve the yeast directly in the mixing bowl at 3 min / 37°C / speed 1. No water bath or warm glass of milk needed.
Where Kanelbullar turn dry or crack
1. Leaving the dough to rise too long
Many recipes call for overnight proving in the fridge. This works with yeasted doughs that are low in sugar and fat. With Kanelbullar containing 200 g butter and 150 g sugar, the dough becomes too heavy after 12 hours in the fridge, the yeast exhausts itself and the rolls barely rise during baking.
Our solution: 40 minutes rising at room temperature is plenty. Shape the rolls, leave them to prove for a further 30 minutes, then bake. A total proving time of 70 minutes, no more.
2. Oven too cool
Kanelbullar need real heat. At 180°C the dough dries out because it spends too long in the oven. At 250°C the surface gets its golden colour in 10 minutes, the dough stays soft inside and the sugar caramelises lightly.
Our solution: Preheat the oven to 250°C top and bottom heat, bake for 10 minutes on the middle shelf, then immediately cover the rolls with a damp cloth. That keeps them soft.
3. Rolling the dough too thin
If you roll the dough too thin, you end up with flat rolls that have too much filling relative to the dough. The cinnamon sugar mixture runs out during baking, the baking parchment becomes sticky and the rolls turn hard because they lack volume.
Our solution: Roll to about 8 mm thick. The rectangle should be roughly 40 by 50 cm. After the double fold and rolling, this gives you 30 rolls each 2 cm thick. That is exactly how they look in Swedish cafes.
With pure cardamom, cinnamon sugar or marzipan
Pearl sugar on top. Before baking, after brushing with egg, simply sprinkle pearl sugar or nib sugar over the rolls. This is the standard Swedish version. The sugar does not melt and gives a satisfying crunch.
Cardamom rolls instead of cinnamon. The authentic Swedish option: instead of cinnamon sugar we use cardamom sugar as the filling. They are then called Kardemummabullar. Use 2 tbsp ground cardamom plus 90 g sugar as the filling mixture. Everything else stays the same.
Juicier with a syrup glaze. Bring 50 g water with 30 g sugar and 1 tbsp vanilla sugar to the boil at 100°C / 3 min / speed 1. Brush over the rolls straight out of the oven while they are still warm. This keeps them fresh for two extra days.
Apple pieces in the filling. Dice two small apples very finely and mix into the cinnamon sugar mixture. This makes the rolls juicier, though you will need to bake for 2 minutes longer so the apples cook through.
Coffee, black tea or vanilla custard
We drink strong filter coffee with Kanelbullar. In Sweden that is simply how it is done. Those who prefer something more classic can pair them with a hot chocolate or our Thermomix® Cappuccino. For a larger breakfast spread we serve the rolls alongside our Thermomix® Braided Loaf, since both come from a similar dough and are easy to plan together. Anyone who wants less sweetness can set out a pot of Thermomix® plum jam or a bowl of Thermomix® vanilla custard alongside.
Fresh for 2 days, frozen for 3 months
In an airtight tin the rolls keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. With the syrup glaze (see variations) even 4 days. In the fridge they dry out faster, so it is better to store them at room temperature.
Goes well with: Coffee and milk.
We have tested two ways to freeze them: freezing once fully baked and reheating for 5 minutes at 150°C works well, they taste as good as fresh. Freezing them raw and leaving them to thaw for 4 hours before baking gives the best result, because the rolls come straight from the oven. Whenever we bake a batch, we always freeze a second batch raw. That way fresh rolls are ready for the next Sunday breakfast with no effort at all.
If you enjoy the Swedish baking style, here are more classic sweet bakes from our collection:
- Braided Loaf, Thermomix®
- Plum Jam, Thermomix®
- Vanilla Custard, Thermomix®
- Crumble Cake, Thermomix®
