The Queen of all Swedish pastries and my ultimate favourite. You cannot miss the irresistible smell of freshly baked kanelbullar coming from every “Pressbyrån” in the metro stations in the mornings.

Once I tasted them I knew we moved to the right country!

What gives the Swedish cinnamon roll its distinctive flavour is the cardamom (حبهان) which is added to the dough, plus the pearl sugar on top. Unlike Cinnabon (an American chain that specializes in Cinnamon rolls and which surprisingly does not have a branch in Sweden), kanelbullar do not have the thick caramel layer on top (which makes them a bit lighter but definitely not to be considered as diet food!).

Since 1999 Sweden has even a national “kanelbullens dag” on the 4th of October of each year. No need to mention that we were happy to join this Swedish tradition!

I tried a number of different recipes along the past months and finally I think I reached a decent result with this recipe which I am most happy to share with you all. Even though the recipe is easy, yet the process is quite long (takes a minimum of two hours or even more) but it’s definitely worth it!

(Note: By clicking on the thumbnails, you can view a larger version of the photos in a slide-show)

Ingredients for the dough:

• 150 gm butter
• 5 dl (0.5 liter) milk
• 50 gm yeast
• a pinch of salt
• 1 – 1.5 dl sugar (preferably brown)
• 2 teaspoons cardamom
• 1,4 liters of flour (I use ecological allpurpose flour)
• for the filling:
• 50 gm butter
• 0.5 – 1 dl sugar (preferably brown)
• 1 table spoon of cinnamon (you can add more if you like cinnamon)

For decorating you will need:

• 1 egg &  pearl sugar

Now let’s get started!

Melt the butter, add the milk and heat the mixture until it gets finger-warm (around 37°C).




Pour the mixture in a bowl, add the yeast and mix well until the yeast is completely dissolved in the mixture.




Now add the salt, sugar, cardamom and around 2/3 of the flour.



Mix the dough with your a spoon or a kitchen machine and keep adding flour until you get a smooth non-sticky ball of dough like the one in the photo.


Cover the dough with a linen towel and let it rise until it becomes double the size. It should take from 30-45 minutes. Warning! Do not peek or else you let in oxygen the slow down the process! While the dough is rising, you can start preparing the filling.

Melt the butter, add the sugar and cinnamon and mix them together.






This is how the dough should look when it’s ready.



Divide the dough into two equal quantities, spreading each half to a rectangle, then add half of the filling you prepared earlier on top of the dough. This is the moment when you can add extra cinnamon if you like.

Now roll the dough like this!





Cut each roll into equal pieces. Depending on the size you prefer, you can get from 15-20 pieces per roll.



Put each one in a paper form, cover them with a linen towel and keep them in a warm place for around 30 minutes to give them to chance to rise a bit more.

Beat the egg and gently brush the surface of each bun with it. Finally, add the pearl sugar on top.



Put your kanelbullar in a pre-heated oven (around 200°C depending on the oven) and leave them to bake for about 5-8 minutes or until they become golden in colour. Be be careful though, since they tend to bake very fast.

Finally it’s time to enjoy the result of your hard work. There is also enough to share with friends and treat yourself to a luxurious breakfast the next morning!