{"id":8303,"date":"2026-10-19T15:18:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8303"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:35","slug":"kanelbulle","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/kanelbulle\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanelbulle (Cinnamon Bun)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Swedish sweet bun has streaks of butter and cinnamon running through a soft bread dough. A kanelbulle is made by layering a sweet filling with a yeasted wheat dough. The plural is kanelbullar. Cardamom is mixed throughout the dough, while cinnamon goes into the filling, so the aroma is not uniform. The swirl and the knot are two forms made from the same ingredients, differing only in how they are arranged.<\/p>\n

Rolling a cinnamon filling into a yeasted dough<\/h2>\n

In the basic method, a starter dough of milk, yeast, flour and other ingredients is fermented first; then butter, eggs, the remaining flour and cardamom are added and the dough is kneaded thoroughly. The filling, meanwhile, is a mixture of soft butter, sugar and cinnamon. Because the spices go in different places, dense lines of fat and sugar run through the fluffy dough, and the cardamom and cinnamon perfume separate layers.<\/p>\n

The dough needs stretch and cohesion so that it can be rolled out thin, folded, cut into thin strips and twisted. Unlike sabl\u00e9<\/a> dough, which is mixed as little as possible, this dough is kneaded to form a gluten network that holds the gas produced during fermentation. Dough that has been kneaded well enough to stretch is less likely to tear when cut into strips and knotted.<\/p>\n

When the dough is spread with the filling, rolled into a long log and sliced into rounds, a swirl appears on the cut face. When folded dough is cut into strips and knotted, on the other hand, streaks of spice also show on the surface. Which surfaces brown and how the aroma is distributed differ, but in both cases the filling stays inside a soft bread; the structure is not one in which thin layers of dough flake apart, as in puff pastry.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A cinnamon bun photographed in Stockholm. The twisted strands of dough and the sugar grains on the surface are visible. Photo: Kritzolina, 2019-08-13, Stockholm, Sweden. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from the source, with no further processing.<\/p>\n

Letting the dough rise fully after shaping as well<\/h2>\n

In the recipe (ingredient proportions and method) by cook Lisa Lemke, the shaped dough is left for several hours in a cool place such as a cellar and then moved to room temperature until it becomes puffy. This method uses both a cool place and room temperature. Making the first dough, kneading after the fat and other ingredients are added, and the rise after shaping all create the softness inside the twisted buns.<\/p>\n

The surface is brushed with egg and sprinkled with sugar grains or cardamom sugar so that it browns during baking. This finish differs from that of the cinnamon rolls commonly seen in the United States, which are topped with a thick layer of white frosting. Each shop also has its own approach, so even among sweets rolled with cinnamon, the use of a glaze and the way they are finished vary.<\/p>\n

\n\"Kanelbullar\n
Kanelbullar taken out of a home oven in Sweden (March 29, 2011). The dough, shaped like overlapping rings, is laid out on a rack. The photo shows that people not only buy them at pastry shops but also bake them in sizable batches at home. Photo: Andreas Ivarsson, \u201cKanelbullar i Solna\u201d \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Image obtained from the source. No content changes or cropping for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The spread of rolling and slicing<\/h2>\n

The form made by spreading butter, sugar and cinnamon on the dough, rolling it up and slicing it into rounds in one go is also called kanelsn\u00e4cka<\/em>, meaning \u201ccinnamon snail.\u201d Sweden\u2019s Institute for Language and Folklore explains that this method spread in the 1960s as a way to speed up production. Slicing is faster than knotting each bun by hand, and the difference in shape reflects the amount of work in bread baking.<\/p>\n

Early uses of the name and the spread of today\u2019s method<\/h2>\n

Kanel<\/em> came into Swedish through German and French and is linked to the Latin canna<\/em>, \u201ctube.\u201d The shape of the rolled bark survives in the name of this spice. Bulle<\/em> is an old Swedish word for something swollen or round, and it has referred to bread since at least the 17th century. Old words for a spice and for a round bread came together in the later name of the sweet.<\/p>\n

An example of the name in early use appears on page 4 of \u00c5m\u00e5ls Weckoblad of December 15, 1857, where kanelbullar<\/em> are listed alongside malt bread and saffron bread.<\/p>\n

Visit Sweden dates the emergence of the method that led to today\u2019s buns to after World War I, and dates the period when ingredients became easier to obtain and the buns spread widely to the 1950s. Even though the name appeared as an item in newspapers, it still took time for the form made at home to become widely established.<\/p>\n

October 4, a day for bringing buns to others<\/h2>\n

Cinnamon Bun Day began in 1999. Its originator, Kaeth Gardestedt, told public television that for the 40th anniversary of the Home Baking Council, the cinnamon bun was chosen as a bread that is easy to make and liked by everyone. At first she reached out to acquaintances by phone and fax, and the day spread slowly.<\/p>\n

What mattered to her was showing kindness to neighbors and friends. She also described people putting buns they had baked in a bag and hanging it on the handle of someone\u2019s front door. Cinnamon Bun Day is not only a day for buying buns at shops but also a day for baking them at home and handing them out. The signature bun of fika, a time for sharing coffee and a break together, has taken on the added role of being brought to someone.<\/p>\n

\n\"Kanelbullar\n
Kanelbullar at the bakery at Skansen, Stockholm (August 9, 2014). Many buns made of rolled dough are lined up by the window. Photo: Luke Webber, \u201cSkansen, Djurg\u00e5rden – Bakery\u201d \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Image obtained from the source. No content changes or cropping for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

\u2022 Cardamom<\/strong>: A spice with a fresh aroma, made from the seeds of a plant in the ginger family.<\/p>

\u2022 Gluten<\/strong>: A network of proteins with elasticity and stretch that forms when water is added to wheat flour and the mixture is kneaded.<\/p>

\u2022 Fika<\/strong>: The Swedish custom of gathering over coffee or another drink and sweets to share a break and conversation.<\/p>

\u2022 Lisa Lemke<\/strong>: A Swedish cook who published a method for making kanelbullar through the tourist board.<\/p>

\u2022 Kaeth Gardestedt<\/strong>: The originator who led the planning of Cinnamon Bun Day at the Home Baking Council.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u2022 Lisa Lemke \/ Visit Sweden, \u201cCinnamon buns\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Two-stage dough, two spices, kneading and folding in three, knots and swirls, rising in a cool place and at room temperature.\n\u2022 Visit Sweden, \u201cCinnamon buns and where to get the best ones\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The current style after World War I, its spread in the 1950s, the commemorative day in 1999, fika.\n\u2022 SVT, \u201cHon myntade Kanelbullens dag,\u201d 2016<\/a> \u2014 The originator herself on the Home Baking Council\u2019s 40th anniversary, the early outreach by phone and fax, and the kindness of handing buns out to neighbors.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u2022 Institutet f\u00f6r spr\u00e5k och folkminnen, \u201cKanelbullens dag\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The word histories of kanel and bulle, the supply of ingredients and the buns\u2019 spread, and an explanation of kanelsn\u00e4cka in relation to production work.<\/p><\/li>

  3. Kungliga biblioteket, Svenska tidningar: Kanelbullar (1850\u20131857)<\/a> \u2014 On page 4 of \u00c5m\u00e5ls weckoblad of December 15, 1857, the word kanelbullar appears alongside other breads. The OCR text included in the library\u2019s search was read directly. The full original page image and the formulation have not been checked. This is limited to evidence that the name existed and is not used to claim a first appearance or the origin of the modern form<\/li>

  4. \u2022 Editorial check: The original 1857 newspaper has not been checked. The text included in the Royal Library\u2019s search gives only the item names and does not describe a formulation or shape.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The swirl in a kanelbulle is not a pattern drawn on after baking. In this Swedish cinnamon bun, the line is created by rolling up dough spread with butter, sugar and spice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6960,"menu_order":58,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Kanelbulle","subtitle":"Cinnamon swirls and fika: a Swedish sweet bun","topics":"Cinnamon \/ Cardamom \/ Shaping \/ Fika","country":"Sweden","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["spice","butter","egg"],"texture":["fluffy","chewy"],"occasion":["tea"],"method":["baked","fermented"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[166],"class_list":["post-8303","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8304,8274,8286,8287,8295,8296,8302,8245]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t