Sweden marks Cinnamon Bun Day on Oct. 4, a date the United States also observes as National Cinnamon Roll Day, but the pastry each country brings to the table tastes noticeably different. Sweden’s version is smaller, less sweet and built on a dough fragrant with cardamom. America’s went bigger, sweeter and largely skipped the spice. This Sunday is a fine moment to ask what the Swedish version has been doing differently all along.
Sweden’s cinnamon buns, known as kanelbullar, are typically finished with pearl sugar rather than cream cheese frosting, and the dough itself contains cardamom ground directly into the flour before the first rise. It gives the bun a warmth that is floral and slightly citrusy underneath the cinnamon, something that registers in the smell of the kitchen before it registers anywhere else. Cardamom never became standard in mainstream American cinnamon-roll recipes.
Why Home Bakers Are Paying Attention
Home bakers have been paying more attention to what goes into their bread lately. Sourdough products posted dollar growth of just over 30% in the past year, driven by social-media influence and consumer interest in artisanal baking. That same appetite for paying closer attention is reaching the cinnamon roll.
What Changes When You Slow It Down
King Arthur Baking named its Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls its 2021 Recipe of the Year, built around a Japanese technique called tangzhong, which involves cooking a small amount of flour with milk into a thick paste before mixing it into the dough. The resulting dough can hold more moisture through baking, and the rolls can stay noticeably softer for several days rather than hardening as they cool.
Proofing the rolls overnight in the refrigerator pairs naturally with tangzhong and requires even less active effort. Shape them the night before, slide the pan into the fridge and bake them cold the next morning.
The cold rest may deepen the dough’s flavor, and the overnight rest can make the dough easier to handle. Some recipes bake the rolls straight from the refrigerator; others let them warm briefly first.
One Ingredient Worth Adding
The modern Swedish cinnamon bun emerged around the 1920s, after World War I, as butter, sugar and spices became more available to ordinary households. Cardamom became a defining part of the dough and has stayed there ever since.
It never crossed into mainstream American baking. The result is two versions of the same pastry that smell noticeably different the moment they come out of the oven, with cardamom deepening the cinnamon rather than overpowering it.
Cardamom costs almost nothing and adds one line to an ingredient list. It has become one of the defining flavors of Swedish kanelbullar, and it is the simplest thing separating the two versions of this pastry. If it is already on the spice rack, Saturday night is the right time to start, and variations like apple pie cinnamon rolls show how far a simple dough can go.