Cinnamon Rolls

A cinnamon roll is a sweet yeast pastry served abundantly in cafés and homes throughout Northern Europe. In Sweden, the country of its presumed origin, the 4^th October has more recently been promoted into "Kanelbullens Dag" (Cinnamon Roll Day). However, my closest relation to Scandinavia is passion for Swedish crime novels, in which clever detectives solve grisly crimes while chewing on cinnamon rolls and drinking buckets of coffee. An avid coffee drinker myself, I’ve been long looking for a delicious treat to nibble on while reading. My interest was sparked, and after I realised just how incredibly easy they are to make, I acquired passion for cinnamon rolls. But beware, they are highly addictive. My whole family has fallen victim to this buttery little treat and soon we might even start celebrating the Kanelbullens Dag. 

Ingredients:

Serves: 12-14 rolls 

Dough:

400gr flour

7gr (1 Tbsp) dry active yeast

200ml lukewarm milk

40gr caster or soft brown sugar

70gr soft unsalted butter

1/4tsp salt

2 tsp ground cardamom (not a fan - substitute with 2tsp grated lemon peel, it does the trick)

Topping:

100gr soft unsalted butter

70gr caster or soft brown sugar

1Tbsp cinnamon

Method:

1. Put the flour into a bowl, add the yeast, pour in some milk and mix up with the yeast. Cover it and rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add the other ingredients for the dough and knead everything into smooth dough. Cover and let it rise for at least 30 minutes (1 hour is better).
3. Gently press dough down and, on a floured surface, roll into a roughly 30x70 cm rectangle. Mix the ingredients for the filling and spread evenly on the dough. Roll up from one long side, and then cut your roll into 2 cm thick pinwheels.
4. Press down the flat side of the knife in the middle of the rolls, so that the centre goes down and the cut sides open up a bit.
5. Put rolls on a parchment baking sheet and let them rise for another 10 minutes or so. Preheat the oven to 220C, egg-wash the rolls and bake for about 12 minutes (do not over bake – they are meant to be just golden brown on the top, soft in the middle and a bit gooey on the bottom).

Note: In Sweden cafés freshly baked Kanelbulle gets topped with a pärlsocker (pearl sugar) not commonly used outside Northern Europe, so you’ll have to finish them off with a good old dusting of icing sugar (it does the trick). Or, omit this step completely as they do not really need any more sugar.