I have a confession to make: The minute (seriously; MINUTE) I touch down in my native Norway, I have one thing on my mind (other than hugging my parents/sister/gorgeous nieces, of course): Cinnamon buns.
These sweet baked goods are such a classic in Scandinavia, you will find them in every coffee shop and bakery (and we have A LOT of both!). They are also sometimes known as Swedish cinnamon buns, although I don’t know why the Swedes have laid claim to them, they are as Norwegian as they are Swedish. But anyway. The point is; they taste (and smell!) SO good.
Don’t believe me? Try baking them yourself. Be warned though: They are pretty addictive.
This recipe will yield approximately 20 cinnamon buns. (Try not to eat them all at once. Sharing is caring, and all that jazz…)
You will need:
1 kg cream flour (I sometimes use half and half spelt and non-spelt flour) + plus some flour for rolling out
3 teaspoons (ts) of salt
4 ts of ground cardamon
2 dl sugar (I use brown sugar)
50 g fresh yeast (if you can’t get fresh, dry yeast will work just fine too)
1 egg
6 dl tepid milk (too hot or too cold will kill the yeast, aim for 30 degrees. I test this by sticking a finger into the milk. If you can hardly feel your finger, meaning the milk is the same as your body temp, you are good to go.)
150 g butter at room temperature, broken into pieces
Ground cinnamon, brown sugar and soft butter for the filling
1 egg for coating
Pearl sugar (sometimes called sugar nibs) for sprinkling. These can be bought online or in specialist shops. If you can’t find any, you can use demerara or natural sugar crystals instead.
This is how you do it:
1. Mix together flour, sugar, salt, cardamon and your yeast in a baking bowl. Add the egg and start your mixer on a low setting. Use the kneading attachment if you have one. If you don’t have a mixer, don’t worry, you can perfectly well mix this by hand too.
2. Add the milk slowly while continuing to stir, either by hand or keep the mixer going. When all the milk is in, speed up the setting on your mixer. Let it mix the dough together for about eight to ten minutes before you add the butter.
3. Add butter little by little. Make sure it is not cold. I usually leave the butter out of the fridge a few hours before using it for baking, as this will make it soft and the perfect temperature. Keep kneading the dough until it is soft and smooth, this will take anything from five to ten minutes. The kneading is essential when baking with yeast, and the longer you knead it, the more fluffy and airy your baked goods will turn out.
4. Cover your baking bowl with cling-film and let the dough rise for 90 minutes, until it has doubled in size. (I know it’s a while to wait, but how about going for a run in the meantime? That way you’ll feel less guilty about eating the buns once they are done!)
5. On your counter top, roll your dough out to a large, thin rectangle, about 1 centimeter (cm) thick. Spread butter all over it (the longer you have left the butter out of the fridge, the easier this will be), then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon all over the buttered dough. Fold one side in towards the middle first, then the other, so that you dough is now three layers thick.
7. Cut your dough into strips that are about 3-4 cm wide. Make a small cut into the middle of each strip (so that the filling will ooze out when you bake them), and twist ends towards opposite sides. Gather into a round-shaped bun. Note: It does not matter in the slightest if your buns look less than perfect – they will still taste AMAZING.
8. Leave to rise for another 30-60 minutes. This bit is also essential to baking with yeast, and will make your buns all the more airy and YUM.
9. Crack and egg into a bowl and use a small brush to dab some egg mixture over your buns. This will make the tops extra golden and glossy. Sprinkle on your pearl sugar.
10. Bake at 200-225 degrees in the oven for 12-15 minutes. The buns should be a golden brown colour on top when you take them out. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
Now, invite the whole street over and wow them with your Scandi baking skills!
Recipe and images via Foodbyvictoria.blogg.no
