Wednesday 1 April 2009

Kanelbulle-Traditional Swedish Cinnamon Buns

Was twittering with fellow twitter mom earlier this morning. We were talking about what to have for breakfast and the subject of cinnamon (cinnamon toast to be more precise) came up. So one thing led to another and I promised her to give her my favourite recipe for Swedish Cinnamon Buns or what they call "Kanelbulle" in Sweden.
Why only share it with one mom when I can share it with thousands (maybe one day I will have that many followers to this blog....), right ?!

Here it is:

Ingredients:
- 4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups butter
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-2 tsp ground cardamom
- 6 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 5 tbsp sugar
- ground cinnamon

Glaze/topping:
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- pearl sugar

Oven:
220-250 C

Directions:
  • Melt butter, add milk. Heat to room temperature.
  • Stir in yeast. Make sure milk-mixture not too hot,as this could "kill" the yeast.
  • Add sugar, salt and most of the flour. Work the dough in a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, until it starts to come off the side of the bowl.
  • Dust work-surface with flour. Work the dough until it is smooth.
  • Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with damp tea-towel.
  • Let it rise in warm place for 30mins. Make sure you do not leave it by a window,as cold air could stop it from rising.
  • Divide the dough in two halves.
  • Let one half rest in the bowl, covered with tea-towel, while you roll out the other half to a 1/2 cm thick rectangle.
  • Spread half the butter, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon (This can be added/reduced as per your own taste) on top. Roll it together from the long side.
  • Cut the roll into about 25 buns. Put each bun in paper muffin-trays or on baking sheet. Cover with tea-towel.
  • Do the same with the other half of the dough and then let it all rise for about 30 mins.
  • Brush the buns with lightly beaten eggs. Sprinkle with pearl-sugar. Bake in middle of oven (220-250 C)for about 5-7 mins. Let cool under tea-towel.
Note: These cinnamon buns are great for freezing and can be reheated in oven, as well as in microwave.

Enjoy ! Oh, and if you would like to add a bit more "crunch" and flavour, you could also sprinkle some chopped almond on top before baking.

*To make you feel better about eating these delicious things: Cinnamon helps control your blood sugar, which influences your risk of heart disease !
In fact, USDA researchers found that people with type-2 diabetes who consumed 1 g of cinnamon a day for 6 weeks (about 1/4 teaspoon each day) significantly reduced not only their blood sugar but also their triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol. Credit the spice ' s active ingredients, methylhydroxychalcone polymers, which increase your cells ' ability to metabolize sugar by your coffee up to 20 times.

There you go. Have fun !





1 comment:

Shanthy said...

Great!Imust try it