Hello, Reader. I’m back. For now.
I’m also in Covid-19 self-quarantine, after returning from a family trip to Norway last week. I’m hunkered down at my parents house in New Jersey because it didn’t seem to make sense to return to my house and housemates in Boston (why yes, I live in Boston now) when I had already been traveling in close proximity with my mom and sister.
Today, my mom suggested I start blogging again to “give myself some direction” through these unusual circumstances.
And unusual circumstances they are for sure. I haven’t been at my parents’ house for this long in several years. I certainly didn’t expect that the next time I visited them it would be to wait out a CDC-mandated quarantine. Nor did I think that when I said good-bye to my boyfriend the night before going to the airport, I wouldn’t see him for three weeks rather than just one.
We’ve all been thrown lots of curveballs lately.
But one thing that always makes me feel sane is–you probably guessed it–baking.
So because our trip to Norway didn’t quite end how we thought it would, the first big baking project I (or rather, my sister and I) undertook in quarantine was kanelbolle, or Norwegian (Scandinavian) cinnamon rolls.
If you’ve never had a Scandinavian cinnamon roll before, or have only had the kind sold by Ikea, the traditional ones are beautifully twisted and heavily flavored with cardamom. Unlike American-style cinnamon rolls, Scandinavian ones do not have icing on top–some of the ones we saw in Norwegian bakeries weren’t even egg-washed–but are usually topped with big, crunchy pearl sugar. We didn’t have any pearl sugar, so we topped ours with demerara sugar.
I won’t say we got ours perfect on the first try, but we were all very pleased with how they turned out. These are worth definitely worth the effort and make a regular coffee or tea break when you’re stuck at home feel a little more special.
Scandinavian Cinnamon Buns, aka Kanelbolle or Kanelbullar
Makes 16-18 small buns
Slightly adapted from Outside Oslo
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 5 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup milk (the original recipe calls for whole milk, but we used skim)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom (the original recipe calls for freshly ground, but after going at a few pods with a mortar and pestle, we opted for the pre-ground stuff from a jar)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
For filling and assembly:
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (if you’ve been hoarding any fancy cinnamon, this is a good application for it)
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten with a splash of water
- Demerara sugar for sprinkling – a couple tablespoons should be plenty
Instructions
For the dough: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When it is almost melted, add the milk and bring it to a vigorous simmer, but don’t let it boil. Just before it boils, turn it off and let it cool to room temperature. Add the yeast and set aside to activate. It should get bubbly and smell yeast-y within about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the flour, sugar, and cardamom in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. When the yeast mixture is ready, stir it and the egg into the dry ingredients. Turn out onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead until the dough comes together smoothly, about five minutes. Alternately, use the dough hook and knead in a stand mixer on low for five minutes. The dough will still be somewhat sticky after it is kneaded. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about one hour.
Filling and assembly: While the dough is rising, mix together the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Beat until smooth and fully incorporated. Set aside.
When the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead a few times to punch out the air, then roll out into a large rectangle, approximately 12″x24″ (the original recipe calls for an 8″x20″ rectangle and we didn’t really measure ours but it was definitely larger than that). Using an offset spatula or a flexible rubber spatula, spread the butter-sugar-and-spice filling mixture evenly over the dough, all the way to the edges. Fold the dough in thirds the long way, then roll a few times to make sure all the layers stick together. Slice the dough vertically into 3/4″ wide strips.
Working with one strip at a time, twist the dough: hold onto the base with your left pointer and middle finger, while using your right hand to twist the dough away from you, then cross the dough your left-hand fingers, wrap it around in a snail-shell shape, and tuck the end underneath.*
Place the buns on a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet and let rest 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit. Right before putting the buns in the oven, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake until lightly golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.
*A note on shaping: this method is a little difficult to describe in writing, but not actually that hard to execute. We found this video from cookbook author Brontë Aurell very helpful!
The Wordy Baker 