The Cilantropist: Kanelbullar

Doesn't this look like the perfect weekend breakfast? Warm cinnamon and sugar rolls, straight out of the oven, a little bit of sweet fruit, and a warm cup of coffee... All enjoyed while relaxing in your pajamas with the morning paper or your favorite magazine. Yes, that is my idea of a perfect weekend breakfast. Of course, I would like these butterhorns any day for breakfast, but I find the weekends allow for the time needed to savor a simple European sweet bread such as this.

Swedish Cinnamon Butterhorns, or Kanelbullar, are the Scandinavian equivalent of the American cinnamon roll. Translated, Kanelbullar literally means cinnamon (kanel) bun (bullar or bulle), and it is an appropriate name since these are delicately spiced with cinnamon and less sweet than their American cousins. These breads can be shaped in a spiral like a traditional cinnamon roll, or in a crescent like the ones I have here. While almost all American cinnamon rolls are topped with a sticky sweet glaze, Kanelbullar can stand on its own or it can be dressed up with a little powdered sugar or a traditional glaze.

I first made these rolls almost four years ago now, when I decided that I would impress my Norwegian boyfriend with my baking prowess. (Not that I had a lot of baking prowess four years ago, I think I was blinded by love.) He was returning home from a summer trip to Norway, and I wanted to surprise him with something I knew he would appreciate so I headed to the library and checked out The Great Scandinavian Baking Book. I figured if an authentic recipe was to be had, I would find it there.

Of course, when I paged through the cookbook, the problem ended up being that I found too many great recipes and had trouble choosing! I finally landed on these Kanelbullar which seemed easy to make and didn't have any bells or whistles to trip me up. I got it right on the first try, and when my boyfriend arrived from the airport he promptly ate four of them. I suppose that means they got the seal of approval.