Bake Cinnamon Buns – a Swedish Fika Favourite 🇸🇪

Few things capture the feeling of Swedish fika quite like the smell of freshly baked cinnamon buns. This is a classic, handwritten recipe, cleaned up but with the heart left intact. Grandma Jessie´s recipe is built on feeling rather than exact measurements. Just the way it should be. We believe she is the best cinnamon bun baker in the world!


Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

  • 50 g fresh yeast

  • 5 dl milk (lukewarm)

  • 100 g butter (melted or soft / lukewarm)

  • 1 dl sugar

  • ½ tsp salt

  • Approx. 16–17 dl wheat flour
    (or until the dough releases from the sides of the bowl and is no longer sticky)

Filling

  • Soft, room-temperature butter

  • Sugar

  • Cinnamon

For brushing

  • 1 egg

  • Pearl sugar


How to make buns:

Dough

  1. Crumble the yeast into a bowl.

  2. Heat the milk until lukewarm and dissolve the yeast in the milk.

  3. Add butter, sugar and salt.

  4. Gradually work in the flour until the dough:

    • releases from the sides of the bowl

    • is smooth and not sticky

  5. Knead the dough until soft and elastic.

First rise

  1. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes.


Shape the buns

  1. Roll out the dough.

  2. Spread with soft butter.

  3. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

  4. Roll up and slice into buns.

  5. Place the buns on a baking tray.

Second rise

  1. Let the buns rise on the tray for 30 minutes.


Brushing & baking

  1. Brush the buns with beaten egg.

  2. Sprinkle with pearl sugar.

  3. Bake at 250°C (480°F) until golden
    (keep an eye on them – the high temperature means they bake quickly).


Storage & serving

  • Cinnamon buns freeze very well.

  • Thaw at room temperature or gently reheat in the microwave.

  • Best served slightly warm, with coffee or tea and good company.


A little fika note 💛

This is a recipe where feeling the dough matters more than exact measurements. When the dough releases from the bowl and feels smooth, it’s ready.