If you haven’t heard of hygge (pronounced “hoo-ga”) yet, you have been missing out on a good thing. Hygge is a Swedish practice. If you ask me the rest of the world needs to get on this Swedish hygge bandwagon. I first ran into hygge through Pinterest. I would search for ‘cozy’ and I kept running into “25 ways to fill your life with Hygge” and finally, after trying it out, I started to realize that hygge is the magnificent thing I have been missing in my life.

Hygge has truly allowed for me get to know myself. Many people enjoy hygge regularly and don’t even know it. For example, if you have ever enjoyed a nice warm cup of coffee with a couple of candles on a cold or rainy day, then you have experienced the essence of hygge. Hygge is about all things cozy, and is commonly practiced by Scandis during the cold seasons. Not to say that you can’t practice hygge any other time! Hygge is all about closeness, warmth, and coming together.

Now, the reason I’m rambling on and on about hygge is because part of hygge is treating yourself to comforting food, like a delicious pastry. Now this also opens the door for conversation about fika (also a Swedish thing). Now in Sweden people take a fika break for coffee and a bite (a pastry, really). This delicious Kanelbullar recipe is a take on a traditional cinnamon roll from Sweden.

First, let’s start with making our dough.

Once you have allowed for the dough to rise, you will want to roll it out like a rectangle and then spread the filling.

Now, fold the dough and create a tri-fold. You will want to lightly roll out the dough to allow the folds to adhere to each other.

Next, you will want to run a knife or a pizza cutter through the dough vertically to make strips. About 9 to 10 strips will come out of this dough.

ATTENTION!! This part is important!!! For the shaping of the buns, you want to take a strip of dough and lightly roll it out to make it longer. Be careful to not let the filling spill out.

Next, you will take one end of the dough and hold the other end. You will want to roll the dough to create a twist. (See below)

You can roll the dough with the palm of your hand. (See below)

Press super lightly! You don’t want the filling to seep out.

Keep rolling until you have twisted the whole strip of dough…

…just like so!

It should look roughly like the picture above. Make sure to not break the dough or twist it too hard.

Once you have your fancy twist, you will want to roll the dough onto itself to make a bun.

Tuck the end of the dough under the cute little bun you made.

It should look just like this.

You can place the buns on a non-stick or greased cookie sheet.

Cover them and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

Don’t they look so pretty?

Before the buns go into the oven, coat them with a light egg wash.

Let them bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees F.

While the Kanelbullar bake, I had a cozy coffee photo shoot inspired by my week of hygge.

Honestly, I was trying to practice my photo taking skills. They need some work.

As you can tell, I couldn’t get the picture to be brighter…

…But I still thought the shoot was cozy. Thanks for helping me, Eric.

Back to the bunz! Look how yummy they look!

They are not done yet.

Coat them with warm maple syrup and add the traditional pearl sugar on top.

Don’t they look sooo good? No wonder I had three…

You can have them for breakfast, brunch, dessert, or whenever. Who cares? IT IS HYGGE. YOU CAN EAT IT WHENEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES.

I like having my Kanelbullar for my fika. Coffee and bunz.

Recipe re-adapted from Bronte Aurell

Kanelbullar ~ Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

Servings: 9 buns

Ingredients

• 1 packet of dry active yeast
• 1/2 cup of almond milk* (110 degrees F)
• 1/3 cup melted vegan butter*
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cane sugar (granulated sugar works too)
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 egg (left over egg will be used for egg wash)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons room temperature vegan butter*
• 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of warmed maple syrup
• Pearl sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

Add warm milk to stand mixer and sprinkle active dry yeast over milk. Let it bubble for about 10 minutes. Next, add in the melted butter and the sugar to the milk and mix.

In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, cardamom, and salt. Mix them well and add to the milk mixture with the dough hook attached. Mix for 2 minutes and then add the 1/4 egg. Continue to mix this until it forms into a dough ball and doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl.

Once the dough is mixed, cover with cling wrap and let it rise for 30 minutes. While you wait for the dough to rise, make the filling. Add all filling ingredients to a separate mixing bowl and just mix together with a spatula.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. If the dough is too sticky, you can sprinkle more flour and knead by hand until it comes together. Roll out the dough to a rectangle that is about 1/8 of inch thick.

Using the spatula, spread the mixture evenly on the rectangle. Next, fold the dough like a tri-fold. Lightly run your rolling pin over the dough to seal it together.

Next, run a knife or a pizza cutter through the dough vertically to make strips. About 9 to 10 strips will come out of this dough.

Take one strip of dough and twist it a few times. Next, curl the dough into a knot to form a bun. You can tuck the ends of the dough under the bun. Place them on a greased baking sheet or a non-stick baking sheet. Make sure to allow for space between each bun. Cover with a kitchen cloth and let the buns rise for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the buns with the remaining of the egg. Bake the buns for 12 minutes.

Once the buns come out, brush them with warmed maple syrup, and add the pearl sugar.

Store in a airtight container for up to 5 days.

*I use dairy-free products, but dairy products like whole milk and butter work well in this recipe.

Print – Download – Kanelbullar

 

Please let me know, by commenting below, what you guys think of this recipe. If you try it, let me know how it went. I hope you enjoy these just as much as I did. Happy Hygge!