You haven’t had a cinnamon roll until you’ve tried the Icelandic ones from Brauð & Co in Reykjavik – this is their recipe!
So, I thought that I knew about cinnamon rolls. I mean, I’ve made them plenty. But oh, how I was mistaken. I had no idea that cinnamon rolls could be improved upon until I went to Iceland.
You’re probably wondering what the difference is between a regular cinnamon roll and an Icelandic one. Well, the Icelandic ones are much flatter and less pillowy than their American counterparts. Also, the American ones are usually covered in a cream cheese frosting, whereas the Icelandic versions are sprinkled with a little bit of powdered sugar. Finally, the filling in the Icelandic version uses marizipan, so there is a bit of almond flavor.
When we went to Reykjavik for spring break, we stayed in an AirBNB downtown. It also happened to be right across the street from the city’s best bakery, Brauð & Co. Every morning, we would go there with our eyes wide open and with an empty stomach. And every day, we would order one of these cinnamon rolls (they also have different versions of this, including a maple pecan one that was to die for… and I’m not a pecan person!).
Don’t be afraid with the crazy amounts of yeast in this recipe. I was shocked to see 8 teaspoons of it, but it works. I also decreased the amount of cinnamon, but only because I ran out! The filling calls for a lot of marzipan, but I only used one package of it, so I was a bit short on the marzipan in my version here.
My cinnamon rolls didn’t puff up as much as I wanted them to (I let them proof for 3 hours before I attempted to bake them), but perhaps I smushed them a little too much as I was preparing them. I also needed to do a better job tucking the ends under before proofing because a few of my cinnamon rolls unraveled during baking (causing a mess on my baking tray).
Nevertheless, they still tasted good, even if they were a bit denser than I expected. I’ll definitely try baking these again and seeing if I can improve upon them for next time!
Husband’s rating: 4 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4 out of 5
My rating: 4 out of 5
Icelandic cinnamon rolls (Snúður) from Brauð & Co
Ingredients
Dough
- 750 grams '00' flour I used pastry flour
- 10 grams salt
- 112 grams granulated sugar
- 112 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 23 grams yeast I used 8 and ¼ teaspoons of instant yeast
- 1 small egg I used 1 large egg
- 315 grams water hot
Filling
- 250 grams granulated sugar
- 250 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 250 grams marzipan
- 75 grams ground cinnamon I used about 50 grams because I ran out
Instructions
Make the dough
- In a large measuring cup, add the yeast to the water. Let it sit for about 3-4 minutes until frothy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix together the flour salt, sugar, egg, and the butter on medium low speed. Slowly stream in the yeast mixture and mix on medium low speed for about 4 minutes. Turn the mixer to medium high and mix for another 4-5 minutes or until you achieve a smooth dough.
- Take the dough out of the mixer and shape into a ball with your hands. Place this into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Transfer this to your refrigerator for 24 hours.
Make the filling
- While the dough is chilling, make the filling.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer (or if mixing by hand), mix the marzipan and sugar together on medium speed until well incorporated.
- Add the butter, one cube at a time. Then add the cinnamon and mix well until the filling is uniform. The filling should be smooth and creamy.
- Cover with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter overnight until ready to use. You want the filling to be room temperature when using, so do not refrigerate this.
Make the cinnamon rolls
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough so it is about 2 millimeters thick. It should be about 50cm wide.
- Spread the cinnamon mixture on top of the dough, making sure to leave a little bit around the edges so it doesn't squeeze out when you roll the dough.
- Starting at the long end, roll the dough away from you to form a very tight spiral. Using a bench scraper or sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 equal pieces (I cut off the ends so I wouldn't have any pieces that looked weird).
- Tuck the end pieces underneath and gently push down on the rolls to flatten them a bit.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another 2-3 hours.
- Turn your oven on to 210℃ (that's 410℉). Brush the tops of the buns with an egg wash and then sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 10-11 minutes or until the buns are golden in color.
- Allow the rolls to cool before serving.
- If desired, you can serve with extra powdered sugar or even a drizzle of honey.
Next, go to Sweden and try semla (plural semlor)! They used to be available only on fat Tuesday, now I think they are on offer half the year!
Author
That sounds tempting, George! 🙂
Brauð & Co publishes their cinnamon roll recipe on their own website, and while the recipe published above is very close, it gets a few important things very wrong.
1. Original recipe calls for “room temperature” water, not “hot” water. If your water is above 130°F/ 55°C you will kill your yeast.
2. Original recipe directs to wait for “at least 5 minutes” for the yeast water to get frothy. In practice, more like 10–15 minutes (and maybe consider adding a teaspoon of sugar). “3–4 minutes,” as requested above, isn’t long enough.
3. Original recipe calls for 200 g each of butter, sugar, and marzipan for the filling. The recipe you’ve published above has you making +25% extra, and it’s way too much.
4. Original recipe calls for only 10–15 g of cinnamon. The recipe you’ve published above asks for 75 g of cinnamon, which is way, way too much!
5. Original recipe has information about making the egg wash (2 small eggs, 2 tablespoons milk), which is absent here.
Original recipe here:
https://www.braudogco.is/en-gb/kanilsn%C3%BA%C3%B0auppskriftin-okkar
Author
Thank you – the recipe I used is from their official Instagram account but I’m glad they also published it on their website!
Chiming in here to clarify also, the 24 grams of yeast is for fresh yeast (so about 8g dried yeast, which is about 1 packet). Also they updated the recipe since they posted it on their instagram, including updating the cinnamon amount.