Icelandic Cinnamon Buns (Snúður)

A Taste of Iceland

Iceland always has a special place in my heart. The landscape, the people and of course the food. Although Iceland is not a place people usually associate with vegan food, it is indeed not hard to find vegan food in Iceland at all. Read my vegan guide in Iceland if you are interested to find out more. If you’ve been to Iceland, chances are you have visited the famous bakery Brauð & Co for their cinnamon buns. And lucky for use vegans, they sometimes offer the vegan version as well. Ever since I tried their vegan Icelandic cinnamon buns, I have always wanted to recreate the recipe at home. Fortunately, they are kind enough to share the recipe of the non-vegan version on their Instagram. So what’s better than veganizing the recipe so I can have a taste of Iceland at home too?

Secret Ingredient

One of the secret ingredients that made their cinnamon buns so addictively delicious is the addition of marzipan in the filling. Usually, cinnamon buns fillings consist of sugar, butter and cinnamon. But in their recipe, they added marzipan in it too. I was a bit sceptical about it at first, but as soon as I tried the baked buns, I immediately knew why they added it. The marzipan gave the buns a slight nuttiness.

The Dough

For the dough, I tweaked my tangzhong milk bread recipe as I love the soft and fluffy texture of the dough and I think it will really goes well in cinnamon buns. Yudane method is the secret to make a soft and fluffy Japanese style bread. In order to bake using this method, you simply mix an equal portion of flour and boiling water. The effect of adding boiling water to flour is that it gelatinises the starch. The gelatinised starch will allow the starch to absorb more water, and thus enhancing the sweetness of the bread.

Yudane method is in fact similar to the Tangzhong method I used in my sourdough milk bread recipe. Unlike the 1:1 flour-to-water ratio in Yudane method, the Tangzhong mixture is made by heating up a mixture of flour and water in the ratio of 1:5 to 65°C.

Baking Schedule

8am: Mix dough
8:30am: First rise
9:30am: Roll out the dough. Spread the filling. Cut into buns. Cover and let it rest.
10:30am: BAKE!

Icelandic Cinnamon Buns (Snúður)

Recipe by Angie @ The Floral VeganCourse: SourdoughCuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

These Icelandic cinnamon buns are so soft and fluffy, with a hint of nuttiness and not overly sweet.

Ingredients

• Yudane

• 65g bread flour

• 65 boiling water

• Main Dough

• 260g bread flour

• 3g active dried yeast

• 28g sugar

• 3g salt

• 170g plant milk

• 30g vegan butter

• Fillings

• 50g sugar

• 125g vegan butter

• 125g marzipan

• 15g cinnamon

• “Egg” Wash

• 2 Tbsp agave syrup

• 2 Tbsp plant milk

Directions

• At least 4 hours before preparing the main dough, add 65g boiling water to 65g bread flour. Leave it aside to cool completely. You can also prepare it the night before, then place it in the fridge overnight and use it the next day.
• Place all of the ingredients (except butter) into the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the hook attachment, knead for about 3 minutes until the dough comes together and forms a dough ball.
• Gradually add in butter (in 2-3 batches). Continue knead for around 10 more minutes or until reach window pane stage. 
• Round the dough, cover and place it at a warm place. Let it rest for 1 hour. I place mine in the oven with the light on, around 82°F (28°C).
• To make the fillings, mix the ingredients in a small bowl.
• Using floured fingertips, flip the dough over, give it a nice pat to degas it a bit. Gently roll into a rectangle (around 16″ x 12″). If you find it hard to roll, let it rest for 5-10 minutes before trying to roll again.
  Gently spread the filling evenly on the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges.
• Again, using floured fingertips, carefully roll the short side of the dough. I find pressing it down while rolling makes it easier. Once you get to the end, roll the dough so that the seam side is facing down.
• Line a baking tray or in this case, I’m using a cast iron pan. Cut the dough into 8-10 rolls using a dental floss.
• Place the rolls on the pan, cover and let it rise for 3 more hours until almost doubled in size.
• Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in 3 tablespoons of water to make the “egg” wash.
• Preheat your oven to 180°C. Brush the rolls with “egg” wash. Bake them for around 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Recipe Video