This is a recipe for a traditional Danish cinnamon twist which we in Denmark call Kanelstang – directly translated Kanelstang means cinnamon rod. A Kanelstang is a famous, old and very traditional part of the Danish pastry cuisine and can be bought in most bakeries and some super markets in Denmark. They are typically served together with a cup of coffee or sometimes as “dessert” after breakfast. Most people buy the cinnamon twists from the bakeries which actually are pretty good. However, making your homemade Kanelstang is actually relatively easy and it taste delicious – especially the smell, when the cinnamon twist is in the oven, is wonderful.
A cinnamon twist is actually pretty similar to a cinnamon bun – a cinnamon twist is just larger, elongated and has two types of filling, vanilla cream and cinnamon filling. A cinnamon twist is just wonderful! Serve the cinnamon twist together with a cup of coffee, tea or some homemade hot cocoa.
This recipe gives you two cinnamon twists – if you cannot eat them both you can put one in the freezer, and then reheat it later. This way you always have something delicious to serve when having unexpected guests.
Danish Cinnamon Twist (Kanelstang)
Size: 2 cinnamon twists
Preparation time: 2 hours
Danish title: Kanelstang
Cuisine: Danish
Ingredients:
Dough:
50 g (2 oz) yeast
3 dl (1 1/4 cups) milk
2 eggs
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cardamom
500 g (18 oz) all-purpose flour
Vanilla Cream:
1 portion vanilla cream
Filling:
200 g (7 oz) butter, soft
200 g (7 oz) brown sugar
4 tbsp ground cinnamon
Decoration:
1 egg, beaten
some sugar icing
100 g (4 oz) chopped hazelnuts
Instructions:
Vanilla Cream:
1. Start by making a portion of vanilla cream. You can use the powder vanilla cream from the super market which only needs to be mixed with milk. However, we strongly recommend to make your own and homemade vanilla cream. You can follow our recipe for vanilla cream which is super easy. You can find the recipe on our blog.
Dough:
2. Warm the milk and pour it in a large bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk.
3. In the milk; add sugar, salt, cardamom, and the eggs. Stir well.
4. Add the flour stepwise and knead well. Continue adding flour until the dough does not stick to your fingers anymore. The same applied to dough mixed using a stand mixer.
5. Cover the bowl with a clean dishcloth and set aside some place warm. Let it rise for about 30 minutes.
Filling:
6. While the dough is rising; In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the filling. Set aside.
The Danish Cinnamon Twist (Kanelstang):
7. Knead the risen dough a little and divide it into two equally sized pieces.
8. Using a rolling pin; roll out the two dough pieces into two rectangles (35×45 cm – 14×18 inch).
9. Equally distribute the filling and the vanilla cream on the two rectangles. Start with the filling.
10. Roll the dough together into two logs.
11. Use a pair of scissors; snip half way through the logs and fold the dough to one side. Continue snipping and folding the dough with a distances between each snip of about 2 cm (3/4 inch). See the picture in this recipe for better understanding.
12. Beat an egg and brush the cinnamon twists with it. Sprinkle the twists with chopped hazelnuts.
13. Bake the twists for about 20 minutes at 200 C (400 F). We prefer baking them one-by-one.
14. When the twists are baked and cooled off; decorate them with icing.
Hello!
I just made your recipe for Kanelstang for my Danish partner Helle.. They are cooling now and they look just beautiful!
Thank you so much for having all these recipes available to everyone online.
Here are some additions for your recipe to make it easier for folks in the USA to follow (I don’t have a baking scale)
18oz flour = 4 Cups of flour
50 grams yeast = Three 1/4 oz packs of active dry yeast (we don’t have yeast in the cold section of the grocery store)
200 g of brown sugar = 1 Cup of brown sugar
Also, I found the baking time to be a little too long. I baked the first one for 20 mins and it is a little overcooked. I baked the second one for 15 minutes at 400*F and it looks just right. We will try a few bites without the icing first, as my partner says she never had it with icing before.
You ladies don’t have a great recipe for Danish handwerker rolls do you???
Thanks again!
Fabulous website……:)
Susan
Hi Susan,
I am so happy that you could use the recipe. I would love a piece of this cake right now :-) Thanks for your help in converting to cups.
Actually Kim is my boyfriend.. :-) It is a common Danish name for a guy, and not a girl.
I am not quite sure what you mean by handwerker rolls – is it what we also call ‘rundstykker’? You can try this recipe: https://nordicfoodliving.com/danish-breakfast-buns-rundstykker/
500 grams or 18 oz equals 2 cups 2 oz
Not 4 cups
I’m not sure what ingredient you are referring to?
I think she is referring to the flour. 1 cup is indeed 8 ounces of volume and 2 cups 2 oz is the same as 18 ounces of liquid (volume) measure. In this case the 500g four is a easure of weight, not volume. So 500g of all purpose flour is about the same as 4 cups in weight.
I love cinnamon twists.
Yes I also love them :-) Regards Kim
Hej Kim,
Dejlig blog du har her og jeg følger også lige med i hvad der kommer af opskrifter. Jeg kan rigtig godt lide dine movies, er det billeder som du har sat sammen til en film?
MVH Gitte
Hej Gitte
Tak :-)
Ja det er en række af billeder, der er sat sammen til en .gif fil. Det er rimeligt simpelt at lave. Vh Kim
Just made and they are beautiful. My only question is that a lot of the filling seemed to spill out onto the pan during the baking process. I’m a newbie so I could have easily formed the roll improperly. Any idea what happened or if this is normal?
Hi Abby. It is normal that some of the filling will spill out during the baking process. It is very difficult to avoid this.
Shouldn’t there be a second proof after slicing?
Hi. It shouldn’t be necessary to have a second proof after slicing. However, you can let it proof for about 30 minutes after slicing if you prefer a little more airy final result
Hi, I am a little confused at the amount of yeast, it seems like a heck of a lot, compared to putting just one 8g packet in a large loaf of bread, unless this is for sure then awesome!
Also the flour. Is it 2 cups or 4 cups?
I am from Canada, and we seem to gravitate towards using the cups and teaspoons system, but then switch to mL and grams.
I was wondering if anyone can tell me how much yeast in teaspoons?
Thanks!
Hi. I understand that it can be a little confusing. The correct amount of fresh yeast is 50 g (about 2 Oz) which is quite normal for this type of ‘bread’. The rye bread recipes I have is a different store.
I always try to give the amount of flour in grams and ounces as this gives the most precise result. Converting 500 grams of flour to cups gives about 4 cups. I hope this helps you :-)
Thank you! This helps! forgot about how we use dry yeast more here in Canada rather than fresh yeast.
Thanks!
Hi Kim: ;I just; made your Kanelstang recipe for the third time, and have tried variations on your recipe’ again! It’s a great recipe’, and the flavor of the finished product is always superb. I had some trouble with getting the vanilla creme the right texture, and finally cooked it until it was a very thick custard; I then had no trouble with ‘spilling filling’. It stayed put! I let the dough proof overnight in the fridge, and ground cardamom seeds myself. The dough was redolent with wonderful.fragrance in the morning. I added both walnuts & pecans to the interior of the mix, and sliced the ‘logs’ in to individual buns. I proofed these for 45 mins or so, and baked them in a glass baking dish at 365 F. I didn’t bother with an egg glaze or a final drizzle on top…,seemed like gilding the lily! The final product is delicious, and still tastes like the ones I found in the good bakeries of Copenhagen! Success to you, and keep smiling!
I’m happy that you enjoy the recipe. :-) It’s also one of my favorite