Baking & hygge

Kanelsnegle

No Danish bakery would be complete without kanelsnegle: soft yeast dough with a hint of cardamom, a buttery filling of sugar and cinnamon and a thin glaze on top. Fresh from the oven, they are the essence of hygge.

Danish cinnamon swirl with icing on a white plate
Photo: Nillerdk / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
Preparation
30 min
Cooking/baking time
15 minplus 1 h 15 min resting time
Servings
about 16 pieces
Difficulty
Medium

Ingredients

Yeast dough

Filling

Glaze

Method

  1. Warm the milk until lukewarm and dissolve the yeast in it. Stir in the butter, sugar, egg, salt and cardamom.
  2. Gradually add the flour and knead everything into a soft, smooth dough. Cover and leave to rise for about 45 minutes until visibly larger.
  3. For the filling, beat the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until smooth.
  4. Roll the dough out into a rectangle of about 30 × 50 cm, spread the filling evenly over it and roll up from the long side.
  5. Cut the roll into slices about 3 cm wide, place them cut side up on a lined baking tray and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
  6. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C (conventional) for 12–15 minutes until golden.
  7. Mix the icing sugar and water into a thick glaze and drizzle over the cooled swirls.

The story behind the dish

In Denmark kanelsnegle come in countless variations, and many bakers give their swirls a personal touch. At the bakery, Danish snegle are often made with Danish pastry dough (wienerbrødsdej); at home a yeast dough like the one in this recipe is the simpler choice.

Enjoy it at Dansk Cottage

For us, a rainy day on Ærø is a baking day. While the dough rises there is time for a book by the fire – and in the end the whole cottage smells of cinnamon.

The cottage kitchen · Discover Søby · Experience Ærø

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In the mood for Denmark?

Dansk Cottage in Søby can be booked from spring 2027 – with a spacious kitchen for exactly this kind of dish.

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