Cinnamon Snurrs

 

Snurr´ adj. 1 rotating, whirling motion. 2 snarl, tangle. 3 curl, frill. 4 one who is mildly intoxicated, high. 

Snur`re v. 1 buzz, hum, whirr. 2 revolve rotate, spin, twirl, whirl, twist.

Also: Snur´re/bart n.  an elaborate mustache. 

Snu´rre/bass n. top, whirligig, dreidel. 

BIBBI SNURR n. duvet cover set from IKEA.

Kane´l/snurr´ n. delicious cinnamon bun of Norwegian origin (see photo above).

 

Last night, while my husband sat down with a single malt and Lasse dreamt of another fun-filled day of destroying my organized bookcase and eating three-day old crumbs off of the floor, I was in the kitchen sweating.

Now, I’ve spent many a night sweating in the kitchen, but those were all in the Twin Cities, probably in July or August,  with maximum humidity and no air conditioning. Early January in Norway is generally not the time to sweat indoors unless you’re without one thing. A KitchenAid.

KitchenAid mixers are generally one of those big item appliances that people either get as a wedding shower gift or Christmas present. They’re expensive, but really quite worth all the money since they’re very good quality, multi-purpose, and look undeniably attractive on any kitchen counter. Here, in Norway, not many people have a Kitchenaid. The main reason? They’re REALLY expensive.  Like “should I eat something other than oatmeal for dinner this month or buy a KitchenAid?” expensive.

 

Thus, when I dove into my late night cinnamon snurr baking project last night, I had no machine to assist in my 30 minutes of dough kneading. Poor me. Poor my gimp left wrist. Poor my 24-lbs. baby carrying back. But sweat and struggle one must when delicious, sweet, buttery cinnamon snurrs are desired.

 

This is a recipe from the best Norwegian cookbook of 2009. It’s written by a man by the name of Morton Schakenda, who runs the Bakeriet i Lom, the most fantastic, dreamlike bakery in all of Norway. It’s true, I gush, but with good reason because this bakery, this recipe, some other buns, and everything else I’ve made out of “Norway’s best cookbook of 2009” are worth gushing about. And these twisted, cinnamon-strewn rolls are certainly worth sweating for. Maybe you’ll think so too.

 

By the way, if there are any wealthy/generous readers out there,  one of these would look fantastic on my kitchen counter and would save me a lot of energy in my baking future. That's right, in robbins egg blue. 

*recipe sent to yeastspotting 

Cinnamon Snurrs (Norwegian twisted cinnamon rolls)

Kanelsnurrer

Recipe from Morton Schakenda’s Om Boller, Brød og Tilfeldigheter fra Bakeriet i Lom

*Makes 16 large or 2-dozen small rolls

 

For the dough:

About 7 cups (1 kg) all-purpose flour

2 cups (1/2 liter) whole milk

3/4 cup (150 g) sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon (15 g) salt

1 Tablespoon (15 g) cardamom (*I used a 50-50 blend of cardamom and cinnamon)

1 large egg

1 3/4 oz (50 g) fresh yeast OR 2 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

5 oz (10 Tbsp/150 g) butter, cut into small pieces (*grating chilled butter with a box grater works well)

 

For the filling:

4 1/2 oz (9 Tbsp/125 g) softened butter

2/3 cup (125 g) sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

+one egg for brushing before baking and a little extra sugar for sprinkling

 

1. Using a standing kitchen mixer (or a large mixing bowl, a good wooden spoon, and a lot of muscle), dump in all of the dough ingredients EXCEPT FOR the butter and mix well until everything comes together. ***If using active dry yeast instead of fresh yeast, consider proofing your yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm milk (250 ml) first, then continue with the recipe as normal, remembering to add the remaining 1 cup (250 ml) of milk later on. 7 cups of flour should be about the right amount, but depending on the type of flour you are using, you may need to add a another 1/4-1/2 cup or so to keep the dough workable (ie: not too sticky). If using a kitchen machine, allow the machine to knead the dough for about 10 minutes- if making dough by hand flour a clean working surface, dump the dough out and knead for about 15 minutes.
2. Add the chilled butter pieces, little by little, and knead them into the dough for 10-15 minutes. Make sure all of the butter is worked completely into the dough. Place the dough in a greased, large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until roughly doubled, about 1 1/2 hours (I set my dough in the refrigerator and allowed it to rise overnight, about 10 hours).
3. Once the dough is fully risen, flour a large work surface and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a large 15” x 20” (40 cm x 50 cm) rectangle (*see photo). Using a spatula or pastry brush (or even your hands!), smear the softened butter over the entire surface of dough. Over this, sprinkle the sugar then  cinnamon evenly and gently press into the dough with your fingertips.
4. Lengthwise, fold 1/3 of the dough up towards the center, then fold the last third down over the portion of dough that has been doubled (*see photo). You know have three layers of dough. With the rolling pin, roll this out to a rectangle about 12” x 20 “(30cm x 50 cm), then with a knife, cut this into 16- 24 long strips (*see photo).
5. To form the snurrs (twists), take each strip and twist tightly (*see photo). Then, wrap this around the tips of your index and middle finger three times and bring the ends across to the opposite side and tuck under (*see photo). It can be a little tricky making the twists on the first attempt (or even second, third, or twentieth), but as long as they are twisted and formed into some sort of a bun, they’ll turn out fine and certainly taste fine.
6. Place each snurr on a baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap to rise for about one hour. Preheat your oven to 350F/175C, brush the tops of each snurr with a whisked egg and sprinkle with a little extra sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes, until they become a deep golden brown. Best while still warm, although they’ll keep for a day or two at room temp, freeze any that you plan to keep long than that.

Comments

[lisakjellerød]

These look amazing! If anyone deserves a kitchen Aid then it's you! (thanks for your supportive comments on my blog re: language learning, you are of course, quite right!)

[Rebecca]

They look divine! Methinks I go me a project for this week. I've been without baking mojo recently, and this looks like the perfect thing to perk me up a bit.

p.s. I second that you deserve that Kitchenaid, any women with not only the determination, but the muscle to tackle that much kneading should immediately be issued with one as a reward.

[Jen S.]

Those look awesome. And I bow to your dedication to kneading. I will use my Kitchenaid to make these. And, if I win the lottery, I will send you a Kitchenaid right away.

[Ellen]

These look incredibly impressive. If they taste half as good as they look, you have a major hit on your hands. I am a bit intimidated, but I'd love to give them a whirl. Do they function best as brunch? Dessert? Other?

[Molly]

Wow! Those look so amazing. I was really hoping for a bulging bicep photo at the end. Which color Kitchenaid mixer would you get? I found a pewter colored one at a thrift store (score of a lifetime!) but if I had my choice I'd get an orange one.

[Siri]

Lisa, Rebecca, and Jen- Thanks for your support. It's good to know that someone thinks I'm worthy of such a machine.

Ellen- I have faith in your abilities. Anyone who has made bread before (and I know you have) can make these. The tricky part is twisting and forming them, which, actually isn't all that important to do correctly since they almost look their best a bit lopsided and goofy. They're a multi-occasion bun, but I think they function best as a brunch or mid-afternoon snack with coffee.

Molly- sorry to disappoint. I must be too modest to take photos of my biceps (not going to deny that I have them though, thanks to a certain heavy lump of a boy attached to my hip most of the day). Orange and the other bright colors are nice, but I'm a sucker for the retro colors- mint green and robbin's egg blue (which they now call "ice").

[sassy molassy]

THese are pretty cool looking snurrs. I'll have to try my hand at them sometime. Can you also add other things in them like you would with a scone?

And, I was a lucky recipient of a Kitchenaid this Christmas. It wasn't even on my list, but you better believe I was totally shocked when I opened it up. Now I must get to work on using the thing.

[Heather]

But what does "snurr" mean!!!!!!
Save me one.

[Siri]

Lauren- you could probably pop some raisins into the filling if you want, but I think they're best the way they are. And what's this about receiving a KitchenAid without even asking Santa for one? L.U.C.K.Y.

Heather Darling- "Snurr" means "whirling" or "curled/curly", although it could also refer to someone who is mildly intoxicated or an odd duck. My other favorite "snurr" word (other than these little cuties, of course) is "snurrebass"- a little kid's top/dreidel.

[D. @ Outside Oslo]

Those sound great. Good work, going through all that effort. I seriously don't know what I'd do without my mixer. While baking a cake recently, I decided to beat the egg whites by hand with a whisk, and I'm not so sure I even want to try that again anytime soon.

Anyway, have you heard anything about that book ever being made available here in the States? Or should we keep reading your blog for the best from the best book of 2009?

[Susan]

Delicious! Thank you for working so hard so we can all enjoy these vicariously!

[kaylovesvintage]

looks yummy

guess I will go on holidays this summer , the food and vintage looks wonderful

[et]

I baked these every day for years for a cafe. No need to knead for 30 mins. 10 is fine.

[Chris]

These look amazing! I think I'll make them this afternoon instead of going out in the snow.

[Mihl]

De ser veldig pent ut - og deilig. I'm going to try these soon.

[Siri]

D- I don't believe the book's been published in English, although it really should be. I've even had a hard time finding information about it or Bakeriet i Lom on the web in Norwegian, strangely enough.

Susan and Kay- Thanks!

Et- Which cafe did you used to work at? Was it a Norwegian one? I was also a bit skeptical of the recipe when it called for such a long kneading time, but I've become a bit of a follower of Morton Schakenda who runs Bakeriet i Lom and his theory is that it's impossible to knead TOO MUCH by hand. I think all professional bakeries and most serious home bakers use some sort of a kitchen mixer to do the hard work and that obviously is a lot more efficient and thorough than my two hands. That being said, it might be worth taking your recommendation next time I make these and cut the kneading time down by half to see if there really is a difference. Thanks for the comment!

Chris- Maybe try making them before going out in the snow so that you can snack on one or two when you come back in?

[Chris]

I just finished baking them - I made some slight alterations to the recipe. The most notable being that I made a quick compound butter with the zest of one orange and used that as the spread (with the cinnamon and sugar as the recipe called for). Then, when they were done, I made an orange buttercream glaze.

I may have found a new addiction. I'll do a blog post with photos on it later (I'll be linking directly to your recipe as I followed it pretty much as it was written)...thanks again for posting this. I'm addicted.

[Kristiina]

If using Active dry yeast, should it not be proofed first?
Thanks for the recipe... Can't wait to try it!

[Siri]

Chris- What a great idea with the orange glaze. Cinnamon and orange are a really nice combination that's not used often enough. Quick question though, I see that your blog is vegan-focused. Did you still use milk, egg, and butter in the recipe?

Kristiina- You're right, you should proof the yeast (I'll adjust the recipe above). Although, to tell you the truth, I rarely do proof my yeast anymore. If you go through the yeast in your cupboard quick enough, you will SELDOM get a bad batch. Kind of like buying a corked bottle of wine, I think- it almost never happens. That being said, it doesn't take too much extra time or energy to proof your yeast, so for the sake of not wasting the other ingredients, it's a good idea. Thanks for the comment/suggestion.

[Chris]

Ummm...I'm not sure where you got the idea that my blog is vegan. It's most assuredly not - the recipe after the snurrs is a meatball one. So, yeah, I used milk, eggs and butter in the recipe. Apologies for any confusion.

[Siri]

Chris- Hi again. I think I've solved the mystery. It turns out I mixed you up with the person who posted a comment directly after you! Sorry about that. I had checked out your site too and was VERY intrigued by the chinese meatballs you mentioned (we love meatballs of ANY kind in our house). Great job on your snurrs (and just so you know, that's sort of an Americanized name for them. In Norwegian, it would be snurrer (the "er" at the end makes it plural- much prettier sounding than snurrs, I think).

[Chris]

No worries. As far as the Chinese meatballs are concerned, in the coming weeks, I'm going to try to make a simple beef or chicken broth with some mushrooms, shallots, sesame oil, and rice noodles (among other things, I'm still formulating what I want to put in it).

[Marla]

Whoa! This looks delicious! Thank you for sharing

[Katiebro]

Hi Siri - have you ever tried freezing these before baking them? Or would you bake them first, then freeze them? I'd like to make them a day ahead but also want to serve them a little warm. They look amazing!

[Siri]

Katie- Do make these! I haven't tried freezing them BEFORE baking, I've never had good luck with that method when making other yeasted breads. I have, however, frozen them AFTER baking and they taste just as good as fresh (maybe even better?!). There's something so satisfying about effortlessly sitting down to a really good homemade pastry without having lifted a finger in the kitchen that day.