By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 14, 2026
180 min
Skillingsboller - Norwegian Cinnamon Buns
Recipe GLPR4236d796f659ad
Traditional Norwegian cinnamon buns with warm spices and a tender, buttery crumb. These fragrant pastries combine cardamom and cinnamon in a soft dough, topped with pearl sugar for a delicate crunch. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon treat.
Save recipes you love
Create a free Grocery List Plus account to save recipes, rate them, and add every ingredient to your grocery list in one tap.
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ cups whole milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
4¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
raisins (optional)
pearl sugar or granulated sugar for topping (optional)
Directions
Warm the milk to about 110°F (43°C). In a large bowl, whisk together the warm milk, 0.5 cup of the sugar, and the instant yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes until foamy.
Add 1 stick of the softened butter and the ground cardamom to the yeast mixture. Stir until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Once risen, punch down the dough and turn it out onto a floured surface. Roll it into a 16 x 12-inch rectangle.
In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 1 stick of softened butter, the remaining 0.5 cup sugar, and the ground cinnamon until well combined.
Spread the cinnamon-butter mixture evenly over the dough rectangle. If desired, sprinkle raisins over the filling.
Starting from the long side, roll the dough tightly into a log. Cut the log into 30 equal pieces, each about 1 inch wide.
Place the rolls on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 45-60 minutes, until puffy and nearly doubled.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). If desired, brush the tops of the rolls with water and sprinkle pearl sugar or granulated sugar over each bun.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before serving.
Comments
Skillingsboller demands three hours mostly because the dough needs two long rises, though active hands-on time is under thirty minutes—budget the full afternoon if you want fresh buns for dinner. All ingredients are standard supermarket stock at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, or Walmart, though pearl sugar requires a deliberate hunt; ALDI and Kroger may have it in their baking aisle, or you'll make a single stop at Harris Teeter's international section. The cost per serving is low—butter, milk, and sugar dominate, totaling perhaps seventy cents a bun—making it genuinely economical. The buns reheat perfectly the next day in a low oven, and they freeze beautifully, so a batch feeds multiple meals; the real win is that cardamom and cinnamon echo Southern holiday baking, landing differently here than a generic Nordic recipe might in another region.
Sign in or create a free account to add your review.
