Tim’s Iceland Cinnamon Roll Recipe
This is one of the finished cinnamon rolls I made. Copyright 2026 Tim Carter
Tim's Iceland Cinnamon Roll Recipe
I traveled to Iceland in the middle of October, 2026. One of the first foods I ate was a delicious low-sugar cinnamon roll.
I decided to try to replicate them once back home. My grandfather was a baker and I knew he'd help me from Heaven.
I went to Grok.com and asked:
I bought some large cinnamon rolls in Iceland. They were delicious and didn't have too much sugar. Can you suggest a great simple recipe to re-create them?
Tim, I’d start with kanilsnúðar—Icelandic cinnamon rolls—and make a lightly sweetened version without icing. Iceland has several styles, from soft yeast buns to smaller, crispier rolls, so this is a practical starting point rather than a claim to match your bakery’s exact recipe.
Simple, not-too-sweet Icelandic-style cinnamon rolls
This is my lower-sugar adaptation of a milk-and-butter Icelandic-style recipe, with optional cardamom and a modest cinnamon-sugar filling. The original uses the same basic dough ingredients and offers cardamom as an optional spice.
Makes: 8 large rolls
Time: About 3 hours, mostly rising
Ingredients
For the dough:
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk, lukewarm—not hot
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast (one standard packet)
3 tablespoons (38 g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, softened
3½ cups (420 g) all-purpose flour, plus a little for shaping
1 teaspoon fine salt
½ teaspoon ground cardamom, optional
For the filling:
3 tablespoons (43 g) unsalted butter, very soft
¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Small pinch of salt
For finishing:
A little milk for brushing
No icing or extra sugar
Method
Mix the dough. Stir together the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and optional cardamom in a large bowl. Add the milk, egg, and softened butter. Mix until a shaggy dough forms.
Knead. Knead by hand for 8–10 minutes, or with a dough hook for 5–7 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It should feel soft and slightly tacky. Add extra flour only a tablespoon at a time if it is too sticky to handle.
Let rise. Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and leave in a comfortably warm spot until roughly doubled, about 1–1½ hours. Let the dough’s appearance guide you rather than the clock.
Fill and roll. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 × 16 inches. Spread with the filling butter. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt, then sprinkle evenly over the butter.
Cut into 8 rolls. Starting with a 16-inch edge, roll into a log. Cut into eight equal pieces, each about 2 inches thick. Place cut-side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches between them. Gently flatten each roll a little with your palm for a wider shape.
Let rise again. Cover loosely and leave for 35–60 minutes, until visibly puffy. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 375°F (190°C), conventional setting.
Bake. Brush the tops lightly with milk. Bake for 18–23 minutes, until golden and the center dough looks baked rather than wet. Check early; loosely cover with foil if they brown too quickly.
Rest briefly. Let cool for about 10 minutes before eating.
How I’d tune them to your Iceland memory
For the first batch, I’d keep the cardamom subtle and skip any glaze. This version contains 88 g of added sugar across eight large rolls—about 11 g per roll, excluding the milk’s naturally occurring sugar—so you have a clear starting point for adjusting sweetness.
The wide shape is deliberate: one Icelandic-style recipe describes traditional rolls as flatter and wider, although bakery styles vary. If yours were tall and pillowy instead, don’t flatten them; bake them closer together in a greased 9 × 13-inch pan, allowing a few extra minutes as needed.
Tim built custom homes and did ultra-custom remodeling for 20+ years before launching his Ask the Builder media presence. He was selected as one of the Big 50 by Remodeling magazine in 1993. This award gave birth to Ask the Builder in October 1993. Tim also operates https://DrawPlumbingPlans.com. His @askthebuilder YouTube channel was the first home improvement channel on YouTube.