Looking for where to buy cinnamon rolls? Here are the best cinnamon buns in the UK and where to buy them.
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Cinnamon buns are also known as cinnamon rolls and kannelbullen, and in Denmark they are even called Kanelsnegl; 'cinnamon snail’. These sweet dough spirals are layered and sprinkled with cinnamon to make a popular teatime ('fika' in Swedish) snack or breakfast treat. We also love cardamom buns, which many of the places below also sell.
From Swedish cinnamon bun makers who have opened up cafés across London, to traditional buns in Yorkshire and cinnamon treats in the South West, our cinnamon rolls UK spots make the best in the country.
Every year on 4 October the Swedes celebrate Cinnamon Bun Day (or kannelbullensdag, if you prefer), but we eat them all year round.
Here's our best cinnamon bun recipe to try at home
Ole & Steen, London
Celebrate Cinnamon Bun Day in style with a cinnamon social from this popular Danish bakery. The long, squidgy plait of dough is laced with cinnamon and vanilla custard. It's designed for sharing, but you can also grab a slice for yourself in-store in case your mates prefer the chocolate, almond or marzipan variety. oleandsteen.co.uk
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Fabrique, London
We think these could be the best cinnamon buns in the UK. Whether cinnamon or cardamom is your bun of choice, Fabrique Bakery is a great place to enjoy a spot of fika. This Swedish stone-oven bakery originated in Stockholm and has brought its Swedish expertise to London, plying in-the-know citizens with squidgy buns and sourdough fresh from the oven. The original Fabrique Bakery is on Geffrye Street next to Hoxton overground station, where the bakery still lies, but due to popular demand branches have opened up in Covent Garden, Notting Hill and Fitzrovia so West Londoners can get in on the cinnamon bun action. fabrique.co.uk
Baltzersens, Harrogate
For us at olive no journey to God’s Own Country is now complete without a trip to Balterzens (or, if we’re lucky, its dinnertime counterpart, Norse, full review here). The Nordic inspired menus here prove that Scandi cooking doesn’t have to mean stodgy, with exquisitely presented trays of freshly baked cinnamon buns laid out at the coffee counter every morning alongside sultanaboller (sultana buns), skolebrod (cardamom buns dotted with custard and sprinkled with coconut) and all manner of other treats. baltzersens.co.uk
The Pudding Stop, St Albans
Giant helter skelter-shaped buns, served warm if you get up early enough, don’t hang around for long at The Pudding Stop in St Albans. Perhaps it’s those swirls of pillowy pastry made squidgy with epic amounts of sugary cinnamon butter; or that chewy, caramel-like base that makes them so irresistible.
Or maybe, as Pudding Stop owner Johnny Shepherd (he of Bake Off fame) puts it, it could be ‘the amazing butter and flour we use in our recipe. That and building up the lamination to make our buns super flaky, crispy and delicious.’
Read our full review of The Pudding Stop in St Albans here
Söderberg, Edinburgh and Soho
Get your cinnamon bun fix in Edinburgh. This bakery now has seven outlets in Edinburgh and recently opened in London's Soho. The company has made a name for its own-brand crispbreads and now serves pizzas, brunch and all manner of baked goods. Including signature cardamom buns as well as cinnamon and vanilla with seasonal fruits. soderberg.uk
Looking for more places to eat and drink in Edinburgh? Here's our foodie guide.
Nordic Bakery, London
For a quick Nordic pitstop in the city centre you can’t go far wrong in one of these pared-back, wood-lined Scandinavian cafes (one is in Soho and one in Marylebone). Their open rye sandwiches are the stuff of lunchtime legend but that doesn’t detract from their cinnamon buns in any way. nordicbakery.com
Cottonrake, Glasgow
When Scandi café and lifestyle store Swedish Affär closed its doors last month Glasgow’s cinnamon bun lovers might have thought they were about to settle into a winter of culinary discontent. Not so. Over in the city’s West End artisan bakery Cottonrake has been going from strength to strength with its pretty patisseries and crusty sourdoughs and the secret soon got out that it also does a fine line in cinnamon buns. Get there early in the day, while stocks last. cottonrake.com
Here are our favourite places to eat and drink in Glasgow
Here's another easy cinnamon bun recipe to try at home
Author: Rhiannon Batten, Alex Crossley and Charlotte Morgan
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First published: October 2015, Updated January 2018
