Air Fryer Kanelsnegle (Danish Cinnamon Rolls)

March 6, 2025

Air Fryer Kanelsnegle (Danish Cinnamon Rolls)

Kanelsnegle are classic Danish home baking: an enriched yeast dough rolled up with a remonce filling of soft butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. The real version has nothing to do with American cinnamon rolls. This is yeast dough from scratch, not canned dough or baking-powder dough.

The air-fryer version uses exactly the same dough and remonce, but bakes in small batches in the air fryer instead of the oven. The only thing that really changes is the temperature. The air fryer’s fan browns the surface fast, so you need to come down to 340-345°F (170-175°C) compared with the oven’s roughly 390°F (200°C). In return, the rolls are done in about 12 minutes.

A pinch of ground cardamom in the dough is a true Danish hallmark and gives the warm, lightly spiced aroma you know from the bakery. The remonce is stirred with soft — not melted — butter, so the filling stays put in the dough and doesn’t run out during baking.

The rolls belong at the coffee table, the weekend breakfast and the afternoon coffee. Decorate them with a simple powdered-sugar icing, with pearl sugar or with sweetened condensed milk, and eat them warm, while the remonce is still soft.

Ingredients

Makes about 9 rolls

The yeast dough

300 g wheat flour
1.25 dl milk, lukewarm
25 g fresh yeast
1 egg, beaten (half in the dough, the rest for brushing)
50 g butter, softened
40 g sugar
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp ground cardamom

Remonce

75 g butter, softened (not melted)
75 g brown sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Icing

75 g powdered sugar
1-2 tsp water (or milk)

Directions

The yeast dough

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Stir in the sugar, salt, cardamom, the soft butter and half of the beaten egg. Save the rest of the egg for brushing.

Knead in the flour a little at a time, until the dough is shiny and supple and pulls away from the bowl, about 5-8 minutes. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise to double its size, about 45-60 minutes.

Remonce

Stir the soft butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together into a smooth, spreadable mass. The butter must be soft, not melted, or the filling runs out during baking.

Baking in the air fryer

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and roll it out into a rectangle about 30 x 25 cm. Spread the remonce in an even layer all the way to the edges.

Roll the dough up tightly from the long side, so you get a long log. Cut it into about 9 rolls. A length of sewing thread slipped under the log and crossed over the top cuts them cleanly, without squashing them.

Cut a piece of parchment paper so it fits the air-fryer basket and only comes about 1 cm up the side. That way the air can still circulate. Place the rolls on it with plenty of space, so they have room to rise.

Let the rolls proof for about 30 minutes. You can put them in the switched-off air fryer meanwhile, where it’s warm and free of drafts.

Brush the rolls with the rest of the beaten egg.

Bake at 340°F (170°C) for about 12 minutes, until the rolls are golden and baked through. Keep an eye on them from 10 minutes. Bake in small batches if the rolls can’t sit apart — count on 6-9 at a time depending on the size of the air fryer.

Icing

Stir the powdered sugar with water or milk into a thick but pourable icing. Let the rolls cool for a couple of minutes, and drizzle the icing over while they are still warm.

Notes

Temperature: stay between 340°F (170°C) and 345°F (175°C). The air fryer browns the surface fast, so the oven’s 390°F (200°C) is too much — the rolls turn dark on the outside before the dough is baked through.
Time: count on 10-14 minutes depending on the model and the size of the rolls. They’re done when they are golden and sound hollow when you tap the bottom.
The final proof gives airier rolls, so don’t skip it. The switched-off air fryer is a warm, draft-free place to let them rise.
Don’t pack the basket too tightly. The rolls expand, and the air needs to circulate, or they turn pale and unevenly baked.
Instead of icing, you can sprinkle pearl sugar on before baking or drizzle sweetened condensed milk over the finished rolls.