Why do we celebrate Cinnamon Bun Day?

by: Tetiana Poliakova

I love October 4th , mainly because I can eat as many cinnamon buns as I want without any calorie or sugar stress. National Cinnamon Bun Day, or Kannelbullens Dag , gives you a perfect excuse to taste as many of these delicious treats as your heart desires. But who invented such a day: a person like me who just wanted an excuse to eat cinnamon buns, or maybe a baker who was going out of business and needed to attract more clients?

National Cinnamon Bun was first celebrated in 1999 after Home Baking Council, Hembakningsrådet, started the initiative to celebrate the organization’s 40th birthday. Their main purpose was to inspire others to bake by sharing mouth-watering recipes and useful practical tips. No wonder they were the ones to come up with the idea to devote a whole day to Sweden’s most beloved pastry.

Believe it or not, National Cinnamon Bun is almost a 100-year old tradition.

Nowadays, for people living in Sweden, cinnamon bun and fika (a social coffee break) are two terms that always go hand in hand. It’s also hard to imagine any bakery in Sweden not selling single cinnamon bun. It is estimated that Sweden consumes around 148, 766, 006 kilograms of cinnamon buns every year! (Source: the Swedish Board of Agriculture and Statistics)

However, in the 1920s, around the time the cinnamon bun was invented it did not instantly become popular and did not actually gather its fan base until the 1950s.

So, my best recommendation is to enjoy National Cinnamon Bun by going to your favorite bakery and getting multiple cinnamon buns for yourself and your friends (or maybe just for yourself :D). If you’re feeling up to it, you can also try baking cinnamon buns at home. Here is a traditional recipe at the official site of Sweden: