Korvapuusti is Finland’s answer to the cinnamon bun, and the name literally means a slap on the ear. It sounds harsh, but it’s purely about the shape: the dough is rolled up, cut on the diagonal, and then you press down hard in the middle with two fingers, so the sides fan out like a pair of ears. The result is a bun that’s dense and juicy in the middle and light and airy at the edges.
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The dough is spiced with cardamom rather than cinnamon, while the cinnamon sits in the soft butter filling. The top is sprinkled with pearl sugar, which doesn’t melt completely but turns into small, crunchy grains. In the airfryer, the heat hits the buns from all sides at once, and they brown faster and more evenly than on a baking sheet in the oven.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Table of Contents
Table of Contents:
Why I love Finnish cinnamon buns in the airfryer
Cardamom dough is forgiving to work with, but it’s also easy to bake too hard. The airfryer’s enclosed basket holds in the moisture, so the buns don’t dry out, while the circulating air gives the surface the golden-brown colour you’d otherwise need a very hot oven to achieve. At 160°C they’re done in 12 minutes — short enough that the butter filling is still soft and runny when you bite into them.
The other advantage is the batch size. I rarely bake a whole tray at once, and in the airfryer I can bake four or five buns as soon as they’ve finished proving, and let the rest wait their turn without firing up a big oven for just a handful of buns.
The difference between airfryer and oven
An oven heats the space around the buns, while the airfryer blows hot air directly onto them. That means you need to go down in temperature compared with a classic korvapuusti recipe, not up. 160°C sounds low for baking, but with the direct airflow it’s exactly what’s needed to bake the middle through before the pearl sugar and the thin edges burn.
My kitchen test of Finnish cinnamon buns
I baked them in my Philips XXL, and 160°C for 12 minutes turned out to be the sweet spot. When I turned it up, the top browned long before the dough around the centre fold was baked through — the extra heat buys you nothing here. The whole process took 117 minutes from flour to finished bun: 30 minutes of active work with dough, rolling and shaping, 75 minutes of proving time split between the dough and the shaped buns, and 12 minutes in the basket.
Proving time is the part people cut corners on, and it’s also the one that shows up most clearly in the result. The buns I gave the full proving time were airy all the way out to the edges. The ones I rushed through in half the time turned out compact and dull in the crumb — same dough, same temperature, a completely different bun.
Press the centre all the way down with two fingers, not gently. The bottom of the fold should almost touch the table, otherwise the bun unfolds again during proving and loses its ear-slap shape.
Tips and tricks from the author: Morten Jensen
The typical mistakes and how to avoid them
The first mistake is turning up the temperature to save time. The airfryer works harder than an oven at the same number, and if you go above 160°C, you get a burnt surface over a raw middle — stick to the 12 minutes instead. The second mistake is an overcrowded basket. The buns rise further in the heat, and if they’re packed shoulder to shoulder, they stick together and turn pale and soft on the sides instead of golden, so bake them in batches with plenty of space between them. The third mistake concerns the pearl sugar. If you sprinkle it on dry dough, it falls off the moment you lift the bun out of the basket, so brush with beaten egg first — that way the grains stay put all the way through baking.
How to serve Finnish cinnamon buns
In Finland, korvapuusti is inseparable from coffee, and the buns are served warm rather than piping hot — the butter filling needs to firm up a little before it tastes like more than just butter. Try them with:
- A cup of black coffee, just like the Finns themselves do for pullakahvit
- A tall glass of cold milk for the youngest at the table
- Fresh berries and a dollop of sour cream as a quick weekend dessert
- Homemade vanilla custard on the side, if the buns are a day old
Storage and reheating
The buns stay soft for a couple of days in an airtight container at room temperature. The fridge makes them dry and dull, so avoid that. If you want them to keep longer, freeze them individually as soon as they’ve cooled completely. Thaw at room temperature and give them a couple of minutes in the airfryer at 160°C, and the pearl sugar will turn crisp again, and the filling soft.
Korvapuusti isn’t difficult to make, but it rewards patience with the proving and a firm hand on the centre fold. Get those two things right, and the rest is just cardamom, butter and twelve minutes in the basket.
FAQ
Korvapuusti means a slap on the ear in Finnish and refers to the shape, not the taste. When the dough is cut on the diagonal and pressed down in the middle, the sides fold out like a pair of ears.
160°C for 12 minutes. A higher temperature gives a burnt surface long before the centre fold is baked through.
Yes. Freeze them individually once they’ve cooled completely. Thaw at room temperature and give them a couple of minutes in the airfryer at 160°C, so the pearl sugar turns crisp again.
Recipe
Finnish cinnamon buns in the airfryer
Cooking Guide
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Ingredients
Yeast dough
- 2.5 dl whole milk (Lukewarm, about 37 °C)
- 25 g yeast
- 75 g sugar
- 1 pcs egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 450 g wheat flour
- 75 g butter (Softened, cubed)
Cinnamon butter
- 100 g butter (Softened)
- 75 g brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
Egg wash and topping
- 1 pcs egg (Beaten, for brushing)
- 3 tbsp pearl sugar
How to make it
Yeast dough
- Warm 2.5 dl whole milk to about 37 °C in a saucepan or microwave, pour it into a mixing bowl, and dissolve 25 g yeast in the milk.
- Add 75 g sugar, 1 pcs egg, 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp ground cardamom, and stir everything together well.
- Knead in 450 g wheat flour a little at a time, and knead the dough until smooth for 5-8 minutes. Finally, knead 75 g butter into the dough until it is glossy and comes away from the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel, and let the dough rise somewhere warm for 45 minutes, until roughly doubled in size.
Cinnamon butter and shaping
- Mix 100 g butter with 75 g brown sugar, 2 tbsp ground cinnamon and 0.5 tsp ground cardamom into a smooth, soft paste.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a rectangle about 30 x 45 cm, with the long side facing you.
- Spread the cinnamon butter in an even layer over the whole dough, and roll it up tightly from the long side into a log.
- Cut the log diagonally into 12 trapezoid pieces, so each piece is wide at one end and narrow at the other.
- Place the pieces with the wide side up, and press the centre firmly down against the table with your index finger or the handle of a wooden spoon, so the sides bulge out like two ears.
- Place the buns on baking paper with plenty of space between them, cover lightly, and let them prove for 30 minutes.
Baking in the airfryer
- Preheat the airfryer to 160 °C fan.
- Brush the buns with 1 pcs egg, and sprinkle them with 3 tbsp pearl sugar.
- Bake the buns on baking paper at 160 °C for 10-12 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Bake 4-5 buns at a time so they have room to finish proving in the basket.
- Let the buns cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, so the cinnamon butter sets, before serving warm.
Our notes for the recipe
Press the centre firmly down to the table when shaping the buns. If you press too loosely, the ears will rise back together during baking and the shape will disappear. Variation:
Swap the brown sugar for regular sugar for a lighter, more classic version, or add grated orange zest to the cinnamon butter. To serve:
Serve the buns warm with coffee. In Finland, Finnish cinnamon buns and a cup of coffee are inseparable. Serving size:
The recipe makes 12 buns, about 3 per serving. Bake them in batches of 4-5 at a time so they don’t touch each other in the basket.
Your notes for the recipe
Nutrition per serving (Guideline)
Important about shelf life and nutrition
Nutrition per serving (guideline): Calculations are based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Shelf life (guideline): Shelf life data is provided, as far as possible, by public institutions, including national food authorities. Our information is therefore only indicative, and it is your responsibility to obtain and calculate accurate information about shelf life and nutrition for all recipes on airfryerkogebogen.dk
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