Ahhh, fresh cinnamon, you amazing spice you.
Whether it’s used as a subtle accent or a more assertive note, cinnamon adds a one-of-a-kind layer of warmth to many preparations, sweet or savory. It can boost the taste of other ingredients and deepen the overall flavor of dishes, sometimes acting as a barely recognizable, “secret” ingredient.
A little while ago I asked you to share your best cinnamon recipes, and you submitted such brilliant, inspired cinnamon ideas that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to compile this rich list of suggested uses for this wonderful, versatile spice.
As we head into the holiday season, I give this list to you in two installments. Ideas from the realm of sweets below; savory, beverage, and non-food uses follow in Part II. Enjoy!
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HAPPY PAIRINGS FOR CINNAMON RECIPES
Cinnamon + Apple
Cinnamon + Peach
Cinnamon + Plum
Cinnamon + Orange
Cinnamon + Blueberry
Cinnamon + Raisin
Cinnamon + Chocolate
Cinnamon + Chili
Cinnamon + Nutmeg
Cinnamon + Clove
Cinnamon + Cumin
Cinnamon + Chicken
Cinnamon + Lamb
Cinnamon + Bread
Cinnamon + Rice
Cinnamon + Butter
Cinnamon + Honey
Cinnamon + Winter squash
Cinnamon + Sweet potato
Cinnamon + Eggplant
Cinnamon + Carrot
Cinnamon + Tomato
Serve apples with some cinnamon and homemade crunchy nut butter.
SPRINKLE CINNAMON ON…
… a warm apple pie
… rugelach
… a warm Portuguese pastel de nata or pastel de Belém
… waffles
… French toast, along with nutmeg
… a doughnut
… apple slices, along with salt
… poached or fresh fruit, especially apples and peaches
… flan
CAKES
– In pain d’épices, spice cake, or gingerbread
– In carrot cake
– In stollen
– In Amish friendship bread
– In pear cake
– In a plain buttery cinnamon cake with swirls of the crushed spice throughout the cake
– In coffee cake, esp. cinnamon cream cheese coffeecake
– In banana bread
– In purple plum cake
– Grated over vegan pumpkin cake with dollops of coconut whipped cream
– In zucchini bread
– In blueberry breakfast cake
– In pumpkin bread
Who can resist a nice snickerdoodle ? (Photo: Shelly/Cookies & Cups)
CINNAMON RECIPES FOR COOKIES
– In snickerdoodles
– In Christmas sablés
– In star-shaped Christmas cookies made out of almonds, egg whites and lots of cinnamon, iced with cinnamon flavored icing
– In baklava
– In pumpkin cookies
– In peperkakor cookies and speculaas
– In chestnut pecan biscotti, or chocolate almond biscotti, or cinnamon raisin walnut biscotti
– In Christmas biscotti, coupled with star anise, cardamom and nutmeg and orange zest
– In oatmeal cookies
– In honey cookies
– In cinnamon macaron shells
– Use a mix of cinnamon and sugar as a filling for puff pastry palmiers
– In cinnamon and olive oil sablés: cinnamon, sugar, flour and olive oil — awesome on plain vanilla ice cream
CINNAMON RECIPES FOR OTHER BAKED GOODS
– In cinnamon rolls using a recipe by Molly from Orangette
– In hot cinnamon buns with a sticky sauce (kanelbullar)
– In pumpkin roll
– In the crumble topping for muffins, esp. wild blueberry muffins
– In pumpkin pie along with ginger and ground cloves — better than pumpkin pie spice mix
– In pumpkin cheesecake, topped off with cinnamon whipped cream
– Rolled up with butter in fresh croissants while they are baking
– In bread pudding
– In Dutch toast “wentelteefjes”: the bread is dipped in egg and milk, then baked and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar
– In capirotada, a Mexican bread pudding made with cheddar cheese and eaten as a dessert
– Infused in the cream to make flan
– In peach pie
– In pear crumble
Use up your cinnamon stash on my apple tarte fine recipe.
APPLE AND CINNAMON RECIPES
– In apple crumble, or an apple-apricot crumble, or an apple-orange-chestnut crumble
– In apple pie and Dutch apple pie with a crumb topping
– In apple crisp
– In apfelstrudel
– In apple cake
– In apple cinnamon muffins
– In the German apple cake from Pike Place Market Recipes
– In apple galette
– In an apple tarte fine
– Combine with apples, bananas and walnuts in a pie
– On baked apples
– Fry up apples with butter, sugar and cinnamon and made into toffee apple cheesecake — or just eaten right out of the pan
– Sprinkle sliced apples with cinnamon and raisins and cook briefly in the microwave oven
– In caramelized apple compote
– Place a stick in apple sauce as it cooks
– In homemade cranberry applesauce
– In chunky applesauce
RICE PUDDING
– In rice pudding with milk, rice, honey, and golden raisins; or with cream, brandy, and raisins; or with lemon zest
– As cinnamon sugar on top of the traditional, Danish Christmas rice pudding, served in a soup plate and dotted with butter
– In semolina or tapioca pudding
Or perhaps a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake?
CHOCOLATE AND CINNAMON RECIPES
– In brownies, with toasted sliced almonds and a bit of olive oil; or with chilli
– In red velvet cake (the original, made with brown sugar and no food coloring)
– In melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake
– In chocolate pudding cake
– In chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies
– In peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
– In chocolate mousse
FRUIT
– Mix with lime juice (6 limes), honey (3 tablespoons), sesame oil (1/2 teaspoon) and sea salt (a pinch), and drizzle on fresh fruit such as mango or pineapple
– On baked or grilled peaches
– In plum tart with walnut cream
– In Damson plum dishes such as cordials, tarts, jams, or a spicy sauce with allspice and cloves
– In pumpkin custard
– On roasted pumpkin slices with butter and brown sugar, like a crust-less pumpkin pie
– On a salad of sliced oranges, with a tiny splash of orange flower water
ICE CREAM
– Cinnamon ice cream (David Lebovitz‘s, of course)
– Frozen cinnamon parfait with still-warm cherry pie
– In chocolate frozen yogurt or chocolate sorbet
– On top of good vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of honey
– Made into a simple syrup poured over ice cream
OTHER DESSERTS/SWEETS
– Add it to pancake batter
– In Sweet Potato Jack-o-Lanterns with cinnamon sugar
– On crêpes, esp. spread with butter, sprinkled with brown sugar and lots of cinnamon, then rolled up to eat
– Make spiced pecans with chili powder, cinnamon and egg whites and use them to top a dark chocolate tart that also has a touch of cinnamon
– In Dutch baby pancakes
– To spice up buckwheat pecan pancakes, along with cardamom, nutmeg, and vanilla
– In sweet potato waffles
– In Irish potato candy
Granola and cinnamon are a heavenly pairing.
BREAKFAST FOODS
– In homemade granola
– In muesli
– In cream of wheat, cooked in whole milk and then flavored with a bit of sugar and a lot of cinnamon
– In porridge, especially banana-oats, or oats and quinoa, or helmipuuro
– On steel-cut oatmeal, especially with raisins; or with apples and almonds; or with walnuts, apples and maple syrup; or with dried cranberries, sliced almonds, and brown sugar
– In baked oatmeal
– On persimmon slices, atop hot cereal with soy or almond milk
– In a baby-friendly breakfast of porridge, stewed pear, yogurt and chia seeds
– Add it to an egg white and oatmeal omelet
– In scrambled eggs with vegetables
– On avocado with a bit of honey
BREAD/TOAST
– Combine with sugar and sprinkle on buttered, lightly toasted bread, especially multigrain bread
– Cinnamon toast made with butter and brown sugar, then put under the broiler until it bubbles
– In cinnamon raisin bagels
– Cinnamon raisin bread spread with salted butter
– Sprinkled over some local honey on top of toast
– Sprinkled on some peanut butter toast
– A mix of cinnamon, cardamom and demerara sugar beaten together and spread as a filling for white sourdough swirls
JAMS/SPREADS
– In chutneys, especially plum chutney
– Peanut butter mixed with marmalade and cinnamon
– In cherry tomato jam
– In fig jam
– In preserved pears, cooked with a cinnamon stick or two, a spoonful of whole allspice and a sprinkle of cloves
– In spicy peach jam
– In fruit butter: plum, apple, pumpkin, blueberry, strawberry…
– In butterscotch sauce, along with a smidge of cardamom
– Cinnamon sauce to go over baked apples
DAIRY AND CINNAMON RECIPES
– On cottage cheese
– Added to yogurt, along with pumpkin puree, vanilla, and other pumpkin pie spices; throw in a few nuts and it’s like having pie!
– Lightly sprinkled atop apples, for dipping into maple syrup drizzled yogurt
– In a morning bowl of fresh-from-the-tree figs and yoghurt
– In Greek yogurt, along with some fruit, honey and a dash of vanilla extract; or with a splash of organic vanilla extract and a tart apple sliced thin; or with fruit and nuts
– Combined with greek yogurt, to top homemade waffles
– Mix warm white basmati rice into plain yogurt and mix in cinnamon
– With keffir
– Add cinnamon together with paprika and thyme, to baked feta cheese for a really Greek flavor
– Flavor whipped cream with cinnamon to dress up pies for the holidays
Click on for savory dishes, beverages and non-food uses.
This post was first published in November 2013, and updated in November 2016.
