Cinnamon Roll vs. Cinnamon Bun: Is There Actually a Difference?

The traditional distinction

In classic baking terms, a cinnamon bun is baked in a pan lined with butter, brown sugar and often pecans, then inverted so the caramel becomes the top. A cinnamon roll is baked plain and finished with icing or a glaze after it comes out of the oven.

What actually happens in real life

Almost nobody applies that rule. Regional habit decides the word: parts of New England lean toward bun, much of the rest of the country says roll, and plenty of people in the same Connecticut kitchen use both in one conversation. Sticky buns are the one term that stays reasonably consistent, because the inverted caramel is the whole point of them.

Related terms worth knowing

• Sticky bun: inverted, caramel and usually nuts on top.
• Kanelbulle: the Swedish version, less sweet, often knotted, finished with pearl sugar instead of icing.
• Schnecken: a German-American pastry, richer dough, nuts and caramel.
• Chelsea bun: English, currants, a light sugar glaze.

So which do we say?

We usually say cinnamon roll. Plenty of our customers say cinnamon bun. We have never once corrected anyone, and we are not going to start. The version we make is soft-dough, iced-on-top — a roll by the traditional definition — and it answers to either name.