Schnecken are a type of

sweet bun A sweet roll or sweet bun refers to any of a number of sweet, baked, yeast-leavened breakfast or dessert foods. They may contain spices, nuts, candied fruits, etc., and are often glazed or topped with icing. Compared to regular bread dough, sw ...

or roll of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

origin. Today schnecken can be commonly found in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Israel, southern Brazil and the USA. The name ''Schnecken'' means ''

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

s'' in German and refers to the shape of the pastry. The bun is still common in Germany and Austria (in some regions as ''Schneckennudel''), where the name is ''Schnecke'' (which is the German singular of ''Schnecken''), and in other parts of northern Europe. They are more commonly known as ''escargots'' (snails) or ''pain au raisin'' in France. Popular variants are Nussschnecken (filled with nuts and often raisins as well), Mohnschnecken (with a poppyseed filling) and Zimtschnecken, which are quite similar to cinnamon rolls.

References

Sweet breads German cuisine {{germany-dessert-stub