The Everyday Norwegian Snack

A bun, usually. The skolebolle — yeasted dough, custard filling, icing, desiccated coconut — is the one most visitors are asking about, and its name changes depending on which part of Norway you are standing in. In Bergen and the rest of western Norway it is a skolebolle. In the north and east the same thing is a skolebrød.

The bunCustard, icing, coconut

EmergedThe 1950s

In BergenSkolebolle

North and eastSkolebrød

In the southPorke, tolvøres

Its own daySince 2017

Why the name moved

The skolebolle form spread in the 1970s after health campaigners objected to calling a high-calorie pastry a “bread”. Bolle means bun; brød means bread. The objection won in the west and lost in the east, which is why Norway still cannot agree on what to call its most popular snack. In the south you will also hear porke and tolvøres, and an Arctic variant called solbolle marks the return of the sun.

School Bread Day

There is a day for it. School Bread Day was created in 2017 by the Information Office for Bread and Grain, and falls on the last Friday before the summer holidays. Norway is a country that gives buns official dates, the way it gave pressed cod one in Bergen. Persetorsk Day.

The Bergen bun that is not this one

Do not order a skolebolle when what you want is a skillingsbolle. The skillingsbolle is the cinnamon bun the Hanseatic merchants brought from Germany in the 16th century, it has been Bergen’s favourite for over five hundred years, and it is the city’s own. The skolebolle is national and much younger, dating from the 1950s. The skillingsbolle.

The savoury snack

On the savoury side, the everyday answer in Bergen is the fishcake, bought over a counter and eaten standing up. Søstrene Hagelin is a long-standing Bergen fishcake and fish-pudding shop and a genuine local institution. Where people here eat.

Insider tip

The kringle is not Bergen’s either. Pretzel-form baking reached Scandinavia through Roman Catholic monks in Denmark in the 13th century, and the word comes from the Old Norse kringla, meaning ring.

Sweet things, on a guided walk

Three and a half hours and thirteen tastings across five cafés and restaurants, including award-winning local chocolate and a brown-cheese cheesecake, ending at Fløirestauranten on Mount Fløyen. Maximum eight people, wheelchair accessible. The listing is marked not suitable for vegans or vegetarians, and vegetarian and vegan options are available with 24 hours’ notice on an adjusted offering. Both halves of that are true and you need the second one before you book.

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Frequently asked questions

What is a common Norwegian snack?

A sweet bun. The best known is the skolebolle — yeasted dough with a custard filling, icing and desiccated coconut — which emerged in the 1950s. On the savoury side, a fishcake bought over a counter is the everyday Bergen answer.

Is it skolebolle or skolebrød?

Both, depending on where you are. In western Norway, including Bergen, it is a skolebolle; in northern and eastern Norway it is a skolebrød. The bolle form spread in the 1970s after health campaigners objected to calling a high-calorie pastry a bread. In the south you will also hear porke and tolvøres.

Is there a day for skolebrød?

Yes. School Bread Day was created in 2017 by the Information Office for Bread and Grain and falls on the last Friday before the summer holidays.