In cooking, few other elements possess the power to enhance, balance, or even salvage a recipe the way spices can. When used properly, they can take the palate to pleasing and surprising places.

Thrive Market’s Organic Cinnamon Sticks are USDA Certified Organic, Kosher Certified, and non-GMO. They are carefully tracked from their point of origin, ensuring quality, cleanliness, and promise of their organic status. With our stringent quality control standards that means you’re getting the very best spices available, all at the best price possible

Simple uses for cinnamon sticks

Whole, organic cinnamon sticks make a festive and flavorful addition to warm drinks. Garnish a cup of hot cider, hot chocolate, coffee, or tea with its own cinnamon swizzle stick, and for the holidays, sprinkle cinnamon atop eggnog and add a cinnamon stick for a beautiful finish.

Cinnamon’s strong, slightly sweet and spicy flavor also complements desserts like pecan pie and snickerdoodles, but it’s also used to add complexity to savory dishes like curries and roasts or sauteed meat. Whether it’s frigid or sweltering outside, the taste of cinnamon always appeals.

Creative uses for cinnamon sticks

Cinnamon sticks are a gorgeous garnish for drinks, true, but that’s not the limit of their utility in the kitchen. Here are some great ways to use them. Once you realize their potential, you’ll want to always keep a stock on hand in your spice cabinet.

Flavor oats and grains:Toss a cinnamon stick into your pot of oats while cooking, instead of using ground cinnamon. The oats will be infused with the taste. Simply remove the stick before serving.

Bring complexity to meat dishes: Adding a cinnamon stick to roasts, chilis, or stews in the slow cooker will give the finished dish an additional layer of flavor and depth.

Infuse your coffee: Top your coffee grounds with a cinnamon stick, then brew as usual. You’ll get a subtle hint of warm cinnamon flavor in your morning cup.

Brew cinnamon tisane: A tisane is an herbal tea. Steep a cinnamon stick in hot, almost boiling, water for ten minutes, then remove and sip a delicious, warmly spiced cup of cinnamon tisane.

A brief history of cinnamon

Cinnamon—a spice made from the inner bark of the cinnamon tree—has a cultural history stretching back thousands of years. The Egyptians used it as perfume during the embalming process, and the Roman emperor Nero was said to have burned as much as he could of the rare, expensive spice on his second wife’s funeral pyre.

In the Middle Ages, the Arabs brought cinnamon to Europe on long treks across complicated land routes. Supply of the precious spice was so limited that only certain people could obtain it—the wealthy and middle-class Europeans striving to be upwardly mobile.

Arab traders were highly secretive about their cinnamon sources, so they could continue to charge luxury prices for the rare spice. But European explorers were desperate to find cinnamon on their own. Columbus was tasked with finding the slightly-sweet, potently scented spice, but never succeeded. From the Americas, he sent Queen Isabella what he mistakenly thought was cinnamon, but was, in fact, allspice.

In the early 1500s, Portuguese traders hit upon the coveted cinnamon at Ceylon, in what is now Sri Lanka. They conquered the island kingdom called Kotto, enslaved the population, and controlled the cinnamon trade for the next hundred years.

At that time, another Ceylon kingdom, Kandy, formed an alliance with the Dutch to overthrow the Portuguese. They succeeded, but the Dutch continued to occupy and control Ceylon and therefore, cinnamon.

By the time the British took over Ceylon in the late 1700s, cinnamon was no longer the exceedingly rare, pricey commodity it had previously been. People had learned to cultivate the tree in other parts of the world, and they had gained an appreciation for other flavors, like cassia and chocolate.

Health benefits of cinnamon

Cinnamon gets its potent flavor and scent from cinnamaldehyde, found in the oils of the inner bark of this tree. It’s cinnamaldehyde that is the source of most of cinnamon’s health benefits.

This spice contains antioxidants and polyphenols, which can protect the body’s cells from free radical damage that can cause inflammation, early aging, and chronic diseases.

Recipes to use with cinnamon sticks

Tigernut Horchata

Spanish horchata is a sweet drink typically made from tigernuts, nutty-flavored tubers (roots) that taste a bit like coconut. This drink has a thick, creamy texture and is totally Paleo-friendly. Ground cinnamon and a cinnamon stick make it complete and extra tasty.

Breakfast Ice Cream

This healthy version of soft serve ice cream only takes a few minutes to make. If you have milk (dairy or nondairy), frozen sliced bananas, and, of course, cinnamon, you’re all set! Blend it up and add a cinnamon stick for garnish.

Cold Brew Coffee

Nothing is simpler than delicious, fresh coffee. With a taste so smooth and delightful, you’ll be hooked. Whether you serve the concentrate cold or iced, add a cinnamon stick for extra flavor and healthy benefits.

More about Thrive Market products

At Thrive Market, our mission is to bring you the highest quality organic goods at truly affordable prices. That's why we've gone directly to the source to develop our own line of premium products made from the very best all-natural ingredients at a fraction of the usual price.

Finally, you don't need to choose between cost and quality, taste and health, value and your values. If it has the Thrive Market seal, you can trust that you're getting the highest quality product possible at the best price possible. Shop our premium, organic, and fair-trade certified virgin coconut oil, spices, nuts and dried fruit, tomato sauces, ghee, and sprouted grains today!

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