It's hard to choose for someone else. I love fenugreek, but I just read in another thread that Lpink dislikes it enough to not like curry powder that has it.

Cinnamon is strong. Cardamom is probably too similar. If you want something with the same sharpness or strength, try cloves, allspice or ginger. If you want something really different, try sumac or citrus. If you want to go slightly herbal, but still fitting in with sweets, try coriander or anise. Full on herbal, and a bit savory include thyme, tea (not my favorite) and tarragon. My all time favorite flavor is sesame, but baking with it is a whole new set of recipes. Mace will give a nutmeggy flavor with some oomph.

Why not test yourself? Make some shortbread or sugar cookie dough, divide into portions about three cookies worth, and go sniffing through your spice cabinet. Add anything that smells appealing to a portion of dough, and bake them off. Try a bite here and a bite there, at different times, to see what you like enough to try in other recipes.

how many kinds of cinnamon did you try?

Nutmeg......had some dessert abojut a year ago that as very heavy with nutmeg and blue berries and was delicious!

Different sugars can be interesting to try too. I love nutmeg. Hate cinnamon. I love vanilla with chocolate. A lemon icing on a danish pastry instead ,of cinnamon....so many choices!

I suggest nutmeg too. I love it esp. combined with vanilla.

Orange is a great flavoring as well. Grated orange rind is so good in oatmeal cookies. Another good one combined with vanilla.

And there's always ginger.

I have a special relationship with cinnamon now, first thing I could smell post covid. Made me so happy.

The question made me think of my mom’s German family recipes, many of which have cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and/or ginger. I always sub nutmeg when something calls for mace, so I don’t know if that’s a spice worth seeking and paying for.

Perhaps the root of your problem was that “everything had cinnamon in it.” Probably an exaggeration but anything used too much would get tiresome. Mix it up with different flavor profiles. Lemon tends to win me over. Maybe play with some heat, too. For probably 20 years now I’ve been wanting to bake a hot pepper apple pie. What holds me back is that I’ve got a mental image of exactly how I want it to taste, and I’m afraid of baking a disappointment. Silly, huh?

uh-oh. Both anosmia and ageusia, ?, (smell and taste). Some have just suffered anosmia but can taste salty, sweet, sour, bitter. Another can taste and smell oregano, but not rosemary, thyme, coffee...some have lost smell and taste with no other symptoms whatsoever, then tested positive.

I grew up with my mothers very basic spice turntable above the stove. Including cinnamon and imitation vanilla. All probably 50 yrs old. Don't care for cinnamon at all. I have a gifted homemade vanilla, five beans in bourbon....not used it in the ten years I've had it.

My kitchen smells like a spice shop. I've been making Spring spice blends since Sunday. One is new to me so it is being tweaked.

Ginger, star anice, allspice, clove, nutmeg, cardamon...heavenly combination. Much of this is found in a mulling spice. Not cardamon but often orange or a citrus peel.

Cardamon kicks it somewhere else that I like.

Maybe just the allspice, ginger, nutmeg would be a nice replacement. Or add nutmeg to your cinnamon.

Somewhat on topic. What is up with the amazon price gouging I keep mentioning. I was thinking of ordering a back-up spice grinder. Mine died last spring that I paid 12 buck for a few years ago. So I ordered a basic Krups for maybe 18$. Now 25$. 18 to 25 is not a big deal, but some other basic brands are over 100+ but 20$ at places like Walmart...

Ah yes I meant to add anise. Another one that’s very nice but you don’t want to overplay.

“Some have just suffered anosmia but can taste salty, sweet, sour, bitter.”

I guess that’s what I had. There’s only so much you can taste without smell. I can smell almost everything now, though not as strongly. “Almost” meaning the one thing I I’ve noticed I can’t smell is best not discussed on CF. I’m actually ok with that. 😂 My wife’s smell is finally starting to come back, my kids nothing. I’m worried for them, but hear it can take time so fingers crossed. They’re willing to try more food now, as long as the texture isn’t objectionable they’re good. Hey, silver linings!

Anyway I was also thinking about Greek baking, mahlep and mastic, but they’re also more $$$ than I care to spend regularly.

I think cardamom is the best substitute and is sufficiently different. If you buy the pods, you can shell them and grind the seeds (which are very small) yourself for a more intense flavor.

You might try ground nuts (hazelnuts are my favorite) or use some liqueurs, such as Frangelico, Amaretto, Nocello, etc.

All you good people who are "sick of cinnamon" are you aware that there are 2 basic kinds of cinnamon? Most common is the cassia variety.....the Ceylon cinnamon costs more and to my taste quite different from the cassia variety. So if you are sick of cinnamon it might be worth your while to seek out some Ceylon variety.

No mater the quality, and due to frugal cooking with cans in the 50's-60's, we have BettyCrocker, and TheJoyofCooking in the US. Influential via some early mag rags like LadiesHomeJournal and maybe GoodHousekeeping in the 70's. Jello salads, and wacky stuff in ad revenue among the pages using the new best thing in processed foods.

Spices in most other cultures have used spice combinations, for decades, in a blend or mix depending on availability. Culturally available and affordable. Or seasonally.

When I ground the above, whole seed, it is much more interesting than a single one note cinnamon.

And they heat and toast them used in cooking, not raw at the table...they dry on open dirty cloths with bare feet. Why we have recalls for simple black peppercorns. (most good spice houses use irradiated methods to sterilize)...since we have, in the US, an odd decades old habit to have pepper grinders on the table.

Anywho, what I just ground above, the entire tray, just a few tBsp's, is devine.

I just hope FOAS gets his full cooking jones/smell/taste back soon.

FOAS, it's good to see you back, and I'm glad you and your family are recovering.

So, other than cinnamon? I love ginger and also cloves. Oddly enough, I find that many recipes that call for those two spices also want cinnamon.

Annie

I love cinnamon, but I put it in a lot of stuff and kind of wanted to switch it up a bit. On a whim (to fill out my order and get free shipping) I bought a jar of Penzey's baking spice. Delicious. It has cinnamon but it's a great mix of other spices. It's unusual in that it doesn't have cloves or ginger, but the other spices (anise, cardamom, allspice, mace) really compliment the cinnamon, of which it has both kinds. https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/baking-spice/c-24/p-91/pd-s