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Swedish Cardamom Buns. A sweet cardamom dough, filled with buttery cardamom filling and brushed with a sweet glaze.
Last October, we went to New York City. It’s one of our favorite places to visit. We’re always inspired by the energy of the city, the people we meet and the food we eat.
On our walk over to Chelsea Market one afternoon, we walked past a store and were instantly hit with an aroma of cardamom. At that moment, we knew that this bakery sold one of our most coveted pastries…cardamom buns.
We went inside and ordered one of there delicious Swedish Cardamom Buns, and regretted we didn’t buy more. It was so delicious and you could taste the complex, fruity flavor of cardamom in every bite.
Ever since our trip to New York, we’ve dreamed of those cardamom buns, so we thought it would be a fun adventure to create them ourselves. Our Swedish Cardamom Buns rival the ones we had on our trip. Made with a sweet cardamom dough, filled with a buttery, cardamom filling and brushed with a sweet glaze.
You can’t stop at one…you’ll have to go back for seconds or thirds. They are seriously that good!
More Pastries You May Like:
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This post is all about Swedish cardamom buns.
Swedish Cardamom Buns
What’s in the recipe?
Milk: Milk adds moisture to the dough. This week dough is softer than most, so it’s important not to over mix.
Quick Rise Yeast: We prefer to use quick rise yeast every chance we get. It makes the baking process so much faster, and works just as well as regular yeast.
Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is added to the dough and filling to create a rich, warm bite.
Granulated Sugar: We mixed granulated sugar in with the dough as well. This adds a sweeter taste to the cardamom buns and a bit of a lighter dough.
Flour: Fluff, scoop and level your flour as you measure it out. For this recipe, we used all-purpose flour.
Salt: A bit of salt is added to the dough to offset some of the sweetness.
Freshly Ground Cardamom Seeds: Freshly ground cardamom makes these cardamom buns next level. We HIGHLY recommend using a mortar and pestle to grind fresh cardamom seeds, but if you don’t have them, you can opt to use ground cardamom from the store.
Butter: We added cubed, room temperature butter to create a buttery dough and also used some in the filling.
Water: Water is mixed with granulated sugar and cardamom to create a delicious, thin glaze over the top of the Swedish cardamom buns.
Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Flavor: We used vanilla bean paste, because we prefer the flavor of it in baked goods, but vanilla is perfectly fine too.
How to Make Swedish Cardamom Buns
Before you begin, grease a large mixing bowl and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set them aside for later.
Make the Dough…
To start making the dough, heat milk, sugar, and salt on low heat until everything is dissolved. You don’t want the mixture to be hot when you add the yeast, so let it cool for a few minutes. Then, add the quick rise yeast to the warm milk mixture. Let is bloom (sit and bubble) for about 10 minutes.
While the yeast is blooming, grind your fresh cardamom pods. You’ll need a total of 3 teaspoons.
Next, in a medium size bowl, whisk flour and 1 tsp of ground cardamom. Using a stand mixer and dough hook, mix the flour into the warm milk/yeast mixture. Until the dough comes together. Then, add the cubed butter and turn the speed to med/high to knead the butter unto the dough. Mix on med/high speed for 3-4 minutes. **You want to be careful not to over-mix the dough. It’s supposed to be a looser dough.
Scrap the dough onto a floured surface and form the dough into a ball. Place the dough into the greased bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place for an hour. We always put ours in our microwave, but you can place it in a neutral oven or warm windowsill.
Make the Cardamom Filling…
The filling is super simple to make! Using the paddle attachment and a stand mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar and ground cardamom until well incorporated.
Roll, Spread, Fold and Cut…
Once the dough has risen for an hour, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it into a 20 x 14 inch rectangle. Spread the cardamom filling over the dough, all the way to the edges. It’s a super thin layer of filling, so don’t be surprised by the amount. We don’t want them filled as much as cinnamon rolls.
After an even, thin layer of filling is spread out, Fold the shorter side to the middle, and the other side on top of it. Roll out the dough into an even layer. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough, in the direction of the shorter side, into strands. It should make 16-18 strands.
Form and Proof…
There isn’t a totally perfect way to form these cardamom buns, but you can follow this technique of wrapping the dough to form a knotted bun:
Hold the end of the strand, wrap it twice around your fingers and wrap the end of the strand over and through the middle. It should look like a knot. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the buns are formed.
Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let proof for 1 more hour. The buns should be a bit fluffier, but not super puffy.
Bake and Brush…
Once the buns are done proofing, preheat your oven to 425°F. Bake the Swedish cardamom buns for 11-15 minutes, depending on how your oven cooks, you can adjust the time. We found that 11 minutes was the perfect time for ours.
While the buns are baking, make the glaze. Mix the 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 tsp ground cardamom seed.
Immediately after the buns are removed from the oven, brush them with the glaze, and let them cool for a few minutes. Enjoy the cardamom buns with a hot cup of coffee, tea or as a cozy afternoon treat.
Did you make this recipe? We’ve love to hear from you! Leave a comment down below or tag us on Instagram!
Swedish Cardamom Buns
- Total Time: 2 hours 11 minutes
- Yield: 16 buns 1x
Ingredients
Cardamom Bun Dough:
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 pkg quick rise yeast
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp ground cardamom seeds
- 5 tbsp room temp. butter (cubed)
Cardamom Filling:
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom seeds
Cardamom Bun Glaze:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom seeds
Instructions
Cardamom Bun Dough:
- Grease a large mixing bowl and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, heat the milk, sugar and salt until everything is dissolved. Remove from heat. You don’t want this mixture to be hot before adding the yeast. Add the quick rise yeast to the milk mixture for and mix to dissolve. Let the yeast bloom (sit and bubble) for 10 minutes.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and 1 tsp ground cardamom seeds.
- Using a stand mixer, and the dough hook, mix flour mixture into the warm milk, yeast mixture on low until the dough comes together. Add in cubed butter and increase the speed to medium/high and knead for 3-4 minutes. The dough should be loose, so you don’t want to over knead it.
- Scrape the dough out of the bowl and form it into a ball—tucking the sides under. Place the dough in the bowl and let it rise in a warm place (oven, microwave, windowsill) for an hour.
Cardamom Filling:
- In a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, mix butter, brown sugar and 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom seeds. Set aside until the dough has risen.
Form and Proof:
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and rollin out into 20 x 14 inch rectangle. Spread the cardamom filling over the dough all the way to the edges. Fold the shorter side to the middle, and the other side on top of it. Roll out the dough into an even layer.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut 1/2 inch thick strands. You should be able to make about 14-16 strands.
- Hold the end of the strand, wrap it twice around your fingers and wrap the end of the strand over and through the middle. It should look like a knot. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the buns are formed.
- Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let proof for 1 more hour. The buns should be a bit fluffier, but not super puffy.
- Preheat oven to 425°F and bake for 11-15 minutes, depending on how your oven bakes. While the buns are baking, make the glaze. Mix the 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 tsp ground cardamom seed.
- Once the buns are done cooking, remove them from the oven and immediately brush them with the glaze.
- Let them cool for a few minutes and then serve and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Dessert
- Cuisine: American, Swedish
This post is all about Swedish cardamom buns.
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