These Swedish Cardamom Buns feature warm cardamom and bright orange flavors in every bite. Their traditional twisted shape and sparkling sugar topping bring authentic Swedish bakery taste straight to your kitchen!
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🍞 Hot cross buns strike the perfect balance between Easter tradition and modern flavor, making them ideal for both festive brunches and cozy weekend mornings!
My 2 Best Tips For Making Swedish Cardamom Buns
Cardamom Quality: Freshly ground cardamom pods produce the most aromatic and flavorful results compared to pre-ground spice. If using whole cardamom pods, remove the seeds and grind them yourself for that authentic, intense flavor that makes these buns truly special.
Orange Zest: Use a microplane grater to get fine orange zest that distributes evenly throughout the sugar filling. Fresh zest provides bright citrus notes that complement the warm cardamom perfectly, so avoid using dried orange peel as a substitute.
Take your time with the shaping process as it affects both appearance and texture. The traditional knot shape isn’t just decorative, it helps the buns hold their form during rising and baking while creating those beautiful layers.
The dough should be soft and slightly sticky rather than completely smooth like bread dough. This texture creates the tender, pillowy interior that’s characteristic of authentic Swedish cardamom buns, so resist adding too much extra flour
These Swedish cardamom buns work perfectly as a breakfast pastry or evening treat on their own! I love serving them with fresh butter and orange marmalade or simply enjoying their aromatic cardamom flavor solo!
🩷 Melissa
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Swedish Cardamom Buns (kardemummabullar)
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (1 package)
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- zest from 1 large orange
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- Swedish pearl sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom, and salt.
- In saucepan or microwave safe dish, heat milk and butter until warm (120° – 130°).
- Add liquids to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened. Add eggs; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
- Switch to the dough hook and mix in the remaining flour a little at a time, to make a soft, slightly sticky dough, add more or less flour as needed. Knead the dough for 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, make the orange sugar filling by mixing the sugar with the orange zest.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Punch down the dough and let it rest 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 18-inch x 12-inch; rectangle. Spread the butter evenly over the bottom ⅔ of the dough with a rubber spatula or your fingers. Sprinkle the orange sugar evenly over the butter. Fold the dough into thirds like a letter.
- Cut dough in to twelve strips, each 6-inch by 1-inch wide with a pizza cutter or dough scraper.
- Cut each piece ¾ of the way up horizontally and twist the two ends. Tie the ends in to a knot. (Alternative ways to shape: #1 Twist each strip then wrap each twist around two fingers and tuck the end through the middle of the circle to the bottom. #2 Hold one end of each strip and twist it several times. Start with one end and roll it up like a snail shell and tuck the end underneath.)
- Place each bun on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double, about 30 minutes.
- Brush with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with pearl sugar
- Bake about 20 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool on the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.
Notes
- Store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Or freeze for up to 3 months in airtight containers.
Nutrition
How To Make Swedish Cardamom Buns
Step 1: Combine flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom, and salt in a stand mixer bowl, then add heated milk and butter (120-130°F) and eggs, beating for 3 minutes. Switch to dough hook, gradually add remaining flour to create a soft, slightly sticky dough, knead for 5 minutes, and let rise in a greased bowl for 45 minutes until doubled.
Step 2: Mix the orange zest with 3 tablespoons sugar for the filling, then roll the punched-down dough into an 18×12-inch rectangle. Spread softened butter over the bottom two-thirds, sprinkle with orange sugar, fold into thirds like a letter, and cut into twelve 6×1-inch strips.
Step 3: Cut each strip three-quarters of the way up horizontally, then twist the two ends and tie them into a knot shape. Place the shaped buns on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 minutes until doubled.
Step 4: Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush over each bun, then sprinkle generously with Swedish pearl sugar. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes until golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack and cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Recipe FAQs
While cardamom is essential for authentic Swedish cardamom buns, you can substitute with a combination of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg if needed. However, the distinctive Nordic flavor will be lost, so it’s worth seeking out cardamom for the true experience.
Regular coarse sugar or sanding sugar can substitute for Swedish pearl sugar, though the texture will be slightly different. You can also crush sugar cubes into small pieces or use Belgian pearl sugar as an alternative that provides similar bursts of sweetness.
Dense buns usually result from using too much flour, not allowing proper rising time, or killing the yeast with liquid that’s too hot. Make sure to measure flour correctly and be patient with the rising process for best results.
More Delicious Bread Recipes to Consider
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Karen A Austin
Hi, I have tried this recipe a couple of times and am having trouble getting the dough to rise. Any thoughts? I am a fairly new baker so my inexperience is likely contributing to my lack of success. LOL Thanks, Karen
Barbara Schieving
Hi Karen – sorry you’re having trouble. Do you have an instant-read thermometer, if your water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and the dough won’t rise. It also could be that you’re not giving it enough time to rise. There are some good tips in this post https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-to-proof-bread-when-its-cold-outside-and-inside/
Corinne
I tried this recipe today, and I thought the taste was great. However, I could not taste the cardamom. Also, I really wanted to do the double twist method, but could not figure it out based on the provided video and pictures. My made-up method looked pretty good before it baked, and then a number of them came unraveled a bit in the oven. Perhaps if you could post a video with a close-up view of the double twist method, that would help folks understand how it works. Thanks for the lovely breakfast treat!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Corinne – glad you enjoyed the buns! Generally, if they untwist it’s because the gluten is too tight and the dough just needs to rest a little bit to allow the gluten strands to relax. So if you’re fighting the dough just cover it and let it rest for a few minutes and then come back to it and try shaping it again. I’ll put making a video for this post on my to-do list.