How to Make The Best Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns (Kardemummaknutar)!
My husband loves cardamon and I decided to make him a special treat. Kardemummaknutar or Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns are a popular classic bun with an unbashedly all-out cardamom flavor. The dough is cut into strips, twisted around and tied into a loose knot, which is how it gets its names. Kardemummaknutar are also known as Kardemummabullar, or simply Cardamom Buns.
Intro to Swedish Buns
I first heard of these buns when watching the Great British Bake Off show. One of the contestants Henry made a version called Chocolate Kardemummabullar. At that time I thought, “What a spectacular word!”. The word Kar-de-mum-ma-bul-lar is so much fun to say. Also, I was drooling over the lovely buns. Needless to say, that left an impression on me. lol.
First off, I have to say that making Kardemummaknutar or Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns is a labor of love. They are not too challenging to make but they do takes a bit of time. The hands-on time is not that long. Most of it is just waiting of the dough to rest and rise. The results are so worth it! These fun cardamom knot buns topped with sugar pearls are soft, delicious and go beautifully with a cup of tea or coffee.
Making Kardamummaknutar
There are really 3 key parts to making these Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns:
First, we prepare a soft and stretchy dough. Then, we make a sweet cardamom rich filling. And last but not least, we shape the dough into knots. The key thing to remember is to not rush the proofing and resting time. The dough needs time to do its magic and rise so that the final buns are pouffy and delicious.
Gathering the ingredients
Let’s start by gathering all the ingredients. I usually like to have all the ingredients ready so I don’t have to scramble in the middle of putting this together. You will need:
35 Cardamom pods, green
1½ cups Whole Milk
10 Tbs Unsalted Butter, cubed, divided
4 cups Bread (or high protein) Flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup Turbinado Sugar, divided
2¼ tsp Fast-Acting Yeast (1 sachet)
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Salt
Olive Oil for greasing bowl
1 large Egg, beaten for eggwash
2 Tbs Pearl Sugar* or substitute with crushed sugar cubes
Preparing Cardamom Seeds
I am not a stranger to Cardamom. We use this ingredient in various Asian dishes and I always have a small bottle in my spice drawer.
I find that it’s easiest to use a pair of kitchen shears to snip open the Cardamom pods to remove the seeds. Or you can do it the old fashioned mortar and pestle way and pound to crack open the pods. Either way, once the seeds are removed from the pods, you will need to boil or crush the seeds to maximize the flavor extraction. For this recipe, you’ll need about 30-35 whole cardamom pods.
Cardamom infused milk
The first thing to make is the Cardamom infused milk. Crack open about 10 pods and tip the seeds into a small pan with 1½ cups of Whole Milk over medium heat.
Once warmed, but not boiling, remove from heat and add 3½ tablespoons of butter into the warm cardamom milk.
Set aside to cool until lukewarm. Stir gently to encourage butter to melt. Once cooled, strain to remove the cardamom seeds. Now it’s ready to be mixed into the dry ingredients.
Preparing the dough for Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns
Put the 4 cups of sifted bread flour, 1/3 cup (6 Tablespoons) of sugar, 2¼ tsp yeast, ½ tsp cinnamon and ½ tsp salt into a large bowl (or your mixer). Next, mix well till combined. Then, set aside.
Pour the cooled strained cardamom milk butter mixture into the flour. Using a sturdy spoon, or the dough hook in your mixer, mix to form a soft dough. If kneading by hand, tip the dough onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes. If using the mixer, run it for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy. After that, put dough into a large lightly oiled bowl. Then, cover with kitchen towel and let it rise for 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size. You can also proof it overnight in the fridge.
Making Cardamom Butter
Simply add ground cardamom to the sugar. Take out 2 Tablespoon of this mixture and set aside to reserve.
Then, use the remaining cardamon sugar and mix with butter until thoroughly combined. This cardamom sugar butter filling will be spread all over the dough.
Shaping Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns
Once the dough is ready to be shaped, remove air and tip onto a working surface. I find using my pastry mat very handy for this.
Roll out dough to roughly 15″ x 18″, with the long edge facing you. Then, carefully spread the prepared cardamom butter all over the surface.
Fold the top half of the rectangle towards the bottom. Then lightly score the the dough into 16 equal strips. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut.
Next, cut each strip down the middle, leaving the top attached.
Then carefully tie the dough in a knot and tuck the ends underneath the bun.
Hold the strip like this over your fingers Make a loop under and over your fingers
Gently hold the middle, wrap the strip to the right and back up to the left Loop the strip over the top and neatly tuck the ends under the whole bundle
Placed the shaped buns on the tray and repeat with the remaining strips.
Final Proofing for Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns
When completed, cover baking trays with clingwrap, and let them rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until it doubled in size.
When the shaped buns are resting, preheat the oven to 375F.
After the dough buns have puffed up, brush with eggwash, and sprinkle with sugar pearls.
If sugar pearls are not easily available, you can use crushed sugar cubes instead.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. When the buns are baking, prepare the cardamom syrup. Tip the remaining 2 Tablespoon of cardamom sugar into a small pan with 3½ Tablespoon of water. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and cool.
When done, pull the buns out of oven and cool on racks. Finally, brush syrup over the buns several times as they are cooling. Let the syrup soak for 20 minutes before eating.
Your Kardemummaknutars Swedish Cardamom Knots are ready! Smaklig måltid!
Notes on Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns:
Tip 1: Make sure to place the dough at least 2 inches apart on the baking pan or they will clump together when baked.
Tip 2: Buns can be kept for up to 2 days in a sealed container, or freeze for 2 months. To prepare frozen buns, simply defrost at room temperature and reheat for 5 minutes in the oven before eating.
More fab food ideas:
Have you tried these ooey gooey soft and fluffy Cinnamon Buns? They are so delicious and hard to stop at eating one. Check out the recipe by clicking on the link to my post I Tried Making the Best Cinnamon Rolls at Home!
If you are in the mood for berries, try this scrumptious Strawberries Craisin Oatmeal Cup. You can make it from start to finish in under an hour!
If you are in the mood for something savory, how about checking out this colorful veggie casserole? It has an unexpected roasted sweet potatoes bottom!
Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns or Kardemummaknutar
Ingredients
- 35 Cardamom pods, green
- 1½ cups Whole Milk
- 10 Tbs Unsalted Butter, cubed, divided
- 4 cups Bread Flour, plus more for dusting High protein flour
- 1 cup Turbinado Sugar, divided
- 2¼ tsp Fast-Acting Yeast 1 sachet
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Salt
- Olive Oil for greasing
- 1 large Egg, beaten for eggwash
- 2 Tbs Pearl Sugar
Instructions
- Gather all your ingredients. Use kitchen shears to cut open 10 cardamom pods. Add seeds into small saucepan with milk. Warm until steaming, do not boil. Add 3½ Tbs of butter into the cardamom warm milk and set aside to cool until lukewarm. Stir gently to encourage butter to melt.
- Put the flour, 1/3 cup (6 Tablespoons) of sugar, yeast, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl (or your mixer). Mix till well combined. Set aside.
- When cooled, strain the cardamom milk butter mixture into the flour. Using a sturdy spoon, or the dough hook in your mixer, mix to form a soft dough. If kneading by hand, tip the dough onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes. If using the mixer, run it for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Put dough into a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover with ktichen towel and let it rise for 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size. You can also proof it overnight in the fridge.
- Cut open the remaining cardamom pods and crush the seeds into a powder. Combine the cardamom powder with remaining 2/3 cup of sugar. Set aside 2 Tbs of this cardamom sugar. Mix the rest of the cardamom sugar with the remaining butter.
- Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside. Punch down the dough and roll to a rectangle roughly 15 inches x 18 inches, with the long edge facing you. Spread the cardamom butter over the surface, right to the edges. Fold the top third down to the middle, and the bottom third up, like an envelope, so you have 3 layers of dough. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, lightly score, and then cut into 16 equal strips. Cut each strip down the center, leaving it attached at the top. Twist and tie the dough in a knot and tuck the ends underneath the bun. Place on the tray and repeat with all the remaining strips.
- Cover the buns on both trays with lightly oiled clingwrap and leave to rise in warm place for approx 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Pre-heat oven to 375° F.
- Uncover the buns and brush with eggwash and sprinkle with sugar pearls. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Tip the remaining 2 Tablespoon of cardamom sugar into a small pan with 3½ Tablespoon of water. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and cool. Brush syrup over the buns several times as they are cooling on the rack. Let it soak for 20 minutes before eating.
Notes
- Make sure to place the dough at least 2 inches apart on the baking pan or they will clump together when baked.
- Buns can be kept for up to 2 days in a sealed container, or freeze for 2 months.
- To prepare frozen buns, simply defrost at room temperature and reheat for 5 minutes in the oven before eating.
This recipe was adapted from BBC Good Food https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cardamom-buns
Anna Banana has wonderfully clear pictures on how to shape the buns https://annabanana.co/swedish-cardamom-buns/
