Swedish Cardamom Knot Buns or Kardemummaknutar
Delicious and aromatic knot buns for cardamon lovers. Goes perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea.
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.