Traditional Swedish Cardamom Buns (Kardemummabullar)
These traditional Swedish cardamom buns are soft, tender and bursting with cardamom flavor. They are also surprisingly easy to make at home!
Prep time: PT45M
Cook time: PT15M
Total time: PT225M
Rating
4.96 stars (21 reviews)
Keywords
cardamom bun recipe
Ingredients
5 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons whole milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (cooled)
½ cup whole milk (slightly warm)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons cardamom seeds (removed from the outer pod if necessary and crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg
All of the tangzhong (cooled)
8 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cardamom seeds (removed from the outer pod if necessary and crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder)
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (removed from the outer pod if necessary and crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder)
Categories
baking
Breads and Buns
Fika
Cuisine
Nordic
Scandinavain
Swedish
Steps
Make the tangzhong: Combine water, milk and flour in a medium saucepan. Whisk until combined and no lumps remain. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook mixture, whisking constantly, until it thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Make the dough: While the tangzhong is cooling, begin preparing the rest of the ingredients for the dough. Combine yeast, cardamom, salt, sugar and flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk briefly by hand to combine.
Attach the dough hook to the mixer. Add melted and cooled butter, slightly warm milk, egg and the cooled tangzhong (it can be slightly warm to the touch) to the dry ingredients. Mix on medium low until fully combined.
Increase mixer speed to medium and knead mixture for 4-5 minutes or until dough is slightly tacky but not sticky and clears the side of the bowl. It’s okay if it’s sticking to the bottom of the bowl slightly. You can also mix and knead the dough by hand but it will take longer, more like 8-10 minutes.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it is 1 ½ or 2 times its original size (about 1 ½ to 2 hours). The time will largely depend on the temperature of your kitchen.
In the meantime, make the filling. Combine butter, flour, salt, brown sugar and cardamom in a medium bowl. Using a fork, mix ingredients together until a smooth, spreadable paste forms.
Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it onto a clean countertop. Roll out with a rolling pin until it is in the shape of a rectangle that is about 16 by 20 inches in size. The dough should be smooth enough that you do not need to add flour during the rolling process. If yours is sticking the rolling pin, however, sprinkle a little flour over the dough as necessary to prevent this from happening.
Using an off-set spatula, spread filling in a thin even layer over the bottom half of the dough.
Fold the top half of the dough rectangle down over the lower half. Roll the folded dough a few times to help everything flatten and adhere. Cut the dough into 12 evenly-sized strips that are about 8 inches in length. A pizza wheel works great for this!
Working with one strip of dough at a time, use your pizza wheel or a sharp knife to make a slit up the center of the dough strip until there is just about 3/4 of an inch at the top. The strip of dough will look like a tall pair of pants. Leaving the dough strip on the countertop, twist each "leg" a few times using the thumb and forefinger of each hand.
Loosely wrap one of the twisted legs up and around the top of the pants, followed by the other leg, securing the bottom of the last leg by coming up and through the center of the bun.
Place the shaped bun on a prepared baking sheet. Once you have six buns shaped and placed on one of the baking sheets, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Continue with remaining buns, shaping and placing them on the second baking sheet before covering with plastic wrap. Let covered buns rise for an additional 45 minutes.
Starting with the batch of buns you shaped first, bake one pan of buns at a time for 12-16 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the baking sheet half way through the baking time. Remove the buns from the oven and cover with a clean tea towel while they cool. This traps the excess moisture in and helps keep the buns soft. Repeat with the second baking sheet.
Heat 3 tablespoons of light corn syrup and 1 tablepoon of water in the microwave or on the stove until bubbling. Combine 3 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cardamom in a small bowl. Brush the syrup over the buns and sprinkle each bun with cardamom sugar. Serve immediately!
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 323 kcal
Carbohydrates: 43 g
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 15 g
Saturated Fat: 9 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 51 mg
Sodium: 258 mg
Sugar: 17 g
Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
Reviews
Maria on 2025-08-09 (5 stars): I love this recipe!! It makes 12-13 fluffy and perfectly chewy buns with strong cardamom flavor if you use freshly ground cardamom. They really are best the day-of so be prepared to give some away or eat multiple!
I have tried this recipe with a few adjustments including: first rise in the fridge overnight, using oat milk instead of whole milk, and using an egg wash instead of corn syrup. Every time it has turned out delicious!
Terri Swanson on 2025-07-30 (5 stars): I made these and they were absolutely delicious and beautiful—definitely rivaling those we tried on a recent trip to Norway. For me, the baking time was only 12 minutes—low end of the range and I did rotate the pan mid-way through the bake as indicated. I can’t believe how good these are! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Lachlan on 2025-07-28 (5 stars): I just came back to visit by Swedish partner’s relatives in Stockholm and also was obsessed with the baking there. So glad to find such a perfect recipe - his other relatives back home were shocked how good they were, especially on a first attempt. Thank you so much Kristi.
Stephanie on 2025-07-20 (5 stars): I fell in love with kardemummabullar on a recent trip to Stockholm and immediately missed them when I arrived home, so I was so happy to find this recipe to make my own! I'm not a baker whatsoever but this recipe was super easy to follow and the buns turned out delicious. Now I can't wait to try some of your other recipes! Tack!
J Farmer on 2025-07-13 (5 stars): Just returned from Scandinavia and wanted to try to make cardamom buns... these were perfect!
Ali on 2025-06-21 (5 stars): These were great. Not too difficult to make. Texture remained moist and soft several hours after baking. Thanks for sharing this recipe!