Swedish Cardamom Buns

Oh Cardamom…is there any spice better? There are lots of spices out there, but few come close to cardamom, in my book. I have used cardamom in my skincare products before because of its skin healing benefits and grounding fragrance; however, the cardamom flavor is what makes these buns over the top good! Interestingly, cardamom isn’t used much in mainstream American baking, but it has been used for hundreds of years (or more) all over the world, including the land of my ancestors, Scandinavia. I proudly have Swedish, Norwegian and Danish blood flowing through my veins so I’ve made it my mission to learn more about the cuisines of each country and to perfect my culinary skills.

Denmark has their own version of cardamom buns, but I prefer the Swedish variety. Danish cardamom buns look more like rolls and often contain raisins (no thanks!). The Swedish buns are more flavorful and more aesthetically pleasing because of their braids. There are many different ways that you can braid a cardamom bun, but my favorite way to braid them can be found in this Youtube video.

The recipe that I used for these buns is……drumroll……a Pioneer Woman recipe! Haha. Probably not what you were expecting, but it’s a SUPER DUPER DUPER GOOD RECIPE! Click here for it. You just have to be patient with letting the dough rise for a sufficient amount of time. And yes, it takes close to four hours to make these so, if you are going to make them make sure to carve out enough time in your day to make them properly. For them to turn out right, you have to put in the effort =)

One variation I made on the Pioneer Woman recipe (above) was that I replaced the cardamom in the glaze with dried organic rose petals. I love the combination of rose with cardamom and adding the rose petals to the glaze gives the buns a nice balance of flavor. Totally optional though. Either way you do it, you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoy!