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This Swedish Braided Cardamom Bread recipe is a traditional holiday loaf that’s a delicious enriched dough that’s topped with pearl sugar. This puffy braided dough is perfect when paired with warm homemade hot chocolate or a gingerbread latte.
I’m leaving you with this beautiful braided Swedish Braided Cardamom Bread from Melissa’s new book, Scandinavian Gatherings.
Spices in Scandinavian Baked Goods
When I was in Copenhagen a few years ago, a woman, who was an ardent baker, told me that people in Scandinavia used A LOT of spices because years ago it was indicative of how much money you had. The more spices you used, the more money you had. Spices came from far away places and it signified that you could afford such spices. Interesting fun fact, eh?
That’s why you’ll find cardamom cookies and cardamom breads with a really liberal amount of spice added to them. And I’m absolutely down. (I obviously love spices; see my Chewy Chai Masala Snickerdoodles.)
How to Make Swedish Cardamom Braided Bread
- Warm and combine the milk, sugar, butter and yeast. This will make the yeast all foamy and perfect.
- Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the hook attachment.
- And then add some of the flour, salt, ground cardamom and egg.
- Next, add 1 more cup of flour and it’ll all come together.
- Transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl and let it rise for 1 hour. As a result, it’ll double in size.
- Punch down the dough and knead it for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 6-equal pieces.
How to Braid the Dough
Braided dough seems a lot harder than it looks. It’s truly not that difficult. You divide the dough into six (because we have two loves). And then you braid those strands into three. It’s a wonderfully soft dough that is super easy to handle.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely. Bake them the night before you want to serve them. I like to wrap them in plastic wrap and store them at room temperature. And then you can warm them up just before serving.
You don’t need to serve these warm but if you’d like to wrap them in foil and place them in a 200F oven. Keep them in there for 10 minutes until warm.
More Cozy Christmas Recipes to Make
Holiday
Fluffy Gingerbread Rolls
Desserts
Sticky Toffee Persimmon Pudding
Desserts
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Holiday
Cranberry Margarita
If you tried this Swedish Braided Cardamom Bread Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Swedish Braided Cardamom Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 packets active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- 2 large eggs, divided
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 2 tablespoons Swedish pearl sugar
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the milk and sugar; whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter, and heat over medium low, stirring gently, until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat.
- Allow the milk mixture to cool to the temperature of a warm bath (not hot!), and stir in the yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes to make sure the yeast is active and alive. You should see bubbles on the surface (don’t be alarmed if it’s not super foamy), and the mixture should grow in volume.
- When you are certain the yeast is working, in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the milk mixture. Add 2 cups of the flour, and the salt, cardamom, and 1 of the egg. Mix until combined.
- Add 3 more cups of the flour and stir until it is completely incorporated. Add the remaining 1 cup of flour a little at a time until the dough forms a ball and is no longer super sticky when lightly touched with your finger. You might not use the entire cup of flour.
- Transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Punch down the dough, knead by and for 1 to 2 minutes on a well-floured surface, and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into six equal portions. Roll each portion into a skinny rope about 15 inches long. Line up three dough ropes side by side on the counter in front of you. Pinch one end of the rope together, then gently braid the three ropes into a loaf. When you reach the end, pinch the remaining dough together and tuck it under the loaf slightly. Repeat with the other three dough ropes to make a second loaf.
- Place each loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and let it rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- To make an egg wash, in a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1 egg and the milk together. Brush the top and sides of both braided loaves with the egg wash, then sprinkle each loaf with 1 tablespoon pearl sugar.
- Bake the loaves until browned on top, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The worst recipe ever. I made this 4 times and the bread never turned out. Either the directions are wrong or I am doing something wrong. I bought all new ingredients and followed this to the T!!!! Horrible….. I am
Very disappointed.
hi kim, can you tell me what went wrong? what happened? what did the dough look like? what part didn’t work specifically?
I grew up on this bread! This was my first time baking it and it turned out beautiful. So tasty! My son and husband said I can’t give away the second loaf! All for them I guess! Thanks!!
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Can I use bread flour?
I don’t advise that because the recipe was tested with all-purpose and bread flour has a different hydration rate. You can surely try it but you may need more liquid!
Can I substitute almond milk for whole mill?
That should work!
Do you know if this bread freezes well? I made it, and it is delicious, but I’m worried I won’t be able to eat it all quick enough while it’s still fresh.
Oh I’m not sure actually but if you try it please let me know. I don’t see why it wouldn’t freeze well.
Update: this bread does freeze well.
Amazing! Thanks for reporting back. xo
My Swedish grandmother made cardamom bread regularly. She cut the dough into smaller sections and made individual pretzel-shaped rolls. She stored extras in tins kept in a cool pantry. This recipe seems more like hers than others. My advice: don’t do substitutes until you try the original recipe. Grammy had the basics, not oat or almond milk. Yeast is sensitive. It likes sugars and warm temperatures to rise properly.
I just made this for my mom for Mother’s Day and it was as fun to make as it was to eat 🙂 We enjoyed it with a side of ice-cream for dessert last night, and then turned it into French toast for breakfast this morning. Such a neat recipe – thank you for sharing!
aww this makes me happy to hear! happy mother’s day to your mama! xo
This turned out beautifully! So incredibly delicious. Thank you!
I am so glad I found this recipe. My favorite aunt used to bake this bread when I was a child and I’ve always been obsessed with cardamom. She died some years ago and I lost the recipe. While there are many versions of this on the internet, this one comes the closest as to how she made it.
We aren’t even Scandinavian! We’re Mexican!
Do you think this would be terrible with raisins? Or maybe 1 tsp. cardamom and 1 tsp. cinnamon? I’m thinking of the french toast/bread pudding possibilities…
i think it would be delicious with raisins! i wouldn’t add THAT much cardamom. it’s so strong. but i think 1 teaspoon cinnamon would be amazing.
Confused that you call 1 tsp of cardomom “THAT much cardomom” since your recipe calls for 2 tsp of cardomom.
This recipe is identical to one that was given to me by a dear friend from Sweden.
She was a caterer well into her eighties and this was one of her most requested breads
when catering breakfasts. In more than forty years I have seen many variations but this one is by far the best. It is moist, light and is perfect for either knot rolls or braided. You have shared a gem with your readers that they will enjoy for many years to come.
Ahhh! YAY! I really want to make an iteration where I put melted chocolate in the middle and make ’em into knots!