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 coffee.
I’m leaving you with this beautiful braided Swedish Braided Cardamom Bread from Melissa’s new book, Scandinavian Gatherings.
This beautiful holiday Swedish bread is laced with fragrant cardamom and topped with crunchy pearl sugar (here’s a link if you want to make your own!). A lot of Scadinavian countries actually make lots of desserts with cardamom.
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.
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.
I made it on a day when I was doing a million things. But when it was done baking, I sat down, watched Real Housewives and ate a piece of this Swedish Braided Cardamom Bread while sipping some warm tea. Just like Scandinavians intended!
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
If you make this recipe, let me know on Instagram!
Looking for more breakfast recipes? Here are some favorites:
I have tried this recipe multiple times and it has never once turned out correctly. Loaves come out of the oven completely raw.
sounds like it might be your oven?
I bought a inexpensive oven thermometer just to make sure my oven was calibrated correctly. Perhaps that might work. Also, the directions says to bake “about” 20 minutes but the cook time in the beginning says “cook time: 30 minutes.” I made this for the first time, baking the loaves at 20 minutes. I think I’ll leave it in for 30 minutes the next time.
My gas oven is unreliable on its own. I need a good oven thermometer to be sure of reaching the correct temperature to bake or roast anything.
Just made this and it turned out wonderful! I grew up with “vetebröd” and this is pretty much the real deal!
I halved the recipe easily (just used an egg white I had left over for the egg wash) and only had 2% milk on hand, which worked fine. I also don’t have a stand mixer so just mixed it via hand and then kneaded it out on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, adding the last bit of flour in and to adjust the “stickiness”/elasticity quotient. I love the taste of cardamom so next time will use more of it or try to find some seeds to crush manually to give it more potency.
P.S. The pearled sugar link/recipe was perfect, thank you for that!
Hiiii! I’m excited to make this. Any idea what would happen if you added pearl sugar to the dough? I know that it’s used in waffle batter so I’m wondering if it’ll make little yummy sugar pockets in the bread?
This was WONDERFUL. Sven and Gustaf (I name my bread and that is completely normal) are delicious! I went full Swede and spread lingonberries on top of my slice. OMIGOD. Thank you for such a delicious recipe. I’ve shared it with a lot of people.
Hello! I am hoping to make this bread today, but was wondering if I used 2% milk instead of Whole Milk it wouldn’t turn out?
yes that should be totally fine!
I laughed so hard at “Sven and Gustaf” I almost pee’d my pants! . Thank you for a welcome belly laugh during this stressful COVID time!
While stuck at home during the pandemic, I’ve been stress baking this bread and dropping the loaves off on friends’ porches. It’s been a great stress relief activity, a good arm workout and a nice treat for friends! All have said it’s the best bread they’ve ever had!
Hello
You wouldn’t have the ingredients list in metric?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Absolutely perfect. Two huge loaves of sweet, lightly spiced bread. If you’re looking for a recipe to try while we’re all at home, this is it! I baked them on parchment on a stone at 375 for 25 minutes. Perfect for breakfast or any time of the day with a cup of coffee or tea. Thank you for this excellent recipe!
love hearing this!
Hi! Can I make these the dough the night before (step 5) and let them rise in the fridge overnight?
This is a yearly Christmas tradition (Swedish) in our family. It’s not Christmas without it. Delicious! We top ours with a drizzle of icing and a couple of maraschino cherries, so festive.
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.