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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.
Iโm leaving you with this beautiful braided Swedish Braided Cardamom Bread from Melissaโs 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?
Thatโs why youโll 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 itโll all come together.
- Transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl and let it rise for 1 hour. As a result, itโll 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
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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.
This came out fantastic, brought it to Easter brunch everyone loved it. Thank you for sharing!
Blessings
So amazing to hear, Carla!
Haven’t made this yet but I plan to soon. A tip I saw with another cardamom recipe (I’m a little addicted to cardamom) is to buy the pods, remove the seeds and then grind with a mortar and pestle so some are bigger and some are more fine. You’ll get more of the cardamom flavor then. Thanks for the recipe!
I grew up with my grandmother making Swedish bread,& then of course my Mother did. She gave us her recipe and us three sisters & between us 5 daughters have made this. Itโs different, delicious & reminds me of my grandmother & those wonderful days.
I come from a very Swedish immigrant family in Oregon and grew up with memories of the most wonderful cardimom bread on holidays. Unfortunately my grandmother passed and her recipes with her. This is not only very close it is quite easy to make. The family is grateful . BTW I am a 75 yr old Swede/Dane in Oregon and my grandmother died in 1978. She was truly old country. Thank you.
Delightful! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It was easy to make and tastes wonderful.
I had to add this:
THANK YOU for publishing a recipe that ACTUALLY turns out .
Backstory:I spent a few hundred $ on supplies to make Christmas recipes I found online…. nothing turned out as promised. I think most are untested or scams?
Anyway, I tried yours which cost me NOTHING ( lol) and it’s “FANTASTISK”! Just like Sweden.
Thanks for saving Christmas
WOW amazing. I love that it worked out for you Liz. Merry Christmas ๐
Made this yesterday and ate half as soon as it cooled , it was EXCELLENT! I lived in Sweden 50 years ago and THIS was just like the bread I remember. So soft and sweet. Not a difficult bread recipe. I added about one Tbsp per loaf cardamon since mine was already a ground from the store.
I’ll use this recipe without spice, to try to replicate the white bread we ate daily in Sweden, which was unlike any bread I’ve had since.It was very much like this as well.
Amazing to hear!
All was fine, except not nearly enough cardamom (probably 2 T vs 2 tsp). Otherwise the bread was light and tasty with butter on it.
Jeff, get cardamom pods, take out the seeds and grind them – It will be more cardamomy!
Can you use bread flour instead of all-purpose? Or will that change the texture/ratios too much?
Hi Rey! I wouldn’t do that because usually bread flour does require more liquid and I haven’t tested it with bread flour so I would stick to all-purpose.