These delicious Turkish coffee cardamom buns are a twist on the traditional cardamom buns made in Sweden, featuring an enriched dough swirled with a coffee-cardamom filling.
I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try to make kanelbullar bread buns, which are Swedish cardamom buns (basically the cinnamon roll of Sweden): swirly twirly bread bun knots with a cardamom filling and glazed in syrup.
Since I am a big fan of Turkish coffee, which combines cardamom and coffee, I decided to incorporate coffee in these cardamom buns. Similarly, the beverage also inspired this creamy coffee cheesecake recipe flavoured with cardamom.
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Of course, when I was working on this recipe, I made a spreadsheet as usual. I had to do something that was familiar and comforting that day! And then, I just went for it. I took snaps every step of the way to show how to make a dough in the mixer, to show what it looked like, to illustrate every step of the process. I even talked while recording. It was obviously very awkward. I'm not sure it really sounded like me.
I love lightly spiced breads, like this no-knead cinnamon raisin bread. But sometimes it's nice to change things up a bit. This recipe for kanelbullar (or maybe these are more like Scandinavian knutar buns flavoured with cardamom?) is different than all the sweet knotted cinnamon (and cardamom) bun recipes that I found on the interweb. I have a spreadsheet to prove it. I came up with a formula that I ended up having to adjust with a bit more flour than I expected before coming to this final recipe. The Scandinavians like to flavour their buns with lots of cardamom, which brought me to the conclusion that with a little coffee added to it all, we'd have Turkish coffee buns.
Sweet Turkish coffee is my favourite: a strong coffee with lots of cardamom. It's the inspiration for this recipe! I had a hunch that transforming a traditional Scandinavian cardamom bun into a Turkish coffee bun would work out well, and this recipe actually turned out better than I expected! I survived (with 12 gorgeous buns to show for all my efforts) to face another challenge of stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new.
If you tried this recipe for the best Turkish coffee cardamom buns (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Turkish coffee cardamom buns
Ingredients
For the bread dough
- 313 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
- 8 grams active dry yeast
- 375 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 156 grams whole wheat all-purpose flour
- 15 mL cardamom pods ground with a mortar & pestle to give 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 1 large egg(s)
- 58 grams unsalted butter softened
- whole milk (3.25 % fat) to brush on buns before baking
For the filling
- 115 grams unsalted butter softened
- 100 grams muscovado sugar ½ cup,
- 15 mL cardamom pods ground with a mortar & pestle to give 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 7.5 mL instant espresso powder
For the syrup glaze
- 125 mL water
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 15 mL cardamom pods ground with a mortar & pestle to give 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 45 mL ground coffee beans
- 2.5 mL vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Make the dough
- Heat the milk to 110ºF (43ºC), then stir in the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes to bubble and proof.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flours, cardamom, salt, and granulated sugar. Mix well.
- After the yeast has proofed and is foamy, whisk in the egg, then pour this mixture into the mixer bowl. Drop in the butter too. Mix with the paddle on medium–low until the dough comes together and all the ingredients are well mixed and hydrated.
- Switch to the dough hook. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes until the dough forms a ball.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the microwave (turned off, door closed) for about an hour until doubled in size.
Make the filling
- Cream together the butter with the muscavado, cardamom, and espresso powder. Set aside.
Assemble and bake the buns
- Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured surface (don't use too much flour!). Roll it out to a 12x16 inch rectangle.
- Spread the filling mixture evenly over the entire surface of the rectangle. Fold in half, lengthwise, then cut into 12 strips.
- Working with 1 strip at a time, twist and twirl the strip on itself into a spiral, then wrap it around your hand and pull the end through to knot it (see video).
- Transfer shaped buns to two large parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover with towels and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
Make the glaze and bake the buns
- Just before baking, brush the buns with a little whole milk to moisten them. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown.
- While the buns are baking, make the syrup by combining the water, sugar, cardamom, and freshly ground coffee. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture steep for 10 minutes, then strain into a heatproof bowl or glass. Mix in the vanilla bean paste.
- As soon as the buns are baked, remove the pans from the oven. Immediately brush the buns with the syrup. Give every bun a coat of glaze, then coat them again.
- Let the buns cool, then serve immediately
Notes
- This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
- Vanilla bean paste is an item that you can find in some specialty stores. I like the vanilla bean paste from Nielson Massey, available on Amazon
Jacque says
These are special! It’s my first experience with cardamom and I adore this lovely spice. My house smells wonderful, husband and houseguests impressed. I have made them twice in a week. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.
Cassie @ Crumb Kitchen says
These look fantastic, Janice! So ornate. I love that you included a video in there, that's super helpful.
Also, regarding comfort: I FEEL YOU. Sweatpants all the way! Don't worry too much about 'singledom' as you call it. I just found someone who does the same thing haha, and that works. 😉
Hannah @ Outinvancouver says
These look so delicious and cute. I am doing a no sweets month at the moment (only until May, so almost there!!) but once I eat sweets again, this is the first thing I am going to try! And then I will eat the whole batch myself probably 🙂
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
What a wonderful combination! I think these sound perfect. I am all about comfortable clothes too, and anything that resembles a tent is something I want to wear. Pants are for suckers. I also always put a little elastic around the button if I have to wear jeans or pants to make everything a little comfier. Way to step out of your comfort zone with this recipe, though! Isn't knotting the buns fun?
MDIVADOMESTICA says
Mmmmmm.....the smell of cardamom baking in the oven. Heavenly.
Nathalie says
Je ne laisse malheureusement pas souvent de commentaire, c'est le premier ici et pourtant je te suis avec attention depuis un bon moment. Manque de temps, j'ose pas... C'est assez nul quand on sait le travail que tout ça représente parce que c'est important de dire quand on aime.
Enfin, là impossible de rester silencieuse, ça donne trop envie ces petites choses.
Et puis la vidéo c'est vraiment chouette. BRAVO!!!
Bref j'adore venir ici 😉
Janice says
Bonjour Nathalie! Merci pour ton commentaire. Je ne sais pas vraiment comment tourner des vidéos, ni comment les monter et faire tout le "post-processing" qui suit, mais j'essaye quand même! Et ça me fait peur chaque fois que je commence, mais c'est aussi vraiment le fun. Je suis super contente que tu as aimé ma petite vidéo! Ça me rassure que je ne perds pas mon temps 😉 Je vais continuer d'essayer pleines de nouvelles choses pour mieux illustrer les recettes! Merci & bon week-end!
Shareba says
I'm a baggy sweatpants & Netflix loving woman myself, so I hear what you're saying. Comfort gets me through the week! That being said, I'm continually impressed with how you're working so hard to improve your blog, and you are trying new things. Give yourself more credit!
Janice says
Thanks, Shareba! I really appreciate the support! We should start a baggy sweatpants & Netflix addiction support group 😉