Pulla-Finnish Cardamom Coffee Bread
Rich, buttery Finnish cardamom coffee bread
Ingredients
For The Dough
- 1 pkg active dry yeast 2 1/4 tsp
- 1/2 cup warm water 120 mL
- 2 cups lukewarm whole milk 480 mL
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp crushed cardamom
- 4 eggs beaten
- 9 cups all-purpose flour 1,080 g
- 1/2 cup melted butter-OR softened-see update below 1 stick/8 Tbsp
Glaze/Topping (Optional)
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 Tbsp whole milk or cream
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup pearl sugar or crushed lump sugar
Instructions
- Stir the yeast into the warm water to dissolve
- Place yeast/water mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the milk, sugar, salt, cardamom, eggs, and about two cups of flour. *I recommend pre-weighing the flour in a separate bowl. If you use cups to measure it, measure carefully to avoid adding too much flour, which will lead to a dry, stiff dough.
- Stir until a batter is formed, then increase speed to beat until smooth
- Add about 3 cups more flour and beat, usually at this stage the dough looks smooth and glossy
- Stir in melted butter.
- Stir in the remaining flour. The dough should be cohesive, but not quite stiff. If it gets to the point where it's very stiff and manageable it often bakes up a little too dry. I prefer to handle a dough that's a bit sticky and irritating, because the final product is way more delicious!
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. You can rest the dough about 15 minutes at this point, and then knead until smooth.
- Place in a greased mixing bowl, cover and let rise until doubled-if your kitchen is warm, this will take about an hour, if it is cool, it may take longer.
- Punch down gently and let rise again about 30 minutes, it should be very puffy again
- WIthout punching down, turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into three equal parts, then divide each of these into three equal parts.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
- Roll out each piece of dough into a long cylinder, about 16 inches
- Take 3 pieces, pinch the tops together, and braid together into a straight braid shape. Pinch the bottoms togehter as well, then turn each end under.
- Repeat with the other two loaves.
- Lightly grease baking sheets and lift the loaves onto them.
- Let rise until slightly puffy again, about 20 minutes.
- Beat egg with 1 Tbsp milk for egg wash, and brush over each loaf. Add almonds and pearl sugar if you wish.
- Bake at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. They will be fragrant and golden brown.
- Slice and serve with coffee!
Notes
1. 2024 UPDATE: I've been experimenting with adding softened butter instead of melted. I really like the results, it's super rich, soft, and fluffy! To use this technique, cut the 8Tbsp butter into 1/2 inch pats and let come to room temperature. Stir in all the flour, then with the mixer on low speed add one pat of butter at a time until it's all incorporated. Proceed with kneading.
2. I also recommend taking the time to crush your own cardamom pods. The fragrance and taste is unmatched! It will, however, be totally delicious with regular ground cardamom from the spice aisle. Use about 1/2Tbsp for this recipe in place of the crushed.
3. I always recommend checking the temperature of water before adding yeast. It should be 110-115 degrees.
4. If you prefer to knead in the kitchen aid with the dough hook attachment, that will work too! I still turn out onto a floured surface after and knead briefly to make sure it's all uniformly smooth.
5. If you prefer, skip the almonds and sugar, and frost your pulla with a simple vanilla frosting after it cools.
Nutrition
Serving: 54gCalories: 170kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSugar: 6g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!