Best Finnish Pulla (cardamom bread)

This is by far one of the best sweet doughs I ever made. It is a yeast bread laced with cardamom, with a soft texture and it comes together easily. It's the perfect recipe for holiday braided breads.

Baking festive bread is something that's always on my end-of-the-year bucket list. Sadly for them, they hardly ever get made. Blame it on the hectic month of December, which here includes hot days and preparing for summer vacation.

About this Pulla bread recipe

It is a specialty of Scandinavian baking, and is very popular in Finland. 

This is a brioche-like dough, enriched with eggs and butter. Easier to make and much more gentle on your stand mixer since it doesn't need to knead it for so long you're afraid it might just explode, as it does with brioche.

I knew this was a great bread, but it exceeded my expectations. It is easy to make, absolutely delicious with a wonderful crumb, and can be used for so many things, from cinnamon or orange rolls to little sandwich breads, to french toast or bread pudding.

What is cardamom?

Cardamom is a spice made from seeds and, in my opinion, has a lemony mint flavor, very unique.
So aromatic and fresh and just plain wonderful.  I completely omitted the vanilla and got exactly the cake I wanted.

Buying pods and grinding them yourself is highly recommended. As opposed to buying ground cardamom. The flavor is very different in my experience. Unless you buy super freshly ground cardamom, it loses its flavor and power very quickly.

 This is a recipe from Beatrice Ojakangas that I made for a group I was in many years ago.

Now, if you never heard of her it's fine. But if you never made her quick danish dough recipe you really should. Really. No kidding. You should make danish with her recipe, it's amazing.

Back to our bread, I love Scandinavian baked things. They usually have cardamom, which is one of my favorite spices. 

I love my simple Cardamom Bundt Cake with that incredible texture, or the very spicy Ginger Cardamom Cookies, one of my favorites for the holiday season. 

The butter is melted before adding, very nice, it makes for a silky smooth dough. Then comes an interesting part which involves oiling the work surface in order to work easily when braiding the bread.

This is a round braided loaf, so the three strands have to be very long. But man, that oiled dough is a marvel to work with, the strands get braided in no time, there's no messy adhering of dough to the counter and it's quite easy to maintain the shape of the whole thing.

After all, it's almost Christmas, we want our bread to look pretty. Don't we? Though my braids will always be irregular. It's just my style. or so I tell myself.

This bread is quite a magnificent thing. It comes out of the oven all puffed and golden, the kind of bread that attracts looks.

It makes a good King's Wreath or Easter Bread. They are supposed to be different, but usually, one type of dough works well for both occasions.

I really urge you to try it. It's that good.

---

Related recipes you might like:

---

Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it and if you had issues so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here. It's much appreciated.
You might also consider subscribing to our FREE email series to Boost your Home Baking Skills! And our regular newsletter.
And let's connect via Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Print