How to Make Beautiful Cardamom & Cinnamon Rolls – Korvapuusti

Cinnamon & cardamom are classic Christmas flavours and they’re extremely popular in Northern Europe. From loaves to rolls to cookies many different bakes are flavoured with these fragrant spices during the festive season.

I love cardamom so I absolutely had to make these rolls. The recipe is extremely simple and easy and the result you’ll get will be super tasty and rewarding.

If you want to take the softness to the next level, you can incorporate a scald into the recipe. I wanted to keep it simple this time and the result is still nice and soft. But if you want to make and keep the rolls for later, then definitely consider scalding.

Flavour wise you can adjust the spices by changing the amounts or swapping for others like clove, nutmeg, ginger, etc.

This recipe makes around 14 rolls. To make more or less multiply or divide the ingredients. If you are making the full recipe, I would suggest proofing and baking on two trays to give the rolls enough space to spread out.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

500g (1.1lb) white bread flour

10g (0.35oz) salt

7g (0.24oz) instant dry yeast or 8.4g (0.3oz) active dry yeast or 21g (0.74oz) fresh yeast

80g (2.8oz) soft butter

80g (2.8oz) sugar

230g (8.1oz) milk

1 medium egg (50g; 1.75oz)

6g (0.21oz) whole cardamom pods or 3g (0.1oz) ground cardamom

To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.

The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration. 

If you are using active dry yeast, then you may need to let it sit in the water for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.

If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.

For the filling –

120g (4.25oz) sugar

100g (3.5oz) soft butter

7g (0.24oz) cinnamon

Mix to a smooth paste.

To top –

1 egg (beaten)

Sugar nibs

For the syrup –

20g (0.7oz) water

40g (1.4oz) sugar

Bring to a boil just before the rolls come out the oven.

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the milk, egg, butter, sugar, yeast, salt, and cardamom. Mix well to dissolve the salt and hydrate the yeast. Add the flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature 25C (77F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust fermentation time accordingly.
2. Cover and ferment for 1 hour.
3. Fold.
4. Ferment for 1 hour.
5. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle. Spread the filling onto the dough in an even layer leaving a gap at the top. Brush the gap with egg or water.
6. Roll the dough up and seal it. Cut into individual rolls. Place on a non-stick paper lined baking tray. Press your finger into the middle of each roll to make the swirls squeeze out sideways.
7. Cover and final proof for 1.5 – 2 hours. During the final hour of fermentation pre-heat the oven to 160C (320F) fan on.
8. Brush the rolls with egg and sprinkle with sugar.
9. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until nicely browned on all sides.
10. As soon as the rolls come out the oven brush them with the hot sugar syrup.

Leave to cool down and enjoy!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.