Semla Wheat Buns

Semla buns are light yeast buns with cardamom and small amount of sugar. They are the foundation for the traditional Swedish pastry “semla”, however they are also very nice to eat plain when warm with some butter. They taste very light and just a touch sweet with a hint of cardamom. These buns are really easy to make and don’t require any kneading or much rising.

16 buns

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
3 teaspoon instant yeast (10 gram)
1/3 cup sugar
375 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 plus 1/16 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Method:

Melt the butter, add the milk. In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar, flour and cardamom. Once the dry ingredients are mixed, add the salt (this is done to make sure the yeast doesn’t come in direct contact with the salt which can kill it). Add the melted butter and the milk to the dry mixture and work the together with a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 40 min – 1 hour.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide it in 16 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a bun. Place the buns on two lined sheet pans, cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes ideally in 75 – 80 degrees. (If your kitchen is colder than that, you can put your oven on warm for a minute, then shut it off and leave the dough inside the oven for the rising period).

Whisk the egg together and brush each bun with the egg wash.

Bake the buns in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes. If you are baking both sheet pans at the same time, make sure to rotate them halfway through the baking time for even browning. Let cool on a cooling rack with a baking towel lined on top.

Either enjoy plain with some butter and cold milk to drink, or assemble them into the Swedish pastry “cream and almond semlas”