You have heard about Swedish cinnamon buns right? I have never seen a Swedish café without cinnamon buns. This bun is almost the same thing, bun the cinnamon is swapped for vanilla sugar. Some bakers just take the same dough and change the cinnamon, but that gives you vanilla buns with cardamom. I like the vanilla version without cardamom. I can’t really explain why but it gives me a more summery taste. Cinnamon and cardamom are more autumn for me. My recipe is inspired by this recipe. I just change a few things like having room temperatre on butter, instead of melting it. By doing so, the dough will require less flour, and the buns will be even more moist. The buns will be super soft and taste butter and vanilla. The strange thing is that I almost think that they taste even better out from the freezer. So, if you want to bake some extra, don’t hesitate. Make it double and put the rest in the freezer for the days you are craving for something delicious.
Want to make a cooler shape than buns? Check out this vanilla star! And follow me on Instagram (Click here) for all the updates!
Recipe for my perfect Swedish vanilla buns (Swedish vaniljbullar)
- 150 g salted butter, room temperature
- 5 dl milk
- 50 g fresh yeast
- 1 dl sugar
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 14 dl (approx.) flour
- 100 g salted butter, room temperature
- 2 dl sugar
- 6 tbsp vanilla sugar
- 1 egg
- Pearl sugar
Dough:
Crumble the yeast in a large bowl. Heat the milk in a saucepan to around 37 degrees C. Pour it over the yeast and add sugar and salt. Blend until the yeast is dissolved, and then add the soft butter.
Add most of the flour and mix. Work the dough smoothly, either in a machine or by hand. It should be smooth, but not too hard. Start with less flour and add just as much needed. You can always add more when you are rolling the dough. The dough is ready when it doesn’t stick to the bowl anymore but still is a bit sticky inside. Cover it with a towel and let it rise for about 40 minutes.
Line two trays with 12 larger muffins cases each. If you don’t have muffins cases, you can always use parchment paper. This will give you flatter buns, but still as yummy as the high ones.
The vanilla buns:
Take the dough out of the bowl and divide into two parts. Roll out one of the parts into a large rectangular shape and cover with half of the soft butter. Sprinkle with half of the sugar and vanilla sugar on top of the butter. Roll up and divide into 12 pieces and place them into the already prepared paper cases. Do the same with the other half of the dough.
Let the buns rise for 40 minutes again (under a towel) and preheat the oven to 225 degrees C.
Beat one egg (add some drops of water and a pinch of salt for easier application) and use a brush to cover the buns. Sprinkle with lots of pearl sugar! Bake in the upper part of the oven for 8 minutes until golden brown.
Enjoy! (I love a glass of cold milk with these!)
Vanilla and berries is a very good combination. Try to put some raspberries or blueberries on top of the vanilla filling before making a roll of it. Let me know if you upgraded these buns with something else!