Scandi knot buns are elegant bread rolls and are traditionally served with sweet condiments.
Our take on the Swedish classic, which are actually called kanelbullar, have a savoury filling made from with beetroot and löksill (pickled herrings). The Scandi knot buns are also delicious on their own, with lashings of butter!
Baking is one of our favourite hobbies at the moment but there are only so many brownies (opens in new tab)a person can make after all. This recipe for Scandi knot buns will be sure to satisfy your kitchen cravings, while introducing a brand new baked good to add to your repertoire.
Or if you've managed to resist so far and reading this has just inspired you to get baking, why not also have a read of our easy guide on how to bake bread (opens in new tab)?
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 7g sachet easy bake yeast
- 300g strong white bread flour
- 100g light spelt flour
- 20g salted butter, softened
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp caraway seeds
For the beetroot paste:
- 150g cooked ready to eat beetroot
- 65g crème fraîche
- 1tbsp horseradish sauce
- A few sprigs of dill
For the glaze:
For the topping:
- Löksill or pickled herring
Method
- For the dough: mix the yeast in 275ml of tepid water. Weigh the other ingredients into the mixing bowl of an electric mixer like a KitchenAid. While mixing with the dough hook, pour in the water. Continue to mix on a high speed for about 10-15mins until the surface of the dough is a smooth texture. Pop into an oiled bowl and leave somewhere warm, covered with a tea towel to prove for an hour.
- To make the beetroot paste, blitz the ingredients together in a food processor.
- Divide the dough in half and tip out onto a well-floured surface, knead the dough to knock out some of the air then roll each half batch of dough out to a rectangle sized about 20x25cm.
- Spread 3tbsp of the beetroot paste onto one half leaving a small edge all the way around. Place the other half of the dough on top of the beetroot half and gently roll out a little more. With the dough in landscape, imagine it in thirds. 5 Fold the bottom third into the centre, then fold the top third right over to meet the other folded end.
- Roll the dough again, now focusing on making it taller. Trim off the rough ends to make the long rectangle neat and boxy and cut the dough into 12 strips.
- Twist each strip and, holding onto one end, wrap the dough around and tuck the tail under. Put onto 2 well floured baking trays leaving ample space between each knot. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to prove in a warm place for 1-1.5 hrs. When you press the dough and it doesn’t spring back it’s ready to bake.
- To glaze, mix the egg yolk with a tbsp of water and brush over the knots. Preheat the oven to 240C fan/Gas9 and bake for 10-12 mins.
- Serve with the remaining beetroot paste and pickled herring.
Top Tip for making Scandi knot buns
A wetter dough usually makes for a better bread but if it’s too difficult to handle knead in more flour before rolling out the dough.
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