I have come to love these ubiquitous raisin buns so much that I decided I had to make them myself. A recipe was sourced and a translation provided by my kind farmer host. Improvisation courtesy of yours truly. Bonus: you can use the same dough for cinnamon rolls. Which of course I did.
RAISIN BUNS SCANDINADIA
.5 liter milk
2 eggs
1 package yeast (50g)
100-150g melted butter
1.5 deciliters sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
1.5 teaspoon cardamom
1.3 liters white flour (approx.)
raisins
Melt butter in small saucepan. Add milk when melted, turn off heat. Pour into bowl. Add crumbled yeast, one egg, sugar, and cardamom. Mix well with a wooden spoon. While stirring, add flour to form a wettish dough. Add raisins. Knead by hand in bowl until all is incorporated. Cover with cloth and let sit until double in size. When doubled, form into balls (sized to your preference) and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Beat remaining egg in small bowl or cup and brush on tops. Sprinkle with additional cardamom, cinnamon, and sanding sugar as desired. Bake 10-12 minutes at 240 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) or until just turning golden on the top. Removed from over, cool on wire rack.
Cinnamon bun variation: Mix as above, but (optionally) skip the raisins. When the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a well floured surface and stretch or roll into a flat oblong rectangle. Spread with butter and sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up lengthwise and cut with sharp knife to form rolls. The thickness of the dough and width you cut will determine their size (to each their own!). Place on parchment lined baking sheet, coat with beaten egg, and bake as above.
Enjoy warm, smeared with butter, dipped in coffee, for a midday delight, etc.
(To my American brethren out there you'll just have to do as I did and succumb to the measurements.)
