Saffron buns (Lussekatter) for Advent breakfast

Saffron buns (Lussekatter) made with spelt flour, milk and butter, sweetened with honey and decorated with raisins. A family-friendly breakfast for the Swedish feast of St Lucia on 13 December.

At a glance

• Serves 12
• Prep time: 120 min
• Cooking time: 12 min
• Total time: 132 min
• Calories: 243 kcal per serving
• Protein: 7 g
• Fat: 7 g
• Carbs: 37 g

Ingredients

• 250ml milk
• 70g butter
• 0.5g saffron threads
• 60g honey
• 500g spelt flour
• 1 egg
• 30g raisins
• 1 egg yolk
• 21g fresh yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

You’ll need: oven · baking tray

1. Warm the milk with the butter until the butter has melted. Crumble the saffron between your fingers, add it to the milk and let it cool to hand-warm.
2. Dissolve the yeast and honey in the saffron milk and knead it with the spelt flour, salt and egg for 8 minutes into a smooth dough.
3. Leave the dough to rise, covered, in a warm place for 60 minutes, until it has doubled in size.
4. Divide the dough into 12 pieces, roll each one into a 30 cm long rope and shape it into an S with curled-up ends. Press a raisin into each curl.
5. Place the buns on a baking tray lined with baking paper and leave them to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (180 °C fan).
6. Brush the buns with beaten egg yolk and bake them at 200 °C for 12 minutes until golden brown.

Good to know

In Sweden, these buns are eaten for breakfast on St Lucia's Day, 13 December. Saffron turns the dough yellow and gives it a slightly bitter, floral flavour. The S shape with its two raisins is said to look like a curled-up cat.

Swaps

Spelt flour → half wholemeal spelt flour (more fibre, a little more milk). Honey → coconut sugar. Butter → coconut oil. Raisins → dried cranberries made from fruit only.

Cooking tips

The milk should only be hand-warm, otherwise the yeast suffers. If you let the saffron steep in the warm milk for 10 minutes first, it colours the dough evenly.

Storage

Keeps for 2 days in an airtight container or 3 months in the freezer; once thawed, warm through at 150 °C for 5 minutes.

Allergens

Contains gluten (spelt), milk and egg; nut-free. Suitable for children; saffron in normal baking amounts is also fine during pregnancy.

Frequently asked questions

Can you freeze saffron buns?

Keeps for 2 days in an airtight container or 3 months in the freezer; once thawed, warm through at 150 °C for 5 minutes.