Finnish Pulla Cardamom Bread

Nov 3, 2026 · By VanillaGoods

Baking Quick breads Medium

A soft enriched dough scented with ground cardamom is braided, brushed with egg and topped with pearl sugar. It bakes into a golden, tender loaf made for slicing with butter. Makes 1 large braided loaf in about 3 hr 40 min.

Prep 40 min

Cook 30 min

Cooling 2 hr 30 min

Total 3 hr 40 min

Yield 1 large braided loaf

Ingredients

Adjust yield

large braided loaf

4 ¾ cups (600 g)bread flour
6 tbsp (80 g)granulated sugar
¼ oz (7 g)instant yeast
1 ½ tsp (4 g)ground cardamom, fresh
1 tsp (6 g)salt
1 cup (250 ml)whole milk, warm, about 110 F (43 C)
¼ cup (60 g)unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 (100 g)eggs, room temperature
1 (50 g)egg, beaten, for brushing
1 oz (30 g)pearl sugar, or coarse sugar

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Instructions

Stir the flour, sugar, yeast, cardamom and salt together. Add the milk, butter and eggs and mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough.
Knead 10 minutes by hand or 6 to 8 in a mixer until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise about 1 1/2 hours until doubled.
Punch down and divide into 3 equal pieces. Roll each into a rope about 20 inches (50 cm) long, without stretching.
Braid the three ropes, tuck the ends under and set the loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise 30 to 40 minutes until puffy.
Heat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Brush the loaf with the beaten egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until deep golden brown, covering with foil if the top browns too quickly. The loaf is done when the center reaches 190 F (88 C).
Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Tips

Freshly ground cardamom has much more flavor than jarred; crush pods and grind the seeds.
Do not add extra flour while kneading; the dough should stay a little tacky.
The same dough shapes well into rolls or a wreath.
Good with coffee.