Years ago I learned how to bake Lussekatter, a Swedish traditional sweet bread that is made with saffron and eaten in celebration of St. Lucy’s feast day, also known as Santa Lucia day! This is a big and important celebration to the Swedish people, and it has been an absolute joy to incorporate these celebrations into our home these past 10 years. You can find my resources for celebrating the feast of Santa Lucia here. I now have the added benefit of having a friend that is actually Swedish. I got to asking him about the St. Lucy day traditions in Sweden, and what do you know… he had an actually authentic Swedish recipe for lussekatter! It took more than an hour of discussion with him to get the recipe fully translated to English, and I’m very excited to share it with you today, along with a free printable version of the recipe!
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There is a printable version of this recipe available at the bottom of this post! Don’t miss that- it will help you a ton!
How To Keep Saffron Buns From Being Too Dry
For years I made this recipe and thought the buns were way too dry, and that they needed to be baked and eaten in the same day. But upon having a conversation with my Swedish friend, I realized they have an ingredient they put in their recipes that keeps the buns from being overly dry. However, this ingredient is not readily available in the USA. Therefore, a lot of recipes you find in English simply disclude the ingredient. This ingredient is called “kvarg”.
What To Substitute For “Cream Fresh”
Kvarg translates in English to “cream fresh”. The reason why we don’t have it available to us in the states is because of our required pasteurization process for our dairy. According to my Swedish friend, you can sometimes find this ingredient at Target, but it usually comes flavored (such as garlic, or berry flavored) and you need plain for this recipe. So what do we use?
Well the closest dairy substitute we have available here is actually plain greek yogurt! You could also use sour cream or room temperature cream cheese.
My great grandma used to make a “chocolate irresistible cake” that was deliciously moist from the sour cream in the recipe, so this instantly made perfect sense to me! This is what my saffron buns have always been missing!
Another Swedish Baking Tidbit
I also discovered that often in Swedish baking, they use a syrup rather than a plain sugar to sweeten their recipes. My Swedish friend said some recipes use a dark syrup, and some of them use the light version. This recipe calls for the light syrup.
You can find the authentic Swedish baking syrup here. When I pulled up this link, my Swedish friend instantly recognized it as the syrup they all use! I am going to substitute an American light corn syrup.
How To Garnish Authentic Swedish Lussekatter
Years ago somehow I learned to put poppy seeds on the saffron buns. My Swedish friend said he had never seen this. LOL!!! In Sweden, he assured me that the buns always have raisins, and at the big bakery shops where they’re making big batches, they put the raisins straight into the dough rather than bothering with them as a garnish on top.
The big sugar I have been putting on top of them however, is a more authentic topping. He showed me his box of Swedish sugar they top treats with. Our sugar tends to be sparkly, and theirs has the appearance of sesame seeds. Here’s some authentic Swedish pearl sugar. I didn’t have the pearl sugar- the sugar I found here in the USA is a lot more sparkly than what they use.
About The Saffron
This stuff is not cheap. In fact, it’s the most expensive spice in the world. You can find it at grocery stores, usually in a spice bottle, but inside the spice bottle is actually a tiny baggie with a small amount of Saffron inside. 1 pack of Saffron will do, but 2 packs will create a more vibrant yellow and a more potent smell and flavor. I ordered our saffron on Amazon this year! So easy!
If you can go to a specialty spice store, you can actually find it quite a bit cheaper.
To bring out the most flavor in your saffron, crush it and soak it in 2 Tbsp of vodka the day before baking and let it seep overnight, but at least for 1 hour. You can also use warm milk for this if you prefer not to use vodka.
Soak The Raisins
To keep the raisins from getting too dry when baked in the oven, you can soak them in water or orange juice while you mix your dough. The orange juice adds a nice flavor to the raisins!
Swedish Santa Lucia Saffron Bun Recipe
Ok, after working for quite awhile to translate this recpie from Swedish to English, then working for even longer to translate it from deciliters and grams to cups, then figuring out the best possible American substitutes, I very happily bring you this authentic Swedish recipe for saffron buns.
For any of my Swedish speaking readers, here is his handwritten recipe for Santa Lucia buns in Swedish.
Ingredients For Lussekatter
- 8 cups white flour
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt (or cream fresh, or cream cheese, or sour cream)
- 1 pack active dry yeast (or 50g fresh refrigerated yeast, which is what the Swedish people use)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cups light corn syrup (or the Swedish light syrup)
- 2 cups 1% milk
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 stick butter
- 1 egg
- 2 grams saffron (or 1/4 tsp.)
Garnish For The Saffron Buns
- egg (to brush the tops)
- raisins
- pearl sugar (optional)
- other granulated sugar
How To Make The Saffron Buns
Before beginning, put your raisins in water or orange juice to soak.
First you’ll want to crush and soak the saffron. To crush the saffron, I placed it on a paper plate and crushed it with the back of a spoon.
Then I curved the plate and used it as a funnel to put my saffron in my measuring spoon.
Now you want to soak the saffron to bring out the flavor, and you have a few choices for this. You can either add the crushed saffron to…
- 2 Tbsp. of vodka and let it sit overnight
- 2 Tbsp. of warm water or warm milk- soak for at least 1 hour to bring out the full color and flavor of the saffron
In a medium sized pot, melt the stick of butter, then add the milk and warm it together. Not hot or boiling, just warm.
Now remove from heat and add the sugar and yeast to the milk mixture. Stir and dump it into a large mixing bowl.
Add half of the flour to this mixture and stir.
Add 1 egg, the greek yogurt, the syrup, and the salt. Stir well.
Now add the remining flour bit by bit until the dough is no longer sticky.
Cover your bowl and let the dough rise in a warm area for 40 minutes.
It should double in bulk.
Punch the dough down and form your buns.
The traditional shape for these buns is similar to an “S”. Some people also see it as kind of a figure 8 shape. Place these on your baking sheet.
Allow the buns to rise again on your baking sheet for 30 minutes.
Beat your remaining egg, and paint it on top of the buns.
Dry your raisins with a paper towel and use them to garnish your buns along with pearl sugar if desired.
Bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes.
Freeze whatever you don’t eat the same day as they don’t stay fresh for long! They can be microwaved one at a time for just a few seconds to bring them back to life. My Swedish friend recommended freezing them individually in sandwich bags and removing one at a time, microwaving it in the bag to retain the moisture. Personally we don’t microwave in plastic at our house, but to each his own lol.
We packaged these up with baggies and bits of festive garland to deliver to our friends!
More St. Lucy Feast Day Resources
I have a ton of resources and Swedish recipes, traditions, and even crafts for celebrating this Saint feast day, so find everything you need to celebrate St. Lucy day here!
Printable Version Of The Recipe
This will help you out a ton to bake your St. Lucy buns without dragging your computer in the kitchen! Once you’ve read all my tips, you’re ready for the cliff notes version. 
To get your own download, click the blue button that says “get your free download” below.
Another Swedish Cookie Recipe!
These are absolutely my favorite cookies of all time and I share all my tips and trick with you to make baking these as easy as possible! Don’t miss the world’s most delicious cookie recipe ever.
