Finnish Pulla Recipe – my mom’s recipe for a traditional Finnish bread scented with fragrant cardamom! Perfect for special mornings, gatherings, holidays or afternoon tea. Cozy and delicious!
I love you. It will end. Leave something of sweetness and substance in the mouth of the world.
Anna Bell Kaufman
Today is a very special day for me…it is what would be my mother’s 85th birthday. I thought I would share something special that she loved to bake which is very dear to my heart. It is called Pulla!
Pulla is a buttery Finnish sweet bread, scented with cardamom, perfect for special mornings, gatherings or afternoon tea. It is traditionally topped with Pearl Sugar as you see here.
My Finnish mother used to make this on special occasions like birthdays and holidays or when guests would stay with us. I will never forget how the house would smell when she would open the oven door and take the freshly baked Pulla out.
It smelled… happy.
Several weeks ago, I stumbled over her old Pulla recipe, written partly in Finnish. To see her handwriting again, brought back so many memories.
She came from Finland, a beautiful country, both modern and old. The countryside is filled with tall, white-trunked birch trees, red houses, saunas, and many many lakes. Three-quarters of the country is still covered by forest, and there over 100,000 lakes.
In summer, the sun barely sets. The days are long and sparkly and bright, the air effervescent and light. It feels charged with something magical.
In contrast, winters are extreme – long, dark and very cold. My Egyptian father only lasted one winter there before pleading with my mom to move to warmer like California. She would always say, to live there you must be strong.
There is no exact translation, but my understanding is… it is a strength and perseverance that comes from the deepest part of ourselves. My mom had this.
Here she is, happy as a clam, sitting on her sister’s steps in her hometown of Souenjoki, where they are known for growing strawberries, during our last visit there together.
I think of that last trip we took together often. I drove her around the whole country, visiting her family and friends for almost a month when she was 82. Truthfully, there were times she drove me crazy – she was a total backseat driver, I nicknamed her Miss Daisy.
But what I wouldn’t give to be in that car again listening to her crackly voice. I can’t express enough how taking that time to be with her was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I thought I did it for her, but in fact, I see now how all along, it was a gift for me.
A little story about her: Lea Halonen was born in 1927, and grew up on a little farm in Sounjenjoki. During the war with Russia, Russia took over part of their country. Her family, like most families there, took in the many refugees, even though food and resources were extremely scarce.
She remembers those years as being very lean and feeling very hungry most of the time, eating mainly potatoes in winter. After high school, she left for Sweden, where she got her nursing degree.
In her 30’s, still unmarried, she left for Nigeria (Africa) on a boat, to be stationed at a small Seventh Day Adventist hospital where she became a midwife. It was a tumultuous time there in Nigeria. After being there for 5 years, she took a little vacation to Egypt with her friend Sarah. It was there that she met my dad, and where Sarah met Abraham. They were assigned by the church to be guides. Something clicked in those 3 days, as they took them around to visit the pyramids and the Nile.
She went back to Nigeria to work – and they continued to keep in touch writing letters for two years before my dad proposed to her. She left Nigeria to marry my father in Cairo. But Egypt, back then, was not as accepting of her nursing skills- women were supposed to “stay home”.
She lasted a year before she convinced my dad to move to the more progressive country of Finland. My dad had never imagined a winter like that, had never experienced ice or snow- it was shocking! The cold and language were huge barriers. He was a minister by trade, so it made things difficult.
So they decided to move somewhere warm, where they could both speak English. They landed in Los Angeles, where I was born. My mom was 40 at that time.
The star ingredient in Pulla is cardamom seeds. In this recipe, you can use the seeds, or if pressed for time, ground Cardamom is a great substitute. It is a very ancient spice originating in Southern India where it still grows wild. It is most commonly used in savory Indian dishes and curries.
Over a thousand years ago traders carried cardamom along the spice routes from India and eventually made its way through Constantinople brought by the Vikings to Scandinavia where it became very popular among the Finnish and Swedish in baking bread and pastries.
It has a very warm pungent aroma, a little like eucalyptus. There are several kinds of cardamom pods , two I am familiar with, the green cardamom pods and dark brown pods. My mom always used the green cardamom pods because she said they had better flavor. I never tested this theory, but I’ll take her word for it.
During one of her lasts visits to Spokane, she was too tired to make pulla but insisted on making it anyways….so I became her hands. She was stubborn about certain things….adamant!
No cutting corners. “No” to using the ground cardamom I had in my cupboard and “no” to using my stand mixer with the nifty dough hook, and “absolutely not” to using my efficient coffee bean grinder to grind the tough cardamom seeds.
This would be done her way, totally old school. But in the end, worth it.
What seemed like a mountain of cardamom pods needed to be cracked and the tiny seeds extracted. This took a substantial amount of time and patience.
I found it’s easier to slice the pods in half lengthwise with the tip of a sharp knife. After slicing about 40-50 of them, scrape the tiny dark seeds out. It takes a lot of pods to make 1 Tablespoon. You could do this ahead. Or use ground cardamom, I won’t tell or judge.
Then, after I thought all the hard work was done, there was more. Grinding the cardamom seeds with a mortar and pestle.
This seems easy, but I assure you it is not. They are the toughest little seeds and it takes serious muscle power to grind them down. And she of course wanted them crushed down to the consistency of fine sand, making sure to carefully examine my work. It was no easy task.
At the time, I never imagined that someday I would miss the way she would order me around the kitchen. But I do.
My mom loved Pulla so much she named one of her cats Pulla. Actually, her full name is Rusina Pulla. She’s a light-colored calico with dark spots all over her. Rusina means raisins. Raisin Pulla. It was strangely fitting!
Anyways, so after all the work with the cardamom seeds, the rest is easy. And like I said, feel free to use ground cardamom.
You’ll make a soft dough and let it rise until doubled. If using active dry yeast, this may take 2 hours. Fast-acting yeast will cut that time in half so I usually opt for that.
Oil the dough, and cover. Place in a warm spot ( 85F) to rise. I like to turn my oven to low and place the dough on top of the stove.
Once the pulla has just about doubled, shape into rolls or 2 loaves or make two traditional Finnish braided loaves like this.
My mom would often add sliced almonds and raisins and roll up the dough into small sweet rolls. Those were good too. To make the braided loaf, divide the dough in half, then into 3 balls each, and make long “ropes” out of them. Braid them and tuck the ends under. Let rise for another 1 – 1/2 hour.
Brush with an egg wash, or milk and sprinkle pearl sugar over the top.
You can also bake the braided roll in a loaf pan for easier slicing, tucking the ends under.
Bake the Pulla at 375 F until cooked through and golden ( Internal temp of 200F).
This can range anywhere from 30-50 minutes, depending on size.
If baking in a loaf pan, bake at 350F for roughly 40 mins, and you may need to cover with foil, to prevent over-browning lightly.
Slice, toast, and butter.
This is really delicious in the morning with your coffee…and the leftovers make excellent french toast!
You can also make Pulla into rolls!
However you choose to make Pulla, you will love its flavor.
The nice part is you can wrap it up tightly and freeze for when you need something cozy and warm.
This poem below found its way to me shortly after my mother passed away… and it reminded me of the pulla I had in the freezer, the last batch we made together. I found it profoundly beautiful…and I especially love the last paragraph.
Every time I make Pulla now, I feel her in the kitchen with me. We make it together- even still.
Love and cheers.
Cold Solace
by ANNA BELLE KAUFMAN
When my mother died,
one of her honey cakes remained in the freezer.
I couldn’t bear to see it vanish,
so it waited, pardoned,
in its ice cave behind the metal trays
for two more years.
On my forty-first birthday
I chipped it out,
a rectangular resurrection,
hefted the dead weight in my palm.
Before it thawed,
I sawed, with serrated knife,
the thinnest of slices —
Jewish Eucharist.
The amber squares
with their translucent panes of walnuts
tasted — even toasted — of freezer,
of frost,
a raisined delicacy delivered up
from a deli in the underworld.
I yearned to recall life, not death —
the still body in her pink nightgown on the bed,
how I lay in the shallow cradle of the scattered sheets
after they took it away,
inhaling her scent one last time.
I close my eyes, savor a wafer of
sacred cake on my tongue and
try to taste my mother, to discern
the message she baked in these loaves
when she was too ill to eat them:
I love you.
It will end.
Leave something of sweetness
and substance
in the mouth of the world.
Pulla (Traditional Finnish Cardamom Bread)
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Finnish
Description
A traditional recipe for Pulla – a buttery Finnish Cardamom Bread that tastes and smells heavenly. Think of this as Finnish Coffee bread- perfect for mornings or afternoon tea. This makes 2 extra-large braided loaves, feel free to halve the recipe. Allow 3 hours rising time (30 mins hands-on time)
Ingredients
Units
Scale
***Makes 2 loaves -feel free to halve.
- 14–20 cardamon pods (or sub 2–3 teaspoons ground cardamon)
- 2 cups whole milk, soy milk or half and half
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 extra large eggs
- 2 tsp salt
- 6 –7 cups all-purpose flour, more for the counter
- 1/2 cup soft butter
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- coarse sugar for sprinkling
optional additions: raisins, sliced almonds, coarse sugar (pearl sugar). Feel free to sub other dried fruit and other nuts! You can sub turbinado sugar instead of pearl sugar.
Instructions
- If using whole cardamom pods, crack open the pods and lightly toast the seeds in a dry skillet for 45-60 seconds, stirring over medium heat until fragrant. Grind down to the consistency of sand with a mortar and pestle. You could do this step ahead, or use ground cardamom.
- Heat milk to lukewarm, not over 110F. Add a pinch of sugar and stir in yeast and let stand for 7 minutes. Check that yeast is dissolved and frothy indicating it is active.
- In a stand mixer or large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the frothy milk and yeast, cardamom, and salt and beat until smooth.
- Mix in 2 cups of flour cup by cup, mixing until smooth and no lumps.
- Add the softened butter and mix well – the dough will get beautifully glossy. Continue adding the flour, a 1/2 cup at a time, mixing to incorporate, adding flour until stiff enough to knead, yet still soft about 6 cups. Knead using a dough hook or by hand, adding a little more flour as needed until the dough pulls away from the edges, and is satiny, about 5 minutes. (The key here is to use as little flour as possible.) Alternatively, kneed by hand on a well-floured surface, for 6- 7 minutes, adding a little flour at a time, dough will be slightly tacky but not sticky. At this point, if you wish, you could knead in some raisins and almonds. Shape into a ball.
- Place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat the top, cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm area (80F) until it doubles in size. (I like to turn my oven on at the very start at the lowest setting, then turn it off, letting the dough rise inside, or place it on top of the stove.)*** Having a warm spot for it to rise is imperative here.
- TIP: You can also place this in the fridgeovernight- and shape and bake in the morning.
- After it has doubled, divide it in half. This will make two extra-large loaves. (Or make rolls see notes)
- To make 2 braided loaves, divide each half into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into long ropes about 1 1/2- 2 inches thick. Braid the 3 ropes and tuck under the ends. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or in lightly greased, or parchment-lined loaf pan-see notes).
- Beat the egg with a tablespoon water. Brush the loaves with the egg wash. Sprinkle with pearl sugar over the top and sliced almonds if you like.
- Let rise again until doubled. Place in a preheated 375-degree oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until skewer or toothpick pulls out clear (or internal temp is 200F) and the top is nicely golden.
- Pull it out of the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Slice and slather with butter.
Notes
Instant yeast will cut the rising time in half.
Store the pulla, covered tightly on the counter. Or freeze (sealing well) for later.
This makes two large braided loaves. Or use loaf pan loaves. You could easily halve this recipe!
To make rolls: visit this Cardamom roll post
I often divide the dough in two, make one braided loaf, and make rolls out of the remaining dough.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 15.7 g
- Sodium: 134.6 mg
- Fat: 8.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 49.6 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 6.3 g
- Cholesterol: 47.4 mg
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Thanks Roslyn!
I’ve been making pulla bread for 50 years now, I got the recipe from a Swedish friend back then, her recipe came over from Sweden, she too made it with her mom & grandma it is a favorite of our famuly since then, mostly at Christmas. It’s a little different from this recipe, but not all that much. All I know is we all love this bread…after the first day (when fresh we eat with butter), my hubby loves this bread toasted, so darn good!! Anyway, had to let you know, even us Norwegians love this bread up here in Minnesota!! From Wendy
Thanks so much for sharing! I love mine toasted as well with butter. So good!
Dear Sylvia. I loved the story and have made this Nissu bread many times now! I was made an “honorary Finn by dear friends. I have a mock mill grain mill. I LOVE freshly ground grains. But I just bought the cuisinart spice grinder in part to grind cardamom (the flavor is so superior!) But the very next day I discovered that I can mill cardamom in seconds in my mill!! Cinnamon, no problem. I am on to the fresh spices even more! I just wanted to share this with you, I’ll never go back to reground now. But the mortar and pestle was about to kill me, the coffee grinder, so so… and all along I had the super grain mill. I think I read on your blog that you occasionally mill grain, but I can’t find it… Just sharing the joy.
Glad you enjoyed this! Yes, spice grinders are a dream, I agree!
I’m sorry to have been vague. I was trying not to sound like a sales pitch. I was talking about a Grain Mill, as in make your own flour in minutes. (I have the Mock Mill and love it) My new spice mill doesn’t hold a candle to the grain mill! I just hadn’t learned my Mockmill could grind dry spices besides grains until after I’d purchased the spice mill. The Mockmill did my cardamom so fine in probably 10 seconds! I just wanted you to know about that option if you did have a grain mill, I thought you might have mentioned milling flour out of wheat berries in a recipe. Besides amazing bread you can have amazing fresh spices in seconds)
Oh OK got it!!! I will look into that!
I halved this recipe. So tender. Thanks for this recipe, I will have to give most of it away because I could eat the whole thing in an instant Oh, I put the dough in the fridge overnight
It does make a sweet gift. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it.
I made this on Saturday. By evening, half of one was gone. This is so tender and delicious…totally worth cutting into cardamom pods (only to find out later I had a whole jar of seeds!). Highly recommended. 10 stars.
Ha. Well I’m glad you persevered through the pods. So glad you enjoyed!
I’m going to try this. My Grandmother’s Grandmother was from Finland. We had ‘Coffee Bread’ all the time. I hope it tastes like my past. Thanx for sharing. (Paiva)
I hope it does too Bonnie! Let me know…
Thank you so much for sharing your mom’s recipe. It came out perfectly and earned the seal of approval from my Finnish friends!
I also appreciate the link you provided for the Swedish sugar. I couldn’t find pearl sugar locally and so used regular granulated. But now I’ll have the ‘real thing’ for this and other recipes as well.
Awesome Mary! So happy this turned out for you!
Thank you, Sylvia, for the loving story about your mum. Made two loaves, both like eating clouds! Added orange zest to the sponge. Made the second loaf as a filled bread with summer’s pears, cream cheese and honey. So lovely on a snapping cold winter night with a hot cup of tea.
Thanks Lily sounds divine!
Love the recipe!!! My husband is Finnish and this came out perfect for us.
Great to hear Barbara!
Such a nice bread with only cardamom (no cinnamon which is rare for me) and so tender, delicious. Perfect with tea or coffee. I made one large braided loaf and one round loaf filled with unsweetened cranberries, golden raisins and sliced almonds about 1 cup all together. Excellent! thank you.
Thanks Kathy! Glad you enjoyed this!
Excellent recipe from NYC. My son commented that it was just like a favorite pulla of his from Minnesota. Thank you for this gift. p/s I use a mortar & pestle to crush my cardamom! And, yes, it takes a long time to prep the spice fresh, but well worth it.
Glad you all enjoyed this!
Great new addition to our holiday. Love the story of this bread. My picky young kids loved it!
Yay Dina! Glad everyone enjoyed!
It was a joy reading about your mom and memories making Pulla and traveling across Finland. I’m sure you miss her a lot. I’ll be making Pulla this New Years and thinking of you and your mother. (I’ll opt for the ground cardamom… shhh)
Thanks Kellie!
Hello! This will be first attempt at making bread. I want to surprise a good friend (her grandmother used to make this and has since passed).
How long are each of the rising stages? Can I bake the night before and give to her in the morning? Will it still be as good the next day? How should I store it overnight after it’s baked?
Thank you!
Hi Amy, if using active dry yeast plan on 2-3 hours for the first rise, and 1 1/2 hours for the second rise. It really depends on temp in your house. You can make it the night before, cool and wrap. Or you can do an overnight rise in the fridge and bake in the morning if you want it warm. 🙂
Quick question that you may or may not be able to answer: Since this is your mom’s recipe, I’m guessing that she brought it with her from Finland. Most European dessert recipes that call for sugar use caster sugar, which is finer than our granulated sugar. Caster sugar, in general, dissolves more easily. I’m wondering if she used caster sugar, since the recipe calls for mixing it with the eggs until it dissolves. That would be quite a trick for regular granulated sugar. I think I may try this recipe with caster sugar if you think that’s a reasonable thought. The result would likely be a tad sweeter.
(Also, the conversion of active dry yeast to instant yeast is to multiply the amount of active dry yeast by 0.8. For this recipe you would use roughly 2.5 teaspoons of instant yeast.
So using 3 tsp. of instant yeast is like using “extra” yeast, which is why it seems to rise faster).
I have used regular sugar here just fine! Caster is fine too! Both work. 🙂
Hi Sylvia I love your recipes they are amazing! For this pulla bread Can I use sourdough starter instead of yeast if yes what modifications will be in recipe card? And also I want to use some whole wheat too since I milled my own please let me know thank you !
Hi Shagufta- I have tried this with sourdough starter and it worked great. I forgot to take notes though! I only made 1/2 the recipe, and it did take a long overnight rise.A little whole wheat may work here- I just worry about it getting heavy.
If I want to start the dough today and bake tomorrow, at what point to do I refrigerate it? I’ve made this 3 times – it’s always amazing
HI Jaclyn, that is a good question. I have never made this a day ahead. If it were me, I would probably proof it overnight in the fridge before shaping it.
Good morning! Please advise as to the size of the loaf pans. 8.5 x 4.5? 9 x 5?
10 x 5? When I read “extra large” loaves, I doubt the standard 8 x 4 pan would suffice. Thank you in advance. Also….if you weigh your flour in grams/ounces, would you please advise as to that too. I have found weighing ingredients insures perfect consistant results! Again, thank you. I love the story of you and your mom. What a beautiful lady.
Thanks Julie! Use 9x 5 loaf pans. I will weigh this the next time I make it. Good call.:)
You’re wonderful! Thank you!
This brings back so many good memories. My Finn mom (born in US, but her mom was from Paimio) made Pulla almost every Saturday of my life and gave most of it away. We would wrap the cardamom pods in a tea towel and crush them with a hammer, I can still taste the faint cardamom flavor of the husks. She’s been gone 18 years now, and I rarely bake this wonderful treat. Thanks for the memories.
Thanks, Otter- I love how food binds us to those who have gone.
Que j’ai aimé cette histoire de
pulla de votre maman j’en ai les larmes aux yeux .
J’ai tellement hâte de faire cette jolie recette de Pulla .
J’ en salive déjà.
Merci pour cette belle histoire. Translation: How I loved this story
pulla from your mom I have tears in my eyes.
I can’t wait to make this lovely Pulla recipe.
I’m already salivating.
Thank you for this beautiful story.
Thanks so much Catherine- appreciate this.;)
Had anyone ever made this using gluten free flour? I grew up eating this made by my great aunt and would love to make a gluten free version for my family.
I haven’t but am curious which brand would work best here?
I haven’t made this yet, but i found this recipe while looking for tabouli recipe and clicked link. I’m not Finnish but married one. My father in law was Finnish and was very proud of his heritage. I can’t wait to make this for my family because my 3 children (all grown in their 30’s) loved their grandpop and my husband remembers his Finnish grandmother making this (he pronounced it “bulla”). Thank you for the story of your mom!
Thanks Rany- hope you enjoy this as much as we have.
My Finnish immigrant and first-generation relatives in northern Minnesota always mixed their “Ps” and “Bs.” One joke was that Jussi brought his purchase to the counter of the old country store and asked, “Boot da putter in da pag and boot it on my pill.” The pulla my aunts made was wonderful. Although, perhaps to show how well they were assimilating, they usually called it “Finnish Piscuit.” I’m going to look up old family recipes, see how they match this one, and give it a try.
Hahaha, love this John! Thanks for sharing.
I need to make this, I was just looking at various recipes and landed here–I love that you add poetry from time to time. Important in my family, someone would always pull out an appropriate poem or give by memory, ( especially Mom) This made me think of making Sandtarts with my Mom which we would often do together from her grandmother’s recipe, which connects us all generation after generation. My moms mom would make cardomom bead at Christmas too.
Love the handing down of recipes- a sweet way to keep people alive in our hearts. 🙂
Hi Sylvia
I have been looking for a recipe for Pulla for some time now and found yours! My wife grew up with her grandmother making this bread, usually around the holidays. I made it today, as it was a rainy day in MA. What a delicious flavor it has and was simple to make. I did go the easy route and used ground cardamon. Thank you for sharing this recipe and reliving a memory for my wife. This is one bread that will be made and shared in our family for our holiday traditions!
Awww… thanks John!
I’ve not made this recipe yet but will tomorrow thanks to your lovely column. Thank you for this recipe. It will honor what would have been my mom’s 95th birthday on Saturday. I’m sending each of my two sisters a cardamon braid as that is how our Mummu made it!
So sweet Ellen- what a lovely gift. ❤️