St. Lucia buns are saffron laced and are traditionally made in Sweden for St. Lucia day, a winter solstice celebration.
For Day 2 of this week’s Scandinavian recipes, I made these aromatic saffron laced St. Lucia buns. These buns are traditionally made in Sweden for St. Lucia day on December 13, also known as the Festival of Light, celebrated in the spirit of Advent and Christmas.
Two of my brothers-in-law live in Sweden, so I feel like I have a connection with the country even though we have only been there once. I don’t remember eating any traditional Swedish dishes while we were there, but there are some dishes that I really want to try. Like these Swedish cinnamon rolls – I have been planning to make these for a very long time, hopefully I’ll get to try them soon.
I saw these St. Lucia buns for the first time on Gayathri’s blog and thought they were super cute. So when I realized that these are from Sweden, I knew it was perfect for today. This recipe is from King Arthur flour site.
These buns use an enriched dough with butter and eggs. I subbed them with vegan butter and egg replacer powder to make them vegan. I also added some wholewheat pastry flour to add some fiber to the buns. These St. Lucia buns are soft, slightly sweet, fragrant and have a beautiful crumb.
Swedish Baked goodies that I’ve tried:
Swedish Cardamom Bread
Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 86.
Vegan St. Lucia Buns
Ingredients
For the Saffron Buns
- ½ cup Almond Milk (or other non-dairy Milk)
- 1/8 tsp Saffron strands
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup Wholewheat Pastry Flour
- 1½ tsp Instant Yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1½ tbsp Egg Replacer powder whisked in 5tbsp water
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Other Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp Almond Milk
- 1 tbsp Agave Nectar
- As needed Golden Raisins
- As needed Sparking Sugar (optional)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine milk, saffron and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Add the butter and set aside to melt and cool down to lukewarm temperature.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, yeast, sugar and salt. Whisk well.
- Add the lukewarm milk-butter mixture along with egg replacer mixture and vanilla extract to the flour. Mix and knead until a soft, pliable dough forms, about 10 minutes by hand.
- Place in a lightly greased bowl; cover and set aside for 1 hour or until the dough is puffy and almost doubled in volume.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Form into rough logs, cover and set aside for 10 minutes for the dough to relax.
- Roll each log into 8"~10" long rope and shape them into 'S' shape. Place a raisin on each coil of the 'S'.
- Place the buns on a parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Leave about an 1" between the buns. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes for the buns to rise or until the buns are noticeably puffed, but not nearly doubled.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Combine almond milk and agave nectar in a small bowl. Brush the buns with the almond milk mixture and sprinkle with sparkling sugar, if using.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12~15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool them on a wire rack. Enjoy these warm!! Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days or frozen for longer storage.
Renu
Super tempting…. feeling like having one with cup of coffee…
Usha
Those ‘S’ shaped buns are so cute and have a nice texture as well.
Gayathri Kumar
Beautiful Pavani. When I made them, I loved them to the core. You have captured them beautifully.
Sushma
Love the shape of the buns. They are so tempting. Nice clicks
Vaishali
The buns look super cute , with a beautiful texture . Converting them Eggless and getting such good results is commendable .
Manjula Bharath
wow perfect s-shaped buns there, I remember making them they were simply delicious. How well you have presented and captured them pavani bravo 🙂
harini
These look super tempting. I had bookmarked to bake these but somehow couldn’t find time.
Srivalli
Though these buns are my list, I don’t think I will be able to achieve that look..:)..your buns look amazing Pavani…
Sowmya
These have turned out perfectly. I also tried them from Gayathri’s blog and they turned out delicious.
Bhawana
These buns really came out so silky, fluffy and so tempting with their looks. You shaped them so perfectly. I like the replacements for egg. Want to try. Bookmarking.
Priya Suresh
How beautiful those vegan St Lucia saffron buns looks, you baked them absolutely prefect Pavani. And this Lucia buns are in my to do list, hope a day i will bake them at home.
sapana
I am in love with the cue shape of these buns. They must have tasted amazing, I am sure. Lovely pictures.
Jyoti Babel
they look so good Pavani. Perfect texture. Would love them with a cup of coffee.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan
Perfect S-shaped buns… Making it all vegan is awesome. Great bake Pavani.
Priya Srinivasan
Cute buns pavani! i have tried them for one of our bakethons!!! those raisins make it even more attractive!!! love how you come up with vegan variations for all these delicious treats!! Kudos to your efforts!!
Chef Mireille
amazing texture they look gorgeous