The BEST Homemade Cardamom Buns

Vanja Ilic
Sep 15
4 min read

Updated: Oct 9

Some days ago a friend brought me to this awesome spot called Nowhere - you’ve gotta check it out if you haven’t been!

The coffee is amazing, and as for the food, I seriously wanted to try everything on the menu. I had their sourdough toast with melted cheese and kimchi, a flan, and of course, their cardamom bun. That’s when I decided I needed to make my own.

I've been thinking about trying this bake for ages, and this was definitely the turning point. So, I'm sharing my recipe with you now.

I took my Cinnamon dough recipe, made a few tweaks, and turned it into the yummiest cardamom buns ever.

Tips and notes

Try the tangzhong method for your dough—it’s totally worth it for the softest buns you’ll ever have!
Definitely mix some cardamom into your milk—it really boosts the flavor of the dough!
Keep kneading the dough until it's ready—don't rush this part.
Go for bread flour with at least 11g of protein. It'll make your buns chewier, and trust me, it's totally worth it.
You can make the dough the night before and stash it in the fridge. It'll rise slowly, but don't stress—it won't be crazy puffy by morning. That's totally fine. Just take it out of the fridge right before you're ready to use it.
If you can, use an electric grinder to grind your cardamom seeds. But if you can buy pre-ground cardamom, that's even better!
Watch out not to heat your milk too much, or you'll kill the yeast. If it's too cold, the yeast won't activate right.

Ingredients for 6 big or 9 small buns

For the tangzhong:

25 g flour

50 ml milk

For the dough:

300 g bread flour

50 g melted butter

1 egg (room temperature)

200 ml warm milk infused with cardamom

7 g active dry yeast

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

For the filling:

90 g butter softened to a room temperature

100 g brown sugar

1 tbsp grounded cardamom

For the glaze:

1 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp water

Instructions

A few hours before, or the night before, toss some whole cardamom seeds into milk and let it chill in the fridge.
Make the tangzhong. In a heatproof bowl, start warming up the flour and milk on low heat, whisking constantly until it thickens up into a sluggish texture. Set it aside.
Warm up cardamom infused milk until it's around 40°C and pour it into your stand mixer bowl (or just a big bowl if you're kneading by hand). Stir in a tablespoon of sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes until you see bubbles forming on the surface.
Toss in a room temp egg, melted butter (it can still be warm but not too hot), and tangzhong, then give it a whisk.
Slowly start adding the flour, which you’ve already mixed with salt.
When the dough starts looking all shaggy, switch on the stand mixer with the hook attachment and let it knead for around 15 minutes. You can totally do it by hand, but it’ll take a bit of muscle. The dough's good to go once it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
Shape the dough into a ball and pop it into a lightly greased bowl. Cover it with some plastic wrap or a clean towel, and let it hang out in a warm spot for about an hour and a half, or until it doubles in size. If you're planning to make overnight buns, just cover the dough and stick it in the fridge now.
Once the dough has doubled in size, give it a good punch to release any extra air, then place it on a floured surface. Roll it out into a long rectangle, about 50 cm by 27 cm.
Make the filling by mixing softened butter, brown sugar, and cardamom, then spread it evenly over the dough.
Fold the dough like this: take one side of the shorter edge and fold it over the middle, then bring the other side over that. See pictures above*
Cut the dough into 6-8 even strips, then slice each strip down the middle, but keep the top part attached. See pictures above*
Roll up the strips like in the pictures, then twist them into a circle to form a bun by tucking one end into the top connected part. No need to stress if your buns aren't perfectly shaped—they'll still taste just as great! :)
Put the buns on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and cover them up so they can rise until they're almost twice their size. It shouldn't take too long, unless your dough is from the fridge.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C. When the buns are ready, pop them in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until they're golden brown.
Once they're done, pop them onto a cooling rack and brush them with the glaze you whipped up by boiling sugar and water. Make sure to cover them with it while they're still hot.
You can even drizzle a little honey on them for an extra treat! 😊
They're best when they're still warm, but you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two.