Blåbærboller (Norwegian Blueberry Buns with Vanilla Cream)

It’s that time of year again when all of Norway is covered in blueberries. The other day I ran out of berries for my breakfast oatmeal, so I rerouted Alfie’s morning walk to the hillside behind our cabin in Vesterålen and sure enough there were plenty of blueberry bushes for me to pick from.

This is also peak hiking season in Norway, so I decided to make some sweet blueberry buns to enjoy on my mountain hikes this week. These buns are made like kanelsnurrer, but instead of butter and cinnamon they are filled with blueberry jam, giving them a light and fresh taste perfect for summer.

You don’t need freshly picked blueberries to make these, but I did sprinkle a handful on top of the layer of blueberry jam to make these extra summery. I also added a large dollop of vanilla custard on top of each bun, because vanilla and blueberry is one of my favorite combinations.

Tips

I sometimes get feedback that my Scandinavian buns aren’t sweet enough, and it’s true that Scandinavian pastries aren’t usually quite as sweet as American pastries. But you can easily add more sugar to the dough and filling if you like! You can also dust these with powdered sugar once they’ve cooled.

If you’re using a mixer, dissolve the yeast in cold milk instead of warm, as the dough heats up quite a bit in the mixer, which can kill the yeast. But if you’re making these by hand you’ll want to dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk. Read the instructions on your yeast packet in case you have to proof the yeast first.

You can use ground cardamom for this recipe, but if you have a mortar and pestal I highly recommend grinding cardamom seeds instead, as freshly ground seeds are much more flavorful. If you only have ground cardamom, I would double the amount in the recipe.

Knead the dough by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook. I knead it by hand for about ten minutes. You can add a bit more flour if the dough is too sticky to knead, but try to add as little flour as possible. Knead the dough until it’s nice and elastic and then cover and let it rise until double in size – about an hour.

While the dough starts to rise you can prepare the vanilla custard.

If you don’t want to make the custard by hand you can simply use ready made vanilla pudding instead. But I do find it quite fun to make custard! Just make sure that you keep whisking the custard the entire time you’re heating it so there aren’t any lumps. If you don’t have a vanilla pod you can add a teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.

Let the custard cool in the fridge while the dough finishes rising. This will make a bit more custard than necessary for the recipe, so you can enjoy it on its own as a little dessert too.

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 15×12 inches (40×30 cm). Then spread the blueberry jam across half of the rectangle. Sprinkle a handful of small blueberries across the top. You can also use frozen blueberries, just let them thaw and drain any excess juice. If you want sweeter buns, you can sprinkle 1/4 cup (50 ml) of sugar on top of the blueberry jam layer.

Fold the other half of the rectangle on top of the blueberry layer, short side to short side. Carefully cut into about 10 strips. I usually use a pastry wheel for this, but my Airbnb in Ibestad didn’t have one, so I used a knife instead, which worked just fine.

I’ve seen many different ways of forming the knots, and I don’t think your technique here matters too much. Just make sure that you twist the dough a lot before making the knot.

To form the knots, I twist each strip of dough and then I hold out two of my fingers and wrap the twist twice around my fingers and then push the end through the hole in the middle. See the video at the bottom of the recipe if you’re unsure what to do. Some of the blueberries might fall out in the process, but you can simply stuff them back into the bun once it’s formed.

I keep some paper towels handy to wipe my hands between twisting each bun, as the jam can get a bit messy! But it gives the buns a beautiful purple color.

After the buns have risen for a second time, use your fingers to make a well in the center of each bun. Pipe or spoon the vanilla custard onto each bun and brush with egg wash.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until the tops and bottoms are golden brown. Be sure not to over bake though, as then the buns get dry.

While the buns are baking, prepare the sugar syrup. This step is optional, but it really helps to lock in the moisture and give the buns a nice shine. This is what makes your homemade buns like those you’ll find in a bakery.

Brush the buns generously with the syrup as soon as they’re out of the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

If you want to freeze some of these, freeze them as soon as they’ve cooled.

Enjoy!

You can switch the recipe from US measurements to metric by clicking from “US Customary” to “Metric” under Ingredients.