The pulla, Finnish Sweet Cardamom bun is a basic element of Finnish cuisine and essential part of any coffee table in Finland.

Pulla is a loved and traditional part of coffee breaks in Finland.

Sweet pulla is not bread, even though there are similarities to yeast dough.

Main differences of pulla vs bread:

• Pulla is always sweet. Bread in Finland is not sweet. (ok there are couple of exceptions for sweet bread)
• In Finland, bread is always covered with butter or margarine. Pulla does not need covering like that, even though I remember that I have heard of people adding butter on top of pulla.. it's not at all common in Finland.
• Pulla is sometimes filled with sweet things (like cinnamon buns or blueberry buns).

When Finns eat pulla?

Finnish pulla comes in various shapes and sizes, and it is most often enjoyed with coffee. Coffee and pulla are a great combination! 

Many Finns eat pulla every day, typically with evening coffee. Or when visiting a coffee shop or stopping at the gas station to fill up the tank. 

When visiting friends or family in Finland, you are often invited for a coffee (not dinner, we Finns just don't do that, if you are part of family, yes, then you can be invited to dinner too)

If you are visiting a traditional Finnish home, at the coffee table there is often some sort of pulla accompanied by various Finnish cookies.

In the old days, it was a matter of honor for the hostess to always serve at least seven different pastries or cookies for the guests.

And pulla was baked every week. It was also enjoyed every day with evening coffee.

Finnish "kahvi and pulla" schedule

I also ate pulla every day my whole childhood, at evening coffee that was at 7PM.

Finnish daily timetable is a whole different thing.. some day I'll write about that. Because after that evening coffee, usually Finns don't eat anymore, while southern Europe eats at 10 PM.

Check the Finnish daily coffee schedule here!

So how to make pulla? Is it very difficult? 

Making pulla is not difficult, it just takes time with double rising times.

There are important things, e.g. yeast has to be treated carefully, it must not get cold or too hot, in either case your dough will not rise as expected.

Pulla is a handy reserve for the surprise guests, because it can be easily stored in the freezer and thawed when needed.

How to braid pulla to make big pulla loafs?

I have seen some videos on pulla loaf braiding and they are sooo difficult!

Don't worry, my method of braiding pulla is very easy. 😃

Check my easy way to on How to braid with 4 from the video below.

It's not difficult at all. Just repeat always the same pattern - Over-under-over and start from the same side always. 

A tip: Remember not to make your braid too thick, because it would not bake in the oven evenly before burning on the top.

How much pulla will I get?

Most recipes for 2 cups of milk make 3 braided loaves or 20-26 small ones, depending on the size you want to make.

Of course you can make the loaves shorter, or even connect 2 or 3 loaves to create a round pulla wreath.

I usually make the small ones because I can take them out of the freezer individually to eat only 1 or 2.

With the versatile pulla dough you can make lots of different pulla varieties! 

This list of Finnish pulla varieties is looong.. and remember you can add raisins or not! I do add them, they bring a nice extra flavor.

For example, you can make

• Small round individuals (pikkupulla)
• Braided loaves (pullapitko)
• Butter eye buns (voisilmäpulla, my fav!)
• Shrovetide buns (laskiaispulla)
• Korvapuusti (cinnamon rolls)
• Boston cake (like a really big cake of cinnamon rolls)
• Plum boston cake (bostonkakku)
• Berry-filled pie, like blueberry pie (mustikkapiirakka)
• Apple pie (omenapiirakka)
• Rhubarb pie (raparperipiirakka)
• Curd pie, with or without raisins (rahkapulla)
• Lucia buns (Luciapulla)
• Poor knights and rich knights from the leftover loaves, even if they are a bit dry already (köyhät ritarit & rikkaat ritarit)
• Rusk (korppu) can be done, when braided loaves have been on the table for too long and dried out. Rusks need to be even drier, so loaves are sliced and then slices are dried in the oven, first in 400 °F to get more brown color and then in 100-200 °F so that they will dry up but not burn. Keeping the oven door a bit open can help in drying too. Rusks will be very light after this drying. You can make sugar rusk or cinnamon rusk by first buttering the pulla slices, and then adding sugar or / and cinnamon on top  before putting them to the oven. Korppu is enjoyed by dipping it to a hot beverage, e.g. coffee or milk, which makes it soft..

And then there are the numerous pulla shaping options, a lot of variety to choose from, for example we always made "chicks" for the Easter, a type of knot, and several different shapes for Christmas, like pulla boys, decorated with raisins.

I hope you will enjoy making pulla with these tips!

Please comment below, if you have some questions or would like to share how your pulla tasted like!