Sourdough Lussekatter (Swedish Saint Lucia Buns)

Name: Sourdough Lussekatter (Soft Swedish Saffron Buns)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 565 min
Ingredients: 255 ml milk ((1 cup + 1 tbsp) See Ingredient Notes to adjust the recipe to your local flour.); 100 g butter ((½ cup butter)); 0.2-1 g saffron, ground or in threads; 450 g all-purpose or bread flour (See Ingredient Notes to adjust the recipe to your local flour.); 60 g sugar ((¼ cup + 1 tbsp)); 120 g sourdough starter, active and bubbly ((½ cup)); 2 pinches salt; 1 egg; 1 tbsp milk

These sourdough lussekatter are made with active starter and rise overnight, giving you fresh, warm, and soft Saint Lucia buns in the morning. This easy recipe adapts to your local flour, creating tender, fragrant saffron buns every time.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

A basket filled with freshly baked sourdough lussekatter, or Swedish saffron buns, is presented alongside a red plate featuring one of the saffransbröd, with a cup of hot cocoa nearby, all set against a red and white striped surface.

One of the most iconic Swedish bakes, without a doubt, are Swedish lussekatter or Saint Lucia buns.

Baked in celebration of Saint Lucia Day (December 13th) all over Sweden, they’re golden, small sweet buns, made with butter, milk, a generous dose of saffron, and yeast. But I find them even better made with active, bubbly sourdough starter! It adds a lovely layer of flavor without making the buns sour at all.

The Swedish have a knack for doing things with a twinkle in their eye, so of course, they’re not just making regular old buns. They bake their buns in as many traditional shapes as there have been bakers making them throughout the centuries.

So if you’ve been waiting all your life to bake a tray of “Christmas pigs”, “Lucia cats” or “hair of the priest” — this one’s for you!

Why You’ll Love This Sourdough Lussekatter Recipe

Dunking a fresh, warm lussekatter into a steaming cup of hot cocoa on a pitch black December morning is another one of my Sweden-related, cozy childhood core memories.

But even if you didn’t grow up with saffron buns, there are still enough good reasons to love this sourdough lussekatter recipe:

A change of routine: Nothing sets a season like special recipes that you only make once a year. And as much as I love no-fuss, bake-without-thinking bread making, it’s nice to add a seasonal special to my regular sourdough rotation.

Easy overnight recipe: Sourdough lussebullar are especially cozy made fresh on chilly December mornings. And the dough supports that beautifully! It’s enriched with butter and milk and rises slowly overnight.
For most people, our kitchens are colder in winter anyway, so there’s very little risk of this enriched dough overfermenting while you sleep.
Bonus: It’s easy to knead by hand (albeit a little sticky), doesn’t require stretch and folds or any special equipment!

Kids can help: After bulk, the dough will be silky smooth and a dream to work with. In other words perfect for little hands! Rolling out ropes and twisting them into fun shapes is the best way to get your kids excited about baking from scratch.

Perfect make-ahead recipe: These little sourdough saffron buns keep so well! Bake them once and enjoy them throughout the rest of the week — or freeze some for later!

Ingredients & Substitutions

Saffron: I prefer ground saffron for ease of use, but either ground or threads work. If you use whole threads, do your best to dissolve them in the warm milk before mixing the dough.
Traditional Swedish recipes call for 1 g of saffron — but since that would set me back 36€ (40$ !) in a German supermarket, I only use 0,2 g. The buns still taste beautifully of saffron and still turn a deep golden orange, so feel free to use as little or as much as works for you.

Whole Milk: Always use whole milk, so the crumb stays tender and moist. For dairy-free buns, soy milk is the best replacement, but any whole-milk-style plant milk will work.

Unsalted Butter: For dairy-free buns, choose a high quality vegan block butter with a fat content of around 80%.

Sourdough Starter: It needs to be active and bubbly, so feed it 4-6 hours in advance.

Egg: Mixing one egg with a tablespoon of milk makes the best egg wash for saffron buns, giving them lightly golden and naturally sweet tops.

Raisins: Saint Lucia buns are always decorated with raisins. Make sure to soak them before baking, so they don’t burn in the oven! If you’re not a fan of raisins, use dried cherries or cranberries, or just sprinkle your buns with a little pearl sugar instead. (Or do both. Pearl sugar never ruined anything.)

Four baked sourdough lussekatter on a small baking sheet lined with baking paper, topped with bright white pearl sugar as an alternative to traditional raisins.

How to Make This Dough Work With Your Flour

Traditional lussebullar are made with regular, refined white flour (milled from soft wheat). It’s what gives the buns their classic light, tender crumb. But flour strength varies a lot around the world, and depending on what’s available where you live, you may need to adjust the amount of milk to get the dough just right.

Here’s a simple guide to the most commonly found wheat flours and how much milk to start with:

Strong Flours
(higher gluten, more structure)
• U.S. all-purpose or bread flour
• U.K. strong white bread flour
• Australia/NZ baker’s flour
• Italian Manitoba
Start with: 255 ml milk (1 cup + 1 tbsp)
Weak Flours
(lower gluten, more tender)
• European flours with a low “T” or “W” number
• Standard plain, all-purpose, or white flours
• White spelt flour
Start with: 200 ml milk (¾ cup + 1 tbsp)

Use these amounts as a starting point and always trust your hands:
A good dough should feel soft and smooth, and it should clear the sides of the stand mixer bowl. If you’re kneading by hand, you should be able to gather it into a smooth ball. If it sticks to the counter, use a bench scraper to bring it together—it will smooth out as you knead. The dough shouldn’t feel stiff or firm, so if it does, add a splash more milk.
Note: I obviously can’t test every flour in my own kitchen, but I did test one strong flour and one weak flour. If you have the choice, I recommend using the weaker flours. The texture is fluffier, closer to the original, and leans more pastry than bread roll.

How to Make Sourdough Lussekatter (Step-by-Step)

Vibrant orange colored saffron-milk and butter being warmed in a pot.

Vibrant orange saffron-milk being poured into the dry ingredients in a large stainless steel bowl.

Slightly sticky sourdough lussekatter dough before bulk rise in a large stainless steel bowl.

Smooth and puffy sourdough lussekatter dough after bulk rise in a cream colored ceramic bowl.

01

Dissolve Saffron

In a small pot over medium low heat, warm the milk, butter and saffron, just until the butter has melted. Let the mix cool down to under 42°C (107°F). If you dip your finger in, it should feel neither warm nor cold.

02

Knead and Ferment Dough

In a medium large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) combine flour, sugar, salt and sourdough starter. Add the saffron milk mix and knead the dough for 7-10 minutes, using a stand mixer, hand mixer or your hands.
It will be sticky at first. Keep kneading until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and can be gathered into a smooth, tacky ball. Cover and ferment at room temperature overnight (around 8 hours).

A soft, golden dough is turned out upside down onto an unfloured wooden kitchen counter.

Portioned out pieces of sourdough saffron bun dough, next to an S-shaped lussekatter bun.

Brightly yellow, twisted sourdough lussekatter on a lined baking sheet, being egg washed.

Sourdough saffron bun dough, shaped into different forms of lussekatter.

03

Shape Buns

When the dough is puffy and doubled in size, turn it out onto a clean kitchen counter (skip dusting with flour). Divide the dough into 20 small pieces. Roll each piece of dough out into a long, thin rope beneath the palms of your hands. Roll the rope up from both ends at the same time, to create small S-shaped buns.

04

Proof Buns

Place the shaped buns onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1-2 hours at room temperature.
In the meantime, cover the raisins with hot water in a small bowl, to soak and soften.

05

Egg Wash

When the buns have risen and puffed, preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of milk and egg wash the buns. Stick a raisin into the swirls on both ends of the bun.

06

Bake Buns

Bake for 08-15 minutes, or until the buns are turning golden. Keep an eye on them towards the end of the baking time—they brown very quickly!

07

Cool Buns

Rest the baking sheet on a wire rack and let the buns cool off. Serve straight away or loosely cover with plastic wrap if you plan to serve them later.

Traditionally shaped sourdough lussekatter sitting on a lined baking sheet, decorated with raisins and baked to golden perfection. — Two of the most traditional shapes of Swedish lussebullar.

The Many Whimsical Shapes of Lussebullar

One of my favorite things about Swedish saffron buns is how many shapes they come in, and how playfully they’re named. There isn’t one “official” shape for lussebullar. Instead, you’ll find a whole cast of spirals, twists, loops, and curls, each with its own traditional (and often delightfully odd) name that kids love to giggle about. The shapes are mostly simple, but they each carry their own little story.

The classic S-shape is the one most people recognize. These days, the shape is usually called a lussekatt (“Lucia” or sometimes “light cat”).

Originally, the S-shape was called julgris or julgalt (“Christmas pig” or “Christmas boar”), although if you google it now, most sources will confidently tell you it represents a cat’s tail.

Naming traditions (and their explanations) aren’t as fixed as they’re made to sound. And honestly? It doesn’t really make a lot of difference. Choose the shape you grew up with, the one you saw in a book, or simply the one you think looks prettiest on a dark December morning.

Overhead view of a tray of sourdough saffron buns or lussekatter, showing a variety of traditional shapes and their Swedish names.

Julgris — Christmas Pig
Julgalt — Christmas Boar
Gullvagn — Gold Carriage
Julhest — Christmas Horse
Prästens Hår — Hair of the Priest
Lussekatt — Lucia Cat
Lilje — Lilly
Pojke — Boy

When I learned how to make lussekatter, the julgalt was our lussekatt and the julgris was just.. an S.

There’s no need to get it “right”.

Tips & Troubleshooting

you’ll be making sourdough lussekatter like a pro in no time!

Resist the temptation to add more flour. The dough is supposed to feel sticky at first. It will be smooth and elastic after kneading and bulk fermentation.
If the bowl of your stand mixer is very large, move the dough to a smaller bowl for bulk rise. That way, it’s much easier to tell when the dough has doubled.
Skip any flour on the counter or on the dough during shaping. Once the dough has finished bulk ferment, it will be totally smooth and shouldn’t be sticky at all. Any additional flour will make the Lucia buns dry, so hold back unless you actually need it.
Divide the dough into very small pieces and roll the ropes really thin, about the size of your little finger. The longer and thinner the ropes, the better the swirls will hold up during baking.
The shaped buns will seem very small at first. That’s just right! They will grow a lot in the oven, don’t worry.
The biggest challenge with any lussekatter (sourdough and yeasted alike) is to keep them from drying out. The most common cause is overbaking, so bake only until starting to turn golden brown.
Don’t step away from your oven during the last 5 minutes of baking. Lussekatter can brown very quickly!
Once all the saffron buns have cooled, store them airtight, to prevent drying out. They’ll firm up naturally, but a short burst in the microwave will make them soft and fluffy again.

A split sourdough saffron bun on a small red plate, sitting on a striped tea towel on a chipped white wooden surface, exposing the even, orange colored crumb. One piece of the lussekatter is spread with butter.

How to Serve Sourdough Lussekatter

Saint Lucia buns are traditionally served on December 13th (Saint Lucia day).

Enjoy them plain, with a cup of coffee or tea, for breakfast or fika.
Dunk into hot chocolate.
Split, butter and spread with jam, honey or chocolate spread.

How to Store & Freeze

Sourdough lussekatter can be kept at room temperature for several days. Keep them well wrapped, so they don’t dry out.

Lussekatter also freeze beautifully! Fill a freezer bag with completely cooled saffron buns, remove as much air from the bag as possible and freeze for up to 2 months. Set the bag out to thaw overnight and warm the buns up briefly before serving.

Recipe FAQs

Saffron doughs are notorious for drying out quickly. A few things help:

Don’t overbake — 10–12 minutes is usually enough.
Use whole milk.
Don’t skimp on the butter.
Avoid adding extra flour while kneading.
If your buns firm up the next day, a short 10–15 seconds burst in the microwave makes them soft and fluffy again.

They’re traditional, symbolic, and practical. The raisins represent the eyes of the curled “cat,” keeping watch. They soften during baking and add tiny bursts of sweetness. If raisins aren’t your thing, you can omit them or swap for dried cranberries or cherries. Or just skip them and use pearl sugar.

Pretty much, yes. Lussekatter refers to a traditional shape baked for Saint Lucia Day. Lussebullar is the more general Swedish term for saffron buns, no matter the shape. “Saffron buns” or saffransbröd are simply broader English and Swedish names. The dough is identical, only the shaping changes.

You could, but they won’t be lussekatter anymore. Saffron gives the buns their golden glow, warm floral aroma, and connection to Saint Lucia traditions. If saffron is hard to find or expensive where you live, you can reduce the amount, but skipping it entirely will change the character of the buns.

Yes, but you’ll have to add commercial yeast. Use 7g (1 sachet) of instant yeast and let the dough rise for 1 hour. Shape the buns and let them rise again for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven. Bake as usual.
Yeast-based discard lussekatter taste closer to the traditional yeasted Swedish buns.
Sourdough adds a gentle depth but not a strong tang, as long as the dough isn’t over-fermented.

If you make these Sourdough Lussekatter…

I’d love to hear how they turned out!

Let me know in the comments below.
Leave a star rating.
Or save it for later on Pinterest!

P.S. If you’re into Swedish winter baking, you might love this recipe for The Best Fresh Milled Swedish Cinnamon Rolls (Whole Wheat Kanelbullar) as well!

happy baking!

Prep Time:15

Cook Time:10

Bulk Ferment & Proofing Time:9

Total Time:9 25

Servings:20 lussekatter

Calories:140kcal

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients

255 ml milk - (1 cup + 1 tbsp) See Ingredient Notes to adjust the recipe to your local flour.
100 g butter - (½ cup butter)
0.2-1 g saffron, ground or in threads
450 g all-purpose or bread flour - See Ingredient Notes to adjust the recipe to your local flour.
60 g sugar - (¼ cup + 1 tbsp)
120 g sourdough starter, active and bubbly - (½ cup)
2 pinches salt

Egg-Wash

1 egg
1 tbsp milk

Instructions