Swedish Lussebullar (saffron buns) spelt flour + oat milk

Swedish Lussebullar (saffron buns) are usually made and eaten on 13 Dec St Lucia's. My version of this Swedish recipe is using spelt flour and oat milk.
Saffron buns are a classic Swedish recipe for fluffy buns or fluffy cats as they are known in Sweden. Why wait until December let's practise eating them now. The scroll-style saffron buns look fancy but are relatively easy to make. In my video, I used a combination of white and wholegrain spelt flour, I was amazed they still tasted great. Not traditional for saffron buns but I add a little vanilla sugar and cardamom spice as they are quite plain style buns. We also enjoy eating them with butter.

Takes = 15 mins prep. + 30 mins resting x 2 = total 1.15 hours
Bakes = 6-8 mins
Makes =  16 buns

Ingredients (1/2 batch size)

• Fresh Yeast 25g or dried yeast 7g
• Unsalted butter, melted – 75g (1/4 cup + 1/2 tbs approx.)
• Oat Milk or your choice – 250ml (1 cup)
• Saffron – 1g
• Sugar – 80g (1/4 cup + 2.5 tbs approx.)
• White Spelt Flour (or a combination of white and wholegrain) – 450g to 500g (approx. 3 to 3.5 cups, you will need to balance depending on your flour blend)
• Cardamom (optional) – 1/2 tsp
• Salt (optional) – 1/2 ts
• Vanilla sugar, or vanilla extract (optional)– 1 ts
• Raisins, decorating – 18 (2 per bun)
• One Egg for egg wash glaze (or oat milk for vegan version)

Method

1. Crumble the yeast into your dough bowl. Melt butter then set aside to cool slightly.
2. Warm milk then melt the saffron into warm milk and stir until dissolved. Don't worry if the saffron threads are not completely dissolved. Add in melted butter.
3. Mix all ingredients with a dough hook until smooth and combined about 3-5 minutes. Rest covered for 30 minutes.
4. Add the risen dough to a floured board or bench and knock out some of the air and knead a little more flour into the dough. Take pieces of dough (about 60g each)  and then roll them into a long round piece like a tube about 20cm long. Scroll down each end to form the S shape and place it on a paper-lined baking tray. Repeat until all dough is used then press the raisin into the scroll then brush the buns with the egg wash. Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes (they won't really double in size). Glaze again if you would like a shinier bun.
5. Preheat the oven to 220˚C, 200 ˚C fan-forced.
6. Once the oven is heated bake the buns for 6-8 mins. Cool on a wire rack. The buns stay fresh for a few days or freeze leftover buns once cooled. The frozen buns will last for about 2 months.