Lussebullar

In Sweden another unique holiday is celebrated in December. It is the celebration of the St. Lucia. It falls on December 13th every year, and is meant to celebrate the saint whom is the bringer of the light. Yes, it is curious that the secular country of Sweden celebrates a saint. It does again have to do with the love of light in the dark season. The celebration itself is curious, yet beautiful, and too involved for the to get into here, so here is a link to Wikipedia's explanation.
As with all celebration, food is an integral part. The recipe below is for the traditional Lucia roll. It is a lightly sweet, saffron spiced roll decorated with raisins.

2 cups whole milk
4 oz butter (1stick)
2 packs active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
5-6 cups flour
1 gram saffron

an egg for brushing and raisins for decoration

Melt butter slowly in a pan. Add the milk and stir well over slow heat while mixing in sugar and salt. Crush the saffron very well, and add to mixture. Slowly mix over low heat until mixture is yellow and fragrant.
Add yeast, and remove from heat. Empty liquid into large mixing bowl, and slowly start adding flour. You want the dough to be sticky, but forming a large ball. Let it rise in warm place for about an hour.
Turn oven on to 425 degrees.
After an hour of rising, split the dough up in three parts and knead down. Place two parts on floured surface under a towel.

The other make into 8 small balls- roll them out into long snakes, then twirl the ends in opposite directions.

Once rolled up like this, let them rest for about 5 minutes.
Then place raisins in the "eyes" , and brush with an egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of cold water.

Great toddler job- raisins in the "eyes"

Place them on cookie sheet and let them rest another 5 minutes. Then into the oven. Keep an eye on them, they will show you when they are ready. About 8 minutes.
Cool on wire rack, and enjoy!!