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Norwegian School Buns 'Skoleboller' (Sourdough)

4.9 from 18 votes
School buns, or 'skoleboller,' are one of my all-time favorite Norwegian pastries! They are soft and sweet, filled with pastry cream, and topped with powdered sugar glaze and desiccated coconut.
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Yield12 buns
Prep Time1 hour
Proofing Time 22 hours
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time23 hours 15 minutes

Equipment

  • Digital kitchen scale
  • Stand mixer
  • Brød & Taylor proofer box (optional, but recommended)

Ingredients

Sweet Levain

  • 40 g active sourdough starter white, 100% hydration. Fed 10-12 hours prior
  • 40 g whole milk cold
  • 40 g white flour or bread flour
  • 10 g sugar

Main Dough

  • 500 g bread flour 11-13% protein
  • 80 g sugar
  • 9 g sea salt
  • 2 g ground cardamom 1 tsp
  • 1 large egg
  • 230-250 g whole milk cold
  • 130 g sweet levain
  • 90 g unsalted butter room temperature
  • + 1 egg for egg wash

Vanilla Pastry Cream

  • 240 g whole milk
  • 1/2 vanilla bean pod or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 40 g sugar
  • 15 g corn starch
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 15 g unsalted butter

Powdered Sugar Glaze

  • 200 g powdered sugar
  • Roughly 35 g water

Topping

  • Desiccated coconut

Instructions
 

Sweet Levain

  • Start by mixing active sourdough starter, milk, flour, and sugar in a bowl. Cover and rise in a warm spot for 4 hours or until the levain has doubled/tripled in size.

Main Dough

  • Start by gathering all the ingredients. Add them all, except the butter, to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together. Cover, and autolyse/rest for 30 minutes.
  • Start your mixer again and knead on medium speed for 5-10 minutes.
  • After 5-10 minutes: slowly add in the softened butter, one cube at a time.
  • When all the butter is added, continue kneading at medium speed for 15-25 minutes until your dough passes the window-pane test.
  • Gently shape the dough into a round. Transfer it to a clean, lightly oiled baking bowl and proof in a warm spot, ideally at around 78°F/26°C, for two hours.
  • After two hours, transfer the dough to the fridge to cold-proof for a minimum of six hours (or up to fifteen hours).

Shape

  • Take the dough out of the fridge, let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Next, weigh the dough and divide it by the number of buns you would like to make, either 9 large (roughly 120g each) or 12 smaller buns (roughly 90g each).
  • Use your bench knife to cut the dough into equal pieces. Then, shape the dough pieces into seamless rounds. Transfer them to a lined baking tray. Use your hands to gently push down the rounds to make them more of a disc shape. Cover the tray loosely with plastic wrap.
  • Since my baking tray is too large for my proofing box, I let them proof at room temperature (around 68°F/20°C) for 10 hours. You want the buns to be all puffed up and doubled in size before you bake them. This may take anywhere from 9-12 hours, depending on your environment, temperatures, and sourdough starter.*

Pastry Cream Filling

  • In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, corn starch, and salt.
  • Cut the vanilla bean pod in half (lengthwise) and scrape off the vanilla bean with a knife.
  • Add the milk and vanilla bean to a small pot. Heat up over medium heat until you can see small bubbles forming around the edges of the pot, almost to a boil.
  • Take the pot off the heat and slowly pour it over the egg mixture a little at a time while constantly whisking.
  • Place a fine-mesh strainer over the pot and strain everything back into the pot. Heat up over medium heat, still constantly whisking, until the pastry cream is thick and shiny.
  • Remove from heat and mix in the butter. If you're using vanilla extract, you want to mix it in now.
  • Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap that is touching the entire surface of the cream. Cool to room temperature, then place it in the fridge.

Assemble And Bake

  • Preheat the oven to 430°F/220°C.
  • Use your knuckles/fingertips to create an indention in the middle of each bun. You want to make sure to really press down the dough so that the filling stays inside the bun rather than on top of the bun.
  • With a spoon or piping bag, fill the centers of each bun with a generous amount of vanilla pastry cream.
  • Brush with egg wash and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Powdered Sugar Glaze

  • When the buns are completely cooled down, you can make the glaze.
  • Combine powdered sugar and water and mix until it forms a thick glaze.
  • Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over each bun. Lastly, sprinkle on the desiccated coconut.

Notes

*It might take a couple of tries to know exactly when the dough is fully proofed. It's important to note that you should always look less at the time and more at how the dough looks and feels.