The café bake that made me want to move to a fictional town
If you have read The Pumpkin Spice Café, you already know the problem: you finish it craving a warm cinnamon scroll from a bakery that does not exist, in a coastal town you cannot drive to. I could not move to Dream Harbor, so I did the next best thing and made the scrolls instead.
These are soft, gooey, generously cinnamon-packed, and finished with a cream cheese icing that does not hold back. They are exactly the bake to make on a slow Sunday morning with the book in one hand and a coffee within reach. If you are reading book two, The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, consider this required research.
A quick note for my international friends: in Australia we call these cinnamon scrolls. If you searched cinnamon rolls recipe, you are in the right place, same gooey thing, different accent.
Why you’ll love this cinnamon scrolls recipe
It is an enriched yeast dough, which sounds fancy but just means soft, fluffy and worth the rise time. The filling caramelises into the classic cinnamon-sugar swirl, and the cream cheese icing melts into the warm scrolls so every bite is a little messy in the best way. No stand mixer required, just a bowl, a bit of patience and one prove.
Ingredients
Makes 12 scrolls.
For the dough:
- 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 250ml milk, lukewarm
- 60g butter, melted
- 50g caster sugar
- 7g sachet instant dried yeast (2 tsp)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp salt
For the cinnamon filling:
- 80g butter, softened
- 100g brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
For the cream cheese icing:
- 80g cream cheese, softened
- 30g butter, softened
- 120g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tsp milk, to loosen
Method
- Warm the milk until just lukewarm (not hot, or it will kill the yeast). Stir in the yeast and a pinch of the sugar and leave for 5 to 10 minutes until foamy.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, remaining sugar and salt. Make a well and add the yeast mixture, melted butter and beaten egg. Mix to a shaggy dough.
- Tip onto a floured bench and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Pop back in the bowl, cover, and leave somewhere warm for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
- Make the filling by mashing together the softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon into a spreadable paste.
- Knock back the dough and roll out on a floured bench into a large rectangle, roughly 30cm by 40cm. Spread the cinnamon filling right to the edges.
- Roll up tightly from the long edge into a log. Cut into 12 even scrolls (a piece of thread or unflavoured floss slid underneath and pulled up cuts them cleanly).
- Arrange in a greased or lined baking tin, leaving a little space between each. Cover and prove for another 30 to 45 minutes until puffy and touching.
- Bake at 180C (conventional) for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden. If your oven is fan-forced, drop to around 160 to 170C and check early.
- While they cool slightly, beat the icing ingredients together until smooth, adding milk a little at a time until spreadable. Ice the scrolls while still warm so it melts into the swirls.
Cosy Kitchen Notes
- Lukewarm, not hot. The number one scroll killer is milk that is too warm for the yeast. If it feels like a comfortable bath, you are fine.
- Slightly under-bake rather than over. You want soft and gooey, not dry. They firm up as they cool.
- Make-ahead: shape the scrolls, cover and refrigerate overnight after step 7, then let them come to room temperature and finish proving in the morning. Fresh scrolls, zero early alarm.
What to read it with
This is the official Dream Harbor reading bake, so obviously you read it with The Pumpkin Spice Café, or any other book in the Dream Harbor series. Pair it with a homemade pumpkin spice latte for the full cosy café morning, light a candle, and pretend the local gossip network is talking about you.
Quick answers
What is the difference between cinnamon scrolls and cinnamon rolls?
Nothing, really. Cinnamon scrolls is the Australian and British name, cinnamon rolls is the American one. Same enriched dough, same cinnamon swirl, same icing. If you grew up calling them buns, that works too.
Can I make these cinnamon scrolls ahead of time?
Yes. Shape them, then cover and refrigerate overnight before the final prove. In the morning, bring them to room temperature, let them finish proving until puffy, and bake fresh. You can also freeze baked, un-iced scrolls and warm them through before icing.
Why didn’t my scrolls rise?
Almost always the yeast. If your milk was too hot it can kill the yeast, and if it is too cold the dough proves very slowly. Aim for lukewarm, give the dough somewhere genuinely warm to rise, and make sure your yeast is in date.
The Last Bite
Did making these fix my emotional need to live in a fictional coastal town? No. Did a warm tray of cinnamon scrolls and a good book come extremely close? Absolutely. Make them, ice them while they are warm, and report back to the group chat.
