Overnight Spiced Easter Scrolls
Similar to a cinnamon roll, these Easter scrolls use a small amount of yeast (or sourdough starter - see recipe notes below) and left to rise slowly overnight. It is important to store the uncooked scrolls in the fridge overnight so the butter doesn't melt into the flour resulting in a tough pastry. The folding and rolling step creates layers of gorgeous buttery dough that melts in your mouth.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- 1 cup gluten-free flour [I used 1/3 cup tapioca flour + 2/3 cup buckwheat flour]
- OR 1 cup extra wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon dried active yeast*
- 1 tablespoon unrefined sugar - rapadura, muscovado, coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 150 g cold butter, cut into 1 cm cubes
- 1/3 cup natural yoghurt - cow, goat, sheep, coconut milk
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 free-range egg
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unrefined sugar
- 1/2 cup currants or raisins
Instructions
- Place the flours, yeast, sugar, salt, spices and zest in a food processor and briefly combine. Add the cubed butter and pulse to cut up the butter a little - it can be quite rough. Whisk together the yogurt, milk and egg in a jug and add to the processor. Pulse into a very rough and shaggy looking dough. Tip into a bowl and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Tip onto a lightly floured bench and press into a flat square. Roll into a 20 x 30cm rectangle. Fold the sides into the middle so you have 3 layers and roll out again into a 20 x 30cm rectangle. Repeat this step 5 more times [so 6 rolling and folding in total]. Keep dusting with a little flour as needed to prevent sticking. Roll into a large rectangle approx. 50cm by 25cm, with the long side facing you. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon and sugar. Scatter over the raisins and roll up firmly into a long log. Use a pastry cutter or butter knife to cut evenly into 12 scrolls. I find it easiest to cut in half, then quarters, then each quarter into 3 pieces.
- Grease a 20 x 15 cm baking dish with butter [or use a 12 hole muffin tray]. Arrange the scrolls in the base with a little space between each. Cover with a plastic bag, pinch and pull up the bag to make a dome, and place in the fridge overnight. First thing in the morning remove the rolls from the fridge and leave in a warm place to rise and double in size, about 3-6 hours. *Because there is only a small amount of yeast in the mix the rise time can vary depending on the temperature. If you want them to rise faster [3 hours] heat an oven to 50C and then turn off and prove the scrolls in the warm oven.
- Heat the oven to 180C and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden. Check the base is cooked then use a spatula to carefully remove the bundle of scrolls onto a cooling rack. Eat warm with a cuppa and share with friends on Easter Sunday. Happy Easter!
Notes
*Sourdough variation: Omit the yeast and replace the yoghurt with 1/2 cup (100g) bubbly sourdough starter (feed 6-8 hours prior) plus add 2 tablespoons extra milk.
Easter weekend brings memories of trips to Christchurch to visit my Dutch Grandparents. My Grandma (Bonemama) loved tradition so the weekend revolved around painting blown-out eggs, crafting, and of-course an Easter egg hunt with my cousins in the large sprawling garden.
How Bonemama kept track of the chocolate eggs in that large garden I do not know. They were generally those little milk chocolate/caramel filled eggs wrapped in coloured foil. Surely some succumbed to the elements and melted in the warm Autumn sun. I am looking forward to sharing some of these traditions with my children. Painting eggs and Easter egg hunts, plus a slow Sunday with warm Easter buns from the oven.
As we don’t eat a lot of wheat in our house I wanted to make a low-wheat version of an Easter bun. Something not too bready and stodgy, more a buttery croissant-style scroll. Although I generally avoid wheat I can tolerate a small amount if it is prepared with care to enhance the digestibility. I have also found including more naturally fermented foods in my diet has increased my tolerance as my digestion is working more efficiently. If you are also sensitive to wheat and gluten, or just interested in how to prepare food to optimise its digestibility and increase our nutrient uptake, here are few key steps I take:
- Soaking gluten containing flours overnight with a little yogurt or cultured whey (made from cow, goat, sheep or coconut milk) helps convert the gluten to make it easier to digest.
- Start with spelt as it is lower in gluten, also Arawa from Terrace Farms in Canterbury. Or choose stoneground white flour, preferably organic, as it is less processed.
- The fibre in grains and wheat can be difficult to digest (for those of us with sensitive digestive systems) so stick to small amounts of stoneground white flours and halve the quantity with gluten flours such as buckwheat, rice flour, sorghum and tapioca.
- When baking bread use a sourdough starter [or a small amount of yeast] for a slow rise – 12-24 hours.
Could I make this gluten free by using 2 cups of gluten free flour instead?
Hi Saskia, as I haven’t tried this I can’t guarantee it will work. The small amount of gluten is quite important for holding the dough together. You could add 1 teaspoon psyllium husks or guar/xanthan gum [although the vegetable gums are not recommended for serious gluten intolerance or coeliac disease as it can mimic gluten] to help bind. If you try this I would love to hear how you go. Thanks!
I am actually going to give these a go! A Baker I most certainly am not – but I am quite up for a good challenge!
Good luck! I hope they work out amazingly delicious 🙂
yum! thanks nicola. i’ll be trying these for sure over easter weekend.
Happy baking Melissa x
Nicola, can you share you source for tapioca flour? Thanks!
Hi Jessicah, I got mine from the Binn Inn in Nelson but also can get it through Ceres. Sometimes it is also called arrowroot. I hope that helps.
Hi Nicola, have you made or could you use coconut flour for the 2nd cup of flour? I’m keen to try these for this weekend, they sound yum. Thanks Heather
Hi Heather, I wouldn’t use coconut flour. It absorbs a lot of liquid and generally use about 1/4 – 1/3 the quantity of wheat flour in a recipe. As I haven’t tried this recipe with coconut flour I really can’t say how it would work and the quantity needed. Sorry I can’t be more exact but coconut flour doesn’t behave at all like other flours 😉
Nicola, those buns look so flaky and good! I hope you all had a happy Easter! xoxo E
Thanks Erin, they were a lovely Easter treat. They can also be made gluten-free although a little more flakier!