How to Make Banana Cinnamon Sourdough Scrolls

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These Banana Cinnamon Sourdough Scrolls are soft and buttery – even though there is not a drop of butter in them! The secret is the mashed banana, which makes the texture unctuous and the dough lovely and sweet. Sticky and delicious, these scrolls are perfect for a warm Fall breakfast.

Banana Cinnamon Sourdough Scroll Ingredient Breakdown

• Banana – 1 mashed banana is all you need to add that softness and slight sweetness to this dough. You do not want a young banana – older and riper is best. The older the banana, the sweeter it is. And we want that sweetness, please!
• Eggs – Since eggs are starting to re-emerge (albeit a little more expensive), I have started to use them again in baking (sparingly). Because this dough contains eggs, it is akin to a brioche. Soft and sweet and perfect for scrolls!
• Yoghurt – I had some leftover yoghurt to use up, so it went in! If you don’t have yoghurt on hand, you could use milk, or even whey. You could try water if you have none of the above. I haven’t tried it with water, so I’m not sure if it would have a noticeable impact on the dough.
• Starter – your Sourdough Starter needs to be active and bubbly for this recipe. It needs to leaven the dough. These scrolls rise quite a bit! I love the way they reach for each other during baking, and nestle shoulder to shoulder once complete. Seeing those gaps in the dish filled is utterly satisfying!
• Honey – since there is no sugar in this recipe, the sweetness comes from the banana and one tablespoon of honey. That is all that is needed for the dough component, since there will be an extra layer of sweetness once you add the filling.
• Flour – use cake or bread flour here. I always use bread flour, since I cannot be bothered buying lots of different flours. I have never noticed a difference.
• Salt – Absolutely essential. Bread without salt is absolutely tasteless! You’ll be surprised what a difference that little spoonful makes!
• Time – these scrolls are a Sourdough recipe, so they do take a little bit more time. They take about 2 nights from when you feed the starter. Feed the starter before you go to bed. The next day, prep and prove the dough, and cold ferment overnight. The next day, shape, rest and bake the scrolls. I’ve got more of a detailed breakdown below.

Method Breakdown for Banana Cinnamon Sourdough Scrolls

The Night Before:

Before you go to bed feed your starter. This would be a good moment to make my overnight Sourdough Discard Scones, Carrot Cake or Pancakes, since these recipes use a large amount of Sourdough Discard.

The larger the discard, the more active your sourdough starter will become when you feed it.

The Next Day:

In the morning, make the dough. Mash the banana, and mix thoroughly the sourdough starter, banana, honey and yoghurt.

Add flour and mix until a cohesive dough is formed There is a lot of flour in this recipe, so you will need to get your hands in and knead the dough together until all the flour is incorporated.

Leave to rest for half an hour.

Stretch and Fold

For the next 2 hours, do 4 stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart. At first, the dough will be really stiff. Hang in there, and show it who is boss! Doing these stretches enables the gluten development and helps to expand the dough and tenderise the crumb.

Bulk Ferment

After the fourth and final stretch and fold, the dough can now enter the bulk fermentation phase. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise for a minimum of 6 hours, or until it has increased in volume by 50%.

Be careful not to over-prove at this stage, as it can really impact how the dough bakes. If it is warm, leave to ferment for a maximum of 8 hours, just to be safe.

If it is a cooler time of year, it may take a bit longer, and you will want to put the dough in the hot water cupboard for bulk fermentation.

Overnight Cold Ferment

Once the dough has increased in volume by at least 50%, you can now pop it into the fridge to cold ferment overnight. This is really handy as it enables you to shape and cook the scrolls at a more convenient time.

If now is the most convenient time to shape and bake the scrolls, then by all means, skip this step. The cold ferment gives you greater flexibility on when to start the dough. If you wanted to bake the scrolls all in one day, you would need to start almost at dawn, and wouldn’t be baking till after dinner. This is because the scrolls need a second prove once shaped, which normally takes about 2 hours.

So I really recommend giving yourself a break, doing the cold ferment step, and making this recipe over two days, rather than squishing it all into one.

Next day: Shape the Banana Cinnamon Sourdough Scrolls!

Work a couple of hours back from when you want to eat the scrolls. If you are wanting these for lunch, you will need to start shaping the scrolls at about 9.30/10. You will probably have to get up SUPER early if you want them for breakfast!

Take the dough out of the fridge. Leave it for about 30 minutes until the dough relaxes enough to roll out. In the meantime, you could make your filling. For this batch, I used a combination of dairy-free spread, maple syrup and cinnamon, which was sublime!

Roll the dough into a large 60cm by 40cm rectangle, the longest side facing you. Sprinkle with your favourite filling, making sure to spread evenly over the rectangular dough.

Starting on the longest side, roll into a log and cut into 8 scrolls. Place in a baking-paper lined tray with sides (as the filling will melt and ooze).

Leave for 1-2 hours until the scrolls have puffed out.

Filling Suggestions:

For this batch of scrolls, I mixed together 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and about 3 heaped tablespoons of dairy-free spread. I mixed these together until fluffy and light, almost like a frosting.

Bake

While the scrolls are resting, preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. It needs to be piping hot when you put them in!

Bake for 35 minutes or until you receive the colouration you desire. 

Glaze Suggestions

Once the scrolls come out of the oven, there will be pools of melted filling around the edges. I recommend taking a pastry brush and painting the scrolls with this delicious stuff. It gives them a lovely sheen, plus coats them with all that sweetness and spice!

We ate these scrolls plain, with a pat of butter and a squirt of maple syrup. They would be equally delicious with a thick cream cheese frosting. I mean, it doesn’t get better than that!