Morning Rolls (2024)

I set myself a challenge this year to start baking some more savoury favourites. As tempting as it can be to bake endless sweet treats, there’s so many other [less-cavity-inducing] recipes out there that deserve as much attention as their cake & tray bake counterparts!

Our Scotch morning rolls recipe seemed like a great bake to get me started. Or should I say, cob recipe? Buns recipe? Baps recipe? Softie recipe? Stotty recipe? Or even barm cakes recipe…? Phew! Is there any other bake with so many regional variations to it name?! Whatever you call them, these bread rolls are a staple here in Scotland.

Our Scotch morning rolls recipe seemed like a great bake to get me started. Or should I say, cob recipe? Buns recipe? Baps recipe? Softie recipe? Stotty recipe? Or even barm cakes recipe…? Phew! Is there any other bake with so many regional variations to it name?! Whatever you call them, these bread rolls are a staple here in Scotland.

You’ll find morning rolls in most every corner shop in Scotland on a Sunday morning. Understandably – they make the perfect breakfast roll when filled with bacon, egg, square sausage, black pudding, haggis, tattie scones…the options and combinations are endless! And there’s nothing better than a soft centered roll, with a slight chew to it, and a perfectly baked outer.

There is also the option of a well-fired morning roll. Not for me personally, but my husband and Papa insist they are the superior roll!

With shop bought Scottish morning rolls already being so great, why would you bother you make your own? Well, because you can! I’m a big believer in giving things a go at least once in a lifetime. With that in mind, I think everyone should give baking their own morning rolls a go.

Not to mention that you can’t get a fresher roll than one straight from your very own oven!

Strong White Flour
Much like our Easy Bread recipe, for the most predictable dough a Strong Bread Flour is the recommended. This is due to the amount of protein (ie. gluten) in the flour, which gives the rolls a good structure and chew factor.
However if you don’t have any or can’t get your hands on some, Plain Flour is a decent alternative; you’ll just need to work the dough a little harder when kneading to activate what gluten is in the flour.
Oh, and you can of course use Wholemeal Flour, should you prefer to make this a wholemeal morning rolls recipe.

Lard or Vegetable Shortening
Adding some fat your your morning rolls is not entirely essential but it does add a little extra flavour and helps prevent your rolls going stale quite as quick. Either lard or vegetable shortening is fine but just be aware that using lard will deem your rolls unsuitable for vegetarians.

Fact-action Yeast
There was a time when you could buy various types of yeast but nowadays, Fast Action Yeast in 7g sachets is the most accessible. It also works brilliantly in many recipes but especially this stotty rolls recipe, as no extra measuring, or preparation is required to activate it.

Salt
When it comes to baking bread doughs, you don’t want your yeast getting ahead of itself. That’s where salt comes in! Salt retards the yeast and slows it down, giving the gluten in your flour time to strengthen and develop. It also adds to the flavour.
In terms of what kind of salt, I use a traditional table salt. You can however try experimenting with different kinds of salt, such as sea salt, or even flavoured salts.

Sugar
Unlike salt, sugar has the opposite affect when added to a bread dough – it feeds the yeast! It might seem a bit contradictory to be feeding the yeast, whilst simultaneously retarding it but it’s all about balance. Sugar also enhances the flavour in our Scotch rolls, as well as helping with moisture retention.
In terms of what kind of sugar, I use a plain old caster sugar. There’s nothing to stop you from trying different kinds of sugars, such as a golden caster sugar, or even some less-refined sugars.

Milk & Water
For our dough to come together, moisture is needed. We use a combo of water and milk in this instance but if you don’t have milk, or perhaps just not enough, don’t worry; you can always just use water. Milk is preferable as it adds a degree of richness, due to it having more naturally occuring sugars, however it isn’t overly important what kind of milk you use (whole, semi-skimmed, skimmed…). You can even substitute your milk for dairy-free alternatives, such as Soya milk.

• If you are unable to get hold of vegetable shortening and don’t want to use lard, simply swap out for a block margarine. The water content will be a little higher in a margarine, however having tried and tested this recipe with margarine a number of times, I can confirm it works just fine as a substitute.

• When it comes to dividing the dough for your rolls, weigh your total dough after knocking it back. Use this total number and divide it by 8, then weigh out each dough ball individually. This will give you perfectly even morning rolls.

• Once baked, wrap your rolls in a clean tea towel. This keeps your rolls soft and prevents them from going stale. Morning rolls are always best enjoyed the day they are baked though.

• For well-fired morning rolls (ie. burnt on top – yes, really!) simply bake your rolls an extra 5-10 minutes, until you have your desired colour on top. Just be careful for your smoke detector going off when your take them out the oven!