You’ll be set for a proper weekend breakfast and more with this crispy Scottish morning rolls recipe. Crispy, light and fluffy rolls, perfect with your favourite fillings or dunked in home made lentil soup.
Scottish morning rolls are a breakfast staple, often filled with bacon, Square Sausage or Potato Scone. There’s some variety across the country where these rolls are concerned, and many people have a preferred option – soft and floury, crispy, or well fired. Let me know what your favourite is!
Ingredients For Scottish Morning Rolls
- Flour: Very strong bread flour (sometimes labelled as ‘Canadian bread flour’) – high in protein, this flour gives the finished rolls a deliciously light and chewy texture. I like Allinson brand bread flour.
- Other Ingredients: Fast-Action Dried Yeast, Vegetable Baking Block, Salt, Sugar, Water, Rice Flour
How To Make Crispy Scottish Morning Rolls
Step 1: Dough
In the bowl of a breadmaker or food mixer, add 355 grams very strong bread flour, 1 teaspoon fast-action bread yeast, 20 gram vegetable baking block, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon caster sugar and 230 ml water. For a breadmaker, use knead setting for 15 minutes. In a food mixer, combine ingredients on a low speed for 2 minutes, increase speed to medium and continue mixing for another 8 minutes. Alternatively, knead dough by hand, combining flour baking block first before adding the remaining ingredients and kneading for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Rest
Stretch dough once or twice until smooth. Form a ball, place dough into a non stick bowl and cover with a clean, slightly damp tea towel. Set aside for 30 minutes. Stretch dough for Scottish morning rolls once more, return to bowl, cover and set aside for another 30 minutes. Cover bowl with clingfilm and set aside in fridge overnight.
Step 3: Rise
The next day, remove the dough from the fridge. Line a 33x23cm baking tin with grease proof paper.Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten slightly to create a bigger surface area for the rolls. Arrange dough pieces evenly on the baking tray in a 3 x 2 formation. Cover again with clingfilm and set aside for 3 hours until dough has puffed up and risen considerably.

Step 4: Bake Rolls
Preheat oven to 220c. Remove clingfilm and generously dust prepared morning rolls with rice flour. When oven is hot, slide tray into oven and bake rolls for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Step 5: Serve
Transfer baked morning rolls to a wire rack and set aside to cool completely. Slice and serve.

Scottish Morning Rolls Recipe Tips
Well Fired: As well as soft and floury or crispy rolls, the ‘well fired roll’ is another popular variation. With a name that is no understatement, these rolls are cooked until black on top, with a distinctly charred flavour to match. You can increase the oven temperature, or leave the rolls in the oven for a few minutes longer to achieve a well fired top on the rolls.
Vegetable Baking Block: You can find vegetable baking block in most supermarkets and it keeps these rolls vegan friendly. But, you could use lard or butter instead, with slightly different (but delicious) results.



I hope you’ll try this crispy Scottish morning rolls recipe. If you do, let me know in the comments how it went!

Scottish Morning Rolls (Bakery Style)
Equipment
- 1 Oven
Ingredients
- 355 grams very strong bread flour (Canadian bread flour)
- 1 teaspoon fast-action bread yeast
- 20 gram vegetable baking block
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 230 ml water
- rice flour to dust, about 1 teaspoon per roll
Instructions
- In the bowl of a breadmaker or food mixer, add 355 grams very strong bread flour, 1 teaspoon fast-action bread yeast, 20 gram vegetable baking block, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon caster sugar and 230 ml water. For a breadmaker, use knead setting for 15 minutes. In a food mixer, combine ingredients on a low speed for 2 minutes, increase speed to medium and continue mixing for another 8 minutes. Alternatively, knead dough by hand, combining flour baking block first before adding the remaining ingredients and kneading for 10 minutes.
- Stretch dough once or twice until smooth. Form a ball, place dough into a non stick bowl and cover with a clean, slightly damp tea towel. Set aside for 30 minutes. Stretch dough once more, return to bowl, cover and set aside for another 30 minutes.Cover bowl with clingfilm and set aside in fridge overnight.
- The next day, remove the dough from the fridge. Line a 33x23cm baking tin with grease proof paper.Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten slightly to create a bigger surface area. Arrange dough pieces evenly on the baking tray in a 3 x 2 formation. Cover again with clingfilm and set aside for 3 hours until dough has puffed up and risen considerably.
- Preheat oven to 220c. Remove clingfilm and generously dust prepared rolls with rice flour. When oven is hot, slide tray into oven and bake rolls for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
- Transfer baked morning rolls to a wire rack and set aside to cool completely. Slice and serve.
Notes
Scottish Morning Rolls Recipe FAQ
What is a Scottish morning roll?
The morning roll in Scotland is an everyday bread roll commonly sold by bakers, supermarkets and newsagents. The specific type of roll varies between cities or areas. In Glasgow, Mortons reign supreme, with their crisp and chewy rolls available in newsagents and shops across the city. Further East in Fife you’ll find a soft, floury roll on offer from the popular Stephens chain, with a slightly more dense and crisp offering available from Baynes. Supermarket chains also offer varieties of morning roll, either their own in-house version or stock from one of the brands mentioned above.
What is a well fired roll?
The famous ‘well fired’ roll is another variety of Scottish morning roll. As the name suggests, this type comes with a signature black charred top, offering a deliciously well baked and, dare I say, burnt flavour. It’s an acquired taste perhaps, but definitely one to try as you make your way through the variety of morning rolls available in order to find the one you like best. See recipe notes to turn your rolls ‘well fired’.
What can I serve with Scottish morning rolls?
Crispy morning rolls can be served alongside a full Scottish breakfast, or filled with bacon, square sausage, potato scone or a fried egg (or all of the above in one deliciously satisfying breakfast roll).
Do you like this Scottish morning rolls recipe? If so, buying a copy of my book might appeal to you! In The American Diner Secret you can find a host of cafe and diner style recipes that you can make at home. You’ll learn how to make dinner rolls, multigrain waffles, pecan pie and more! You can buy The American Diner Secret in paperback or kindle form here.
These look great, but what’s a veg baking block Kenny?
It’s essentially a plant based alternative to butter or animal fat, you can find it in the chilled aisle in supermarkets beside the butter, or in the vegan section. You could use butter, margarine or lard too for slightly different but also good results!