Cheesymite scrolls are part cheese, part ‘mite. They are spiralled soft pizza-bread rolls. They contain layers of melted cheese combined with a smear of ‘Vegemite’ or ‘Marmite’. The dough is enriched with olive oil. The scrolls have soft edges and a crispy cheesy top.
Scrolls are the perfect picnic and playground snack food. You can eat them one-handed; the filling won’t fall out. They taste great warm straight from the oven, but also at room temperature. The roll-up creates layers which ensures that each bite is interesting. The scrolls are made using everyday simple pantry ingredients.
These are the perfect size to fit a couple into kids’ lunch boxes instead of a sandwich. You can prepare them the night before and leave in the fridge overnight. A long cold rise will even improve their flavour. You can pull the scrolls out of the fridge while the oven is preheating in the morning. Simply bake fresh for that day in around 20 minutes.
We add a tangzhong (a precooked portion of the dough) to the rest of the dough ingredients. This makes the scrolls softer. It also keeps them fresher for longer. It works to enable more liquid to be incorporated into the dough. It’s quite magical! Check out this article about how to incorporate tangzhong into your bread recipes.
❓ Overview of recipe steps
- make a tangzhong by whisking together flour and water on the stove until thickened.
- combine with the other dough ingredients in a stand mixer. Knead for 3 minutes.
- leave to rise for around 30 minutes, until doubled in size.
- press dough out into a rectangle. Spread with your ‘mite of choice, sprinkle with cheese and roll up.
- cut into rounds and place these cut side up in a baking tin.
- leave overnight in the fridge or proceed to bake.
- bake for around 20 minutes.
This is not a dough enriched with eggs and milk like cinnamon rolls. However, we do use the same principles to form the buns. We press dough into a rectangle, spread/scatter with filling, roll up in a sausage shape and cut into rounds. We set the rounds in a tray cut side up. Before baking they merely touch. After baking they merge into a wondrous soft mass. The buns can be easily pulled apart. The morphing into one mass means that only the very outside in contact with the pan. The tops are exposed to direct heat to form a toasted crust. The rest is kept wonderfully soft.
This recipe makes 9 scrolls. We use a square pan so that you can arrange them 3 by 3 for even size, shape and cooking.
🥘 Ingredients
Strong Flour – sometimes called bread, pizza or baker’s flour. This flour is higher in protein than plain/all-purpose flour. It’s great for baked goods that use yeast like these scrolls. The protein or gluten in the flour increases the strength or stretchiness of the scrolls. These scrolls hold their shape and have a good amount of chew.
Instant Dried Yeast – convenient form of yeast that is readily available. You don’t even need to activate it with warm water. It's used to create lift in the cheesymite scrolls and an airy texture.
Yeast Extract - Vegemite (Australia) or Marmite (UK/New Zealand) is the ‘mite’ in Cheesymite. This is an salty, umami, thick and sticky black spread, made from yeast extract. Whilst that doesn’t sound enticing, many people love it! It’s a favourite breakfast toast-topper. It's often paired with cheddar cheese, smashed avocado or eggs. It’s a polarising flavour – the long-running slogan for Marmite in the UK is ‘you either love it or hate it’. A little goes a long way. We use about a tablespoon’s worth for nine scrolls.
Cheddar – a classic combo with vegemite. I recommend ‘tasty’ or ‘mature’ cheddar here. It melts into each layer and we sprinkle a little on the tops of the scrolls too.
Olive Oil – used instead of butter to enrich the dough and grease the pan. It makes the scrolls taste pizza-like and is so delicious.
🔪 Instructions
(Photo 1 above) combine a small amount of flour with water.
(Photo 2 & 3) cook over medium heat until thickened. This will happen in a couple of minutes. Keep the mix on the move until you achieve a texture that is like soft mashed potato. Scrape onto a small side plate and set aside to cool slightly. We don’t want to add hot products to the yeast because it will deactivate it. By the time you get the rest of the dough ingredients ready, it will be fine to use. Making tangzhong is a very quick. If you did want to make it in advance (up to 3 days), cover closely with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge.
Haven't used your yeast for a while and worried it's dead?
(Photo 1) add lukewarm water to the yeast and leave to sit for 5-10 minutes before adding the flour. It should form a bubbly raft on the surface of the water which demonstrates it's alive and kicking and you can proceed with confidence! If it doesn't, it might be worth a trip to the supermarket to buy some more. This is unlikely to happen; instant dried yeast is a very stable long-lasting product.
You can skip this step (I always do) if you bake a fair bit. Instant dried yeast is very stable and lasts a long time. You can store it in the fridge.
(Photo 2) add all the dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand-mixer (including the cooled tangzhong).
(Photo 3) combine briefly by hand using a silicone spatula. This saves on kneading time.
(Photo 4) knead for around 3 minutes, until the stand-mixer bowl is quite clean. The dough will form a fairly sticky cohesive mass.
Use olive oil to grease a bowl large enough to take the dough once doubled in size. Use your hands to smear it around so that you can handle the dough without it sticking. Pull the dough off the hook and gather it up in hands. Create a nice taut rounded top by pinching any seams underneath.
(Photo 1 above) place in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap/a clean shower cap. Leave to rise at room temperature until roughly doubled in size. Check after 30 minutes, then at 10 minute-intervals after that until ready.
(Photo 2) Apart from the increase in volume, you can tell it’s ready by prodding it gently with a fingertip. It should spring back slightly to almost resume its original form.
(Photo 1 & 2 above) press out dough onto an oiled work surface or silicone mat (as shown). This is to avoid it sticking when we spread the ‘mite. Aim for around 30cm along the short edge. This will allow us to cut 9 scrolls of even height and allows for a little trimming of the ends to neaten. The long edge isn’t so important. It will end up being around 35cm long if we aim for around ½ cm thick or less. The longer this is, the more rolls (and layers) we’ll end up with per scroll. Very briefly nuke the ‘mite to soften it. This will only need 5 seconds – it starts to spark and smoke after this 😲
Spread all over the dough using butter knife. It’s quite sticky and thick. Start by dabbing little blobs all over, then merge these together.
(Photo 3) Scatter over the coarsely grated cheese, reserving about a quarter for the tops.
(Photo 4) Roll up as tight as you can, starting from one of the shorter edges.
(Photo 1 above) cut the remaining log into 9 even sections. You can trim the ends to neaten first if you like.
(Photo 2) place the rounds in a baking dish so that they are evenly spaced. Rotate them as needed. We want to position them so that if the scroll starts to unravel as it bakes and expands, it is stopped in its tracks. We make sure a neighbouring scroll would get in the way.
(Photo 3) put the remaining cheese on the top of the scrolls
(Photo 4) use an oiled spatula to press down on the scrolls to flatten slightly.
At this point you can transfer them to the fridge for up to 2 days before baking, or you can bake them straight away.
Either way - leave the scrolls at room temperature while you bring the oven to temperature. Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Stand-mixer
- Metal baking pan (roughly 20x20cm)
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 30 g bread flour
- 150 g/ml water
Dough
- 75 g/ml water
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- 7 g instant dried yeast
- 270 g bread flour
- 1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil plus extra for greasing
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 120 g cheddar cheese
- 30 g Vegemite/Marmite
Instructions
Make Dough
- Tangzhong – whisk together 30g flour and 150 g water in a small frying pan, off the heat first until no lumps remain. Place over medium heat and continue to whisk until thickened to the texture of soft mashed potato. Remove from the heat and transfer to a shallow bowl/plate to cool to room temperature. Spread out into a thin layer to speed up cooling. Place in the fridge for a few minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients ready. No need to cover if proceeding straight on with next step.30 g bread flour150 g/ml water
- Rest of Dough Ingredients - combine in a stand mixer bowl. Add the cooled tangzhong. Use a silicone spatula to bring the ingredients ‘together’. It will look quite dry and craggy.75 g/ml water¾ teaspoon sugar7 g instant dried yeast270 g bread flour1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil¾ teaspoon salt
- Knead Dough – using the dough hook attachment on stand mixer, mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms one mass and leaves the bowl pretty clean. It will be quite sticky.
- Grease Bowl - spread some oil around the inside of a large bowl with your fingers. Keep the oil on your hands for the next step.
- Form Ball – collect the dough in your hands. Form a tight smooth ball by pinching together any seams under the dough.
- First Rise - transfer the ball of dough to the oiled bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a shower cap. Place in a warm place for around 30 minutes, until the dough has roughly doubled in volume. If you prod the dough gently with your finger, it should bounce back slightly. If it's not quite there yet, test again in 10 minute intervals.
Make Scrolls
- Grease Pan – liberally coat the inner surface of the baking pan with olive oil, especially in the corners. Line the base and up two opposite sides with a sheet of baking paper.
- Grate Cheese – coarsely grate the cheddar.120 g cheddar cheese
- Shape Dough – gently tip out dough onto an oiled work surface or unoiled silicone mat. Using your hands, press out to a square or rectangle that is about 30cm along one side and no more than ½ cm thick.
- Spread Vegemite/Marmite - microwave the Vegemite/Marmite for just a few seconds to loosen it a bit. Dab it all over the dough then gently spread out with a butter knife.30 g Vegemite/Marmite
- Sprinkle Cheese – save about a quarter of the cheese for the tops of the scrolls. Sprinkle the rest evenly over the dough.
- Form Log – starting from one of the 30cm ends, roll the dough up as tightly as you can.
- Cut Rounds – evenly cut the log into 9 sections across its length – try cutting in thirds, then each third into three.
- Arrange Scrolls – evenly distribute the rounds, cut side up in baking pan. Rotate them as necessary so that any unravelling edges will butt up against a neighbouring scroll. Leave equal space around the edges as between the scrolls. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the tops.
- Flatten Scrolls – use an oiled flexible spatula/fish slice to squash down the scrolls slightly to spread them out and open them up. If not cooking the scrolls straight away, you can closely cover and transfer to the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Preheat Oven – to 180°C. Take the scrolls out of the fridge while the oven is coming up to temperature.
- Bake – (uncovered) for 18-20 minutes, until the tops are slightly golden and the scrolls sound hollow when you tap them.
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