Soft, crunchy and sweet, my Cinnamon Pinwheel Scones are bound to go down a treat at your next morning tea. Made from a lightly spiced dough, cinnamon filling and vanilla glaze, these scrolls taste as good as they look.

Pinwheel scones were the first recipe we made in my home economics class when I was 11. I've been thinking about them ever since and thought it was time I made my own version. I hope you'll enjoy this recipe for Cinnamon Pinwheel Scrolls as much as my family and I did.
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Ingredient notes:

- Cinnamon: The star ingredient in these scrolls, I add a little to the dough as well as the cinnamon filling.
- Dairy: It's full fat milk and butter in this recipe. The default butter in New Zealand is salted which means you don't need to add any to the recipe.
- Flour: This recipe calls for regular plain flour. Gluten free flour will not work as a substitute for this recipe (or any other dough based recipes).
Note: Scroll to the recipe card for the ingredients, quantities and the full method.
Step by step instructions:
Preheat the oven to 190°C fan bake. Line a 27.5cm x 17.5cm baking dish with baking paper. To make the dough, melt the butter in a large glass bowl in the microwave, add the milk and mix together. Sift in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and brown sugar.
Fold together until all of the dry ingredients are damp, add extra milk if needed.


Dust the bench with flour then shape dough into a large ball. Knead lightly to combine. Shape into a rectangle then use a rolling pin dusted in flour to roll dough about 1 cm thick.


Mix together the cinnamon, brown sugar and butter for the filling. Spread over the rolled out dough then roll up tightly.


Cut dough into 12 even slices then place inside the lined baking tray leaving gaps between each roll.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden on top and the dough is cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow the scrolls to cool slightly before glazing.


Whisk together the ingredients for the glaze then drizzle over the warm scrolls. These are best served while they are still warm.

Recipe FAQs:
Pinwheel scrolls are best eaten fresh on the day they are made. Leftovers will keep well for up to 2 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Cinnamon scrolls are delicious as they are. But if you wanted to enhance them, you could add some raisins, cooked apple or walnuts into the filling.
Storage:
As mentioned above, cinnamon scrolls can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
Or, you can freeze them for another day. The best time to freeze scrolls is just after they have cooled down after baking. Place in an airtight container or zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost and either eat cold, or place back in the oven to warm through, then glaze.
Related Recipes:
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Cinnamon Pinwheel Scones with Vanilla Glaze
Cinnamon pinwheels made from a lightly spiced homemade dough and a sweet cinnamon filling, topped with a vanilla glaze.
Ingredients
Dough
- 50g butter, melted
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
Filling
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 50g butter, melted
Vanilla glaze
- 1 Tbsp butter, melted
- ¾ cup icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C fan bake. Line a 27.5cm x 17.5cm baking dish with baking paper.
- To make the dough, melt the butter in a large glass bowl in the microwave, add the milk and mix together. Sift in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and brown sugar.
- Fold together until all of the dry ingredients are damp, add extra milk if needed.
- Dust the bench with flour then shape dough into a large ball. Knead lightly to combine. Shape into a rectangle then use a rolling pin dusted in flour to roll dough about 1 cm thick.
- Mix together the cinnamon, brown sugar and butter for the filling. Spread over the rolled out dough then roll up tightly.
- Cut dough into 12 even slices then place inside the lined baking tray leaving gaps between each roll.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden on top and the dough is cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow the scrolls to cool slightly before glazing.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the glaze then drizzle over the warm scrolls. These are best served while they are still warm.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 218Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 194mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 3g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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Vanya










Debra says
I have been enjoying your receipes on Facebook and have been saving them from there onto my Pinterest board however it no longer gives me that option. Is there a limit? or do you know why this now happens?
Intend to purchase your book but like the Pinterest option to.
VJ cooks says
Thanks so much for your support, Debra. I'm not sure why you can no longer pin directly from the facebook link I'm sorry. However, if you click on the link and go through to the website, you will be able to pin from there. When you go to the recipe, there will be a red 'P' in the right hand corner of the recipe card. When you click on that it will take you to pinterest. I hope that helps.
Maria says
Hi there Vanya, is the amount of baking powder really 1 tablespoon in the cinnamon pinwheel scones with vanilla glaze? I’ve never used so much in a recipe before!
Thanks ( we love your recipes)
VJ cooks says
Hi Maria, yes that is the correct amount of baking powder. That helps to make them rise so beautifully! Happy baking 🙂
Tasha says
Could you use an alternative to milk like oat milk? Thank you
VJ cooks says
Hi Tasha, I haven't tried it with oat milk but I think it would still work well.
Michele says
Just wondering if you can freeze the rolls of dough and thaw out to cook at a later date?
VJ cooks says
I haven't tried that but sounds like a great idea. Let me know how you get on.
Bernadette says
Just made these now with my 3 year old. So easy to make and tastes delishes
lynn says
Whenever you say flour in a recipe does it mean plain
VJ cooks says
Hi Lynn, thanks for your comment. Yes, if I've said 'flour' I mean plain. We do state this in the newer recipes but haven't got around to amending the older ones (like this) just yet. Thanks so much, Vanya
michelle says
Hiya
My butter started to solidify after adding milk..is it supposed to do this or do i need to let butter cool?
VJ cooks says
Hi Michelle, yes that's normal! When adding cold milk to warm butter the butter will solidify. It's some weird science but, when the dough bakes, the water content in the butter evaporates and creates little pockets of air which make the pinwheels light and fluffy!
Adrienne Shaw says
Can trim milk. Be used instead of full fat?
VJ cooks says
Yes that would be fine 🙂
Larissa says
I've made this recipe many times now and it's delicious plus so easy and quick to prepare! I also like to add more spices like cardamom, mixed spice and nutmeg and some walnuts to the filling, then swap out vanilla for maple syrup in the icing. So so good!
Kay says
Can you use self raising flour?
VJ cooks says
You could, just reduce the baking powder to 1 tsp.
Louisd says
Hi, just wanted to let you know this recipe is absolutely loved by our family. Every weekend I’m asked (with pleading eyes!) if I can make the cinnamon pinwheels. They are super delicious, so thank you for your beautiful recipe.
VJ cooks says
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, Louise! I'm so pleased your family enjoys them.
Raewyn says
Finally got around to making these today - why did i wait so long! They are light and fluffy and really good! I'd probably only semi-melt the butter for the filling next time. But never making any other recipe again.
VJ cooks says
That's awesome. Thank you for the feedback, Raewyn 🙂
Jody says
Hi Vanya
Do you think substituting the brown sugar, in both the dough & the filling, for maple syrup would work?
Thanks
VJ cooks says
I haven't tried that but you could give it shot.
Lia says
Just made these for the 2nd time, my rolls are so small not sure if my baking tray is way too big or I missed a step? Are the rolls supposed to be quite small
VJ cooks says
Hi Lia, It might be the size of baking tray. Mine is 27.5 x 17.5cm. I'll add that to the recipe card for future reference. Thanks!
Tianna says
I made these for the first time and they turned about absolutely amazing. I will be using this recipe again for sure. ☺️
VJ cooks says
Yay, thank you for the feedback Tianna 🙂
Nat says
Can I make these the night before and put the scrolls in the fridge overnight and bake the next morning?
VJ cooks says
I haven't tried that sorry. But if you wanted to get ahead, I'd suggest that you make the roll the night before, then wrap it tightly in cling film and place in the fridge. In the morning, slice the roll into pieces and then proceed to bake. They might take a little longer to cook from chilled.
Susan says
I prefer to use weight rather than cup measurements. Would 1 cup be 125gm in your baking recipes?
VJ cooks says
It depends what ingredient you're referring to.
Susan says
Sorry I wasn’t clear…dry goods in particular and in this case flour as it so easy to get something different in just a “cup” …..
VJ cooks says
Thanks Susan. We follow the rule that 1 cup of flour is 150g.