Infused with spices, these Coffee Scroll Biscuits are a remake of the classic cinnamon biscuits from our childhood. The iconic swirls and pink icing circles are back, along with the spicy cinnamon taste right down to the very last currant. Be prepared to make a batch or two, these coffee scrolls aren’t going to last. Pair your freshly baked cinnamon scrolls with coffee or tea for a delicious afternoon snack!
Why We Love This
Coffee Scroll Biscuits are a treat to make, bake and eat – all on a lazy Sunday afternoon. They’re also a great snack or perfect edible gift to share with friends and family and bring back those nostalgic memories of childhood. They freeze well, so you can make them ahead and always keep a batch handy.
The warming, aromatic blend of spices in these biscuits almost remind us of American pumpkin pie spices or ginger kisses biscuits.
Related: Matcha Cookies / Almond Crescent Cookies
Where are Coffee Scroll Biscuits from?
We know Coffee Scroll Biscuits as the ULTIMATE 90’s biscuit. The exact start date is currently unknown, so if you had these in the 70’s or 80’s too – let us know!
From our own experience and scouring the internet, variations of these biscuits have been made by Arnotts, Nabisco and possibly Lanes.
They also stopped production of these classic cinnamon biscuits with currants / raisins over 20 years ago… now that makes us feel old. That’s a long time to go without such an awesome treat!
Quick note: Don’t confuse these with the sweet coffee or cinnamon bread rolls that use yeast. Our coffee scroll biscuits are crunchy cookies and nothing like the bread version.
What You’ll Need
Get ready to get your bake on, and open that pantry! No surprises today, just good old fashioned biscuit ingredients!
How to Make Coffee Scroll Biscuits
To make the Biscuit Mixture:
- First up, place your butter, brown sugar, vanilla and spices into a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. An electric mixer such as a Kitchenaid with a dough hook works best for this, but you can use a wooden spoon if necessary!
Next add the ½ whisked egg and switch the mixer to low to mix it through nicely. - Now add flour and baking powder, and continue to mix on low as the dry ingredients fold into the mixture, scraping the edges as you go.
- Add currants and fold them in, then remove from the bowl from your mixer. Wrap in cling film and place in fridge for 30 mins.
To make the Biscuits:
- Preheat oven to 160°C. Roll out the dough onto baking paper until it’s ½ cm / ¼ inch thick and cut out circles around 5-6 cm / 2 ¼ inches wide.
- To add the spirals, use smaller circles such as the tops of small jars to slightly indent the biscuits. Coat the tops of your jars with flour first so they won’t stick to the biscuits.
- Now place your biscuits on a tray lined with baking paper, and bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the biscuits to cool completely before icing.
For the White Chocolate Icing:
- Melt your chocolate buds in a bowl in the microwave in short 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until melted.
- Add 3-6 drops of red food colouring, then mix together.
- Pipe or spoon onto cooled biscuits in small circles, without going to the edge. Make the circles as small or big as you like!
Wandercook’s Tips
- We used our Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook to whip up our batch, and that worked a treat. If you don’t have one, just use the ol’ wooden spoon and mixing bowl!
- This recipe is quick and easy – the only part that takes time is allowing the dough to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge, and letting the biscuits cook in the oven for 15 minutes. We’d allow just over an hour to have these done and dusted.
- If you want to set the chocolate icing quickly, pop the biscuits in the fridge for a couple of minutes.
FAQs
Yes, you can freeze freshly baked coffee scroll biscuits. Just make sure they are completely cooled before wrapping them in heavy duty foil or freezer bags. They’ll last around 2-3 months in the freezer. Reheat individual biscuits in the microwave for around 10-30 seconds.Â
For the swirls, we used the tops of small glass jars. Get creative and see if you can find something in the kitchen with the perfect sizes – you only need to make one or two indentations per biscuit.
The way to get the best pink icing circles is to use a spoon or piping bag to put the mixture on the biscuit, then carefully and lightly use the top of your (clean, unlicked) finger to spread the mixture out in small circles until you achieve the size of icing circle you want.
So how does the taste of homemade coffee scroll biscuits stack up against the originals you ask? Pretty close according to our taste testers!Â
We found the biggest differences from the original store-bought biscuits was the texture and the currants.
The texture isn’t as dry as store-bought – or maybe that’s just because we ate them straight out the oven!
Either way, not a big deal, just a noted difference. It also definitely pays to used the smallest, driest currants you can find – we only added in a few and they still swelled up and cracked the biscuits during baking with the amount of liquid left in them.
All in all, these homemade coffee scroll biscuits are a great replacement to fill your coffee scroll biscuit void.
Especially as it doesn’t look like they’ll be back on shelves any time soon, and we’re not waiting another 20 years to find out!
Variations & Substitutes
- For the spices: If you don’t have all the spices, feel free to substitute with a pumpkin spice mix, or make up your own mix with your favourite flavour combinations.
- For the currants: You can substitute these with sultanas, cranberries or raisins. Omit them if you’re not a fan of dried fruit.
- For the Red Food Dye: Feel free to use any colour for your food colouring. Or omit for an au naturel white chocolate finish!
- Flour: You can try using self-raising flour if you don’t have plain flour available. They may turn out a little softer, but will be a pretty close match!
Why We Learned This Recipe
These elusive coffee scroll biscuits started out as a heated discussion over a family dinner. What in the world were those biscuits we all remembered, that had swirls, pink icing and currants? I still remember sitting on Nan’s countertop when I was about four and nibbling around the edges so I could eat the pink icing last. Anyone else do this, or am I just weird?
The conversation progressed with enthusiasm and frantic Google searches that finally resulted in a name – Coffee Scroll Biscuits. Which is interesting considering it has no coffee in the recipe, but we do know they go very well when eaten alongside or dipped straight into a nice hot mug of cappuccino.
Keep the oven fired up with more cookies and biscuits for you to cook next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating below!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups plain flour / all purpose flour 180g
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup butter 120g, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar 100g
- ½ egg lightly whisked
- â…› cup currants
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ cup white melting chocolate buds 75g
- 3-6 drops red food dye
Instructions
To make the Biscuit Mixture:
- First up, place your butter, brown sugar, vanilla and spices (cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg) into a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Note: An electric mixer such as a KitchenAid with a dough hook works best for this, but you can use a wooden spoon if necessary!½ cup butter, ½ cup brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 2 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp nutmeg
- Next add the whisked egg and switch the mixer to low to mix it through nicely.½ egg
- Now add flour and baking powder, and continue to mix on low as the dry ingredients fold into the mixture, scraping the edges as you go.1 ½ cups plain flour / all purpose flour, ½ tsp baking powder
- Add currants and fold them in, then remove from the bowl from your mixer. Wrap in cling film and place in fridge for 30 mins.â…› cup currants
To make the Biscuits:
- Preheat oven to 160°C.
- Roll out the dough onto baking paper until it's ½ cm / ¼ inch thick and cut out circles around 5-6 cm / 2 ¼ inches wide.
- To add the spirals, use smaller circles such as the tops of small jars to slightly indent the biscuits. Coat the tops of your jars with flour first so they won't stick to the biscuits.
- Transfer biscuits on a tray lined with baking paper, and bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the biscuits to cool completely before icing.
For the White Chocolate Icing:
- Melt your chocolate buds in a bowl in the microwave in short 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until melted.½ cup white melting chocolate buds
- Add 3-6 drops of red food dye, then mix together.3-6 drops red food dye
- Pipe or spoon onto cooled biscuits in small circles, without going to the edge. Make the circles as small or big as you like!
Video
Recipe Notes
- We used our Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook to whip up our batch, and that worked a treat. If you don’t have one, just use the ol’ wooden spoon and mixing bowl!
- This recipe is quick and easy – the only part that takes time is allowing the dough to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge, and letting the biscuits cook in the oven for 15 minutes. We’d allow just over an hour to have these done and dusted.
- If you want to set the chocolate icing quickly, pop the biscuits in the fridge for a couple of minutes.
- Can you freeze coffee scroll biscuits? Yes, you can freeze freshly baked coffee scroll biscuits. Just make sure they are completely cooled before wrapping them in heavy duty foil or freezer bags. They’ll last around 2-3 months in the freezer. Reheat individual biscuits in the microwave for around 10-30 seconds.Â
- How do you achieve the swirls and the pink icing circles? For the swirls, we used the tops of small glass jars. Get creative and see if you can find something in the kitchen with the perfect sizes – you only need to make one or two indentations per biscuit. The way to get the best pink icing circles is to use a spoon or piping bag to put the mixture on the biscuit, then carefully and lightly use the top of your (clean, unlicked) finger to spread the mixture out in small circles until you achieve the size of icing circle you want.
- For the spices: If you don’t have all the spices, feel free to substitute with a pumpkin spice mix, or make up your own mix with your favourite flavour combinations.
- For the currants: You can substitute these with sultanas, cranberries or raisins. Omit them if you’re not a fan of dried fruit.
- For the Red Food Dye: Feel free to use any colour for your food colouring. Or omit for an au naturel white chocolate finish!
- Flour: You can try using self-raising flour if you don’t have plain flour available. They may turn out a little softer, but will be a pretty close match!
36 Comments
Erin
17/02/2022 at 12:46 amOMG. If there was one biscuit I miss the most … it is these! I too remember eating them at my Nan’s and I also nibbled around the edge and savoured that delicious middle! I am going to attempt a vegan version with xantham gum to replace the egg. Thanks for recreating an Aussie fave of mine!
Wandercooks
17/02/2022 at 9:58 amHey Erin, that’s so awesome. Let us know how you go with the vegan version, and we’ll add it to our notes if it’s a success with the xantham gum. 🙂
Rita
26/07/2021 at 11:28 pmThese were my absolute fav!!! I used to nibble around the swirl and leave the icing for last aswell. Oh so goooood! I also vaguely remember different coloured icing middles in white and caramel/light brown. And was there even an apple flavoured one with pastel green icing or something???
Wandercooks
27/07/2021 at 10:55 amYes! I remember the other colours too. I think you might be right with the apple ones too – I’d completely forgotten about the variations. Yum!
Dani
30/03/2021 at 9:53 pmYesss I’ve been wondering about these for years! Even mum can’t remember what they were called and I loved them so much as a kid.. I just did a google search myself for the same reason you had and I’ve come across this’ I love it! I just wish they would make them again!
Wandercooks
31/03/2021 at 10:04 amBrilliant! I know what you mean, I miss the originals sooo much. So many good memories eating them. Glad we can at least bake a batch of these in the meantime. 🙂
Susan
27/07/2020 at 12:56 pmPity that you had to do pretend scrolls. Bit wasteful of time for those people who thought they really were sxrolls. I made them flat. Recipe ok. Pity the ingredients were not included. Had to go to another website to get the amount. Overall 1 star. You put chocolate on top not icing.
Wandercooks
28/07/2020 at 12:34 pmHey Susan! Aww unfortunately, these aren’t ‘pretend scrolls’ – it’s a popular biscuit recipe in Australia and not the American soft bread rolls you may be thinking of. The ingredients are in the recipe card with all the amounts and instructions, and the icing is made from chocolate… but we still call it icing over here as it’s the topping for the biscuit. Sorry for any confusion, it doesn’t sound like this is the recipe for you. 🙂
Libby Hakim
08/01/2020 at 9:48 amGorgeous! I can’t wait to try these. I have such lovely memories of these biscuits and your version looks absolutely WONDERFUL!
Wandercooks
09/01/2020 at 2:33 pmAh thank you Libby! 🙂 Hope you enjoy them as much as we did. They are a good one to have with a cup of tea!
Deb
07/01/2020 at 10:05 amAbsolutely loved them and am making a double batch again today. This time I’m going to try adding coffee to the chocolate. You certainly were t alone in nibbling around the circles and saving the icing till last.
Wandercooks
07/01/2020 at 2:40 pmOh that’s wonderful to hear Deb! So glad you enjoyed them. It’s definitely worth doing a double batch! You’ll have to let us know how the addition of the coffee goes! 😀
Natalie
05/01/2020 at 3:00 pmThanks for the recipe. Made these today because they were my favourite childhood biscuit and remind me of my nana.
Delicious cookie but definitely not the same thing.
Gosh I just wish they would bring them back.
Wandercooks
07/01/2020 at 2:42 pmIt is frustrating when they take away your favourites from the shelves. Unfortunately, the reality is, a homemade version is never going to taste exactly like a commercial version. We’re just thankful we can create something close to it. Glad you still enjoyed the taste either way. If you experiment any more with the recipe, let us know! We’re always open to new ideas. 🙂
Michelle
18/11/2019 at 2:21 pmI loved these biscuits! Will definitely try them this week. I think Lanes had a few flavour variations back in the 90s as I also remember ones with white icing and maybe even brown (although I could be confusing them with bakers delight coffee scrolls!)
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:08 pmI think you might be right about different colours. I swear I remember a white top back in the day too. At least we can make whatever colour we want now haha!
Jo
12/11/2019 at 9:01 amI going to give these a try I remember them from the seventies and were a favorite in our house
Wandercooks
19/11/2019 at 2:02 pmSame, so glad we’re able to have their sweet aroma floating through the house once again haha!
Alina | Cooking Journey Blog
19/01/2019 at 12:21 amThat is such a lovely biscuit for the next month of love… but we won’t wait for so long, ha!
Wandercooks
22/01/2019 at 2:11 pmOh yeah, I can just see them now with a pink love heart instead of a circle on top – so cute!
Cliona Keane
18/01/2019 at 10:30 pmThese are adorable! I love that they’re the perfect mix of fun and sophisticated!
Wandercooks
22/01/2019 at 2:11 pmThanks Cliona! 🙂
Patty
18/01/2019 at 9:14 pmI’ve never heard of these pretty cookies, they look delicious, I can’t wait to try them, they will be a nice addition to my cookie collection!
Wandercooks
22/01/2019 at 2:12 pmThanks Patty – yep they’re an Aussie tradition from our childhood that has sadly disappeared from supermarket shelves.. thankfully they’re so easy to bake at home!
Jacqueline Debono
18/01/2019 at 8:05 pmThese biscuits are so pretty. I don’t remember them from my childhood but probably because I’m older than you guys! Love the pink icing in the middle!
Wandercooks
22/01/2019 at 2:13 pmThey were a favourite in both our households – not sure when they officially stopped making them… but I think they’re better homemade anyway – there’s nothing better than that warm smell of freshly baked spicy biscuits is there? 🙂
Dannii
18/01/2019 at 7:20 pmI love any kind of coffee dessert and these are so pretty. Great for a tea party.
Wandercooks
22/01/2019 at 2:14 pmTotally! Thanks Dannii, glad you like them. 🙂
Marie
18/01/2019 at 5:05 pmWhat pretty biscuits! They look so delicious. Love the swirl pattern on top and pink icing.
Wandercooks
22/01/2019 at 2:14 pmIt’s the best part! (Shh haha) 😛