A taste test of bakeries from Peakhurst to Potts Point (and beyond) reveals the softest, dreamiest cinnamon scrolls.
Cinnamon scrolls have undergone a soft, sugary and Americanised transformation in bakeries across Sydney, and Good Food has found the city’s 10 best.
These are the scrolls you see on social media, sticky with cinnamon sugar and slathered with a thick layer of vanilla icing, luring hundreds of people to weekend line-ups at Bobo Bakery (Kingsford), Sundays (Bondi) and Igniis (Potts Point).
It could be the Cinnabon effect, says Bobo Bakery owner-baker Rowan Attwell, who noticed the trend emerge after the American chain opened its Darling Square outpost in 2023. Or it could be how inviting they look straight out of the oven, rows of warm pillowy dough rising in silver baking trays.
Attwell was among the city’s first to serve cinnamon scrolls that way, at a Christmas market in 2023, to immediate effect.
“As soon as I put that one tray out, I had lots of people coming over saying, ‘Wow, what are they?’,” she says. The scrolls have been selling out ever since.
This taste test aimed to find the best cinnamon scrolls within that rising category (sorry, my viennoiserie friends), visiting bakeries from Peakhurst to Potts Point (and beyond) to uncover that perfect balance of plush, buttery dough, cinnamon spice and thick vanilla frosting. Here are the very best of those I tried, presented in no particular order. And yes: they’re all better than Cinnabon.
Bobo Bakery, Kingsford
These are the cinnamon scrolls dreams are made of: pillowy dough, softened by gooey cinnamon sugar, with vanilla cream-cheese frosting oozing into each fold. Maybe it’s the dough (which took a year of recipe development to ensure it stayed soft throughout the day), or maybe it’s that little touch of lemon citrus, but either way, it somehow strikes a magical balance between levity and indulgence. The Kingsford store is home base for pick-up orders on weekdays, but you can also find the scrolls at Paddington Market every Saturday and Bondi Market on Sundays.
124 Gardeners Road, Kingsford, bobobakery.com
Suhtan Bakery, Regents Park
Second-generation baker Mohamed Sakr has been perfecting his cinnamon scroll recipe for five years. His scrolls are soft, supersized and pulsing with sugar, curled into baking trays beneath thick clouds of vanilla icing. It’s impossible to eat them without creating a great big mess, and that’s half the fun.
10 Amy Street, Regents Park, instagram.com/suhhtanbakery
Donut Garage, Marrickville
Ever wondered what happens when a doughnut and a cinnamon scroll come together? Donut Garage makes cinnamon scrolls unlike anywhere else in Sydney by repurposing and baking their house-made doughnut dough to great effect. It’s big, with an unfussy look about it, and the balance of doughy sweetness will have you coming back for more, long after your stomach has given up. Bonus: the cafe is open until 6pm most nights.
7 Mitchell Street, Marrickville, donutgarage.co
Baking 101, Stanmore
This is a cinnamon scroll for serious adults who wouldn’t dream of starting their day with a sugary treat. It’s light and toasty, more bread-like than most, and swirled with warm spices and chopped pecans. Don’t turn down the offer of fresh whipped cream, spooned generously on top – it makes all the difference.
128 Percival Road, Stanmore, instagram.com/baking101au
Flour, Caringbah
You know that feeling of waking up to the house smelling like bread baking in the oven? These cinnamon scrolls capture that cosy, home-baked feeling: made, from scratch, in front of you, and covered in a thick maple glaze while warm.
277 Willarong Road, Caringbah South, weareflour.com.au
Foli Bakery Production Studio, Campsie
Head baker Yewon “Yenny” Yung turns down the sweetness on her cinnamon scrolls while amping up the spices. It’s a smaller, more refined option: cardamom in the icing, chopped pecans in the cinnamon sugar filling, and a golden, toasty dough.
32A Harp Street, Campsie, instagram.com/folibakery
Igniis Bake & Roast, Potts Point
Arrive about 9am, when the scrolls have just emerged from the oven and the buttery cinnamon filling is still caramelising against the baking paper. The dough, glossed with a lemon-tinged vanilla icing, is pushed to the very brink of softness. If this list were ranked, Igniis would be a hot contender for the top spot.
Llankelly Place, Potts Point, instagram.com/igniisbakenroast
Tita, Marrickville
Load up on the serviettes: the buttercream frosting is gloriously thick on the cinnamon scrolls at Tita. The baking team have changed up the recipe, too, using same buttery Filipino-style brioche they use to make ensaymadas. It’s light on the cinnamon, but heavy on indulgence.
Shop 4/359 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, instagram.com/tita.carinderia
Sundays, Bondi
Some people wait up to an hour to get their hands on the cinnamon scrolls at Laetitia Loefti’s micro-bakery. The pillowy swirls of soft, sweet dough, slathered with spoonfuls of vanilla and cinnamon cream-cheese icing, are worth every minute. Loefti ensures customers try her scrolls when they’re at their best, with constant batches coming out of the oven, and her mum on hand to carefully temperature-check each one.
211 Bondi Road, Bondi, instagram.com/sundaysbondi
MLK Deli, Surry Hills and Kogarah Bay
Yes, it’s focaccia. And yes, it belongs on this list. Baker Chris Beadle (Charred Baked Goods) has created the bready embodiment of a cinnamon scroll, rippling brown butter and cinnamon sugar through thick slabs of high-hydration dough. It’s dimpled, a little crisp on the edges and just-sweet-enough. Try it.
168 Campbell Street, Surry Hills and 4A Wyee Street, Kogarah Bay, instagram.com/mlk.deli
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Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food’s Sydney eating out and restaurant editor.
