Dauphin Island’s Lighthouse Bakery Named Home of Alabama’s Best Cinnamon Rolls

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — A family bakery that has been turning out breakfast and pastries from a historic house on Dauphin Island since 1997 has been named the place to find the best cinnamon rolls in Alabama. Lighthouse Bakery, on Chaumont Avenue, took the top spot for the state on a national list that ranked bakeries and restaurants in every state for their cinnamon rolls.

For the people who make them, the recognition is the reward for a daily routine that starts long before sunrise. The bakery’s staff begins baking cinnamon rolls at 3 a.m. every morning so the first batch is hot when the doors open, and in the busiest stretch of summer they can roll out a thousand of them in just a few days.

How the ranking was made

The national list was compiled by analyzing online customer reviews that mentioned “cinnamon rolls.” The rankings were weighted by the number of reviews and by the ratings customers gave, so a spot needed both a strong reputation and a steady volume of praise to rise to the top in its state.

The list’s authors framed the rankings around the fall and winter baking season.

“Whether you like yours fresh from the oven and dripping with cream cheese frosting, dusted with pecans, or filled with fall flavors like pumpkin and apple, bakeries across the country offer plenty of reasons to slow down and savor the season,” the authors wrote.

Alabama has no shortage of bakeries and breakfast spots serving cinnamon rolls, but it was the small shop on a barrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay that came out on top for the state.

A family recipe that started with “Momma”

Lighthouse Bakery was opened in 1997 by Mary and Daniel Scarcliff, who set up shop in a charming historic home on the island. In the nearly three decades since, the bakery has built a loyal following with a broad menu of breakfast dishes and homemade baked goods, from danishes and turnovers to muffins and biscuits.

The cinnamon rolls, which come in a variety of flavors, are one of the biggest draws. Owner Christa Jones said the recipe has stayed in the family.

“They are a family recipe, started with my Momma, Mary Scarcliff,” Jones said. The rolls, she said, are “made fresh, from scratch, every morning with wholesome ingredients like flour, eggs, milk, butter, sugar, yeast, and a lot of love.”

“No added preservatives or chemicals, just like our great grandmother’s cooking,” she added.

That commitment to baking from scratch each day is what drives the bakery’s early hours. Yeast doughs like the one used for cinnamon rolls need time to rise before they are shaped, filled, rolled and baked, which is why many bakeries that make them fresh begin work in the middle of the night. At Lighthouse Bakery, that work begins at 3 a.m.

From a few hundred to a thousand rolls

The number of rolls coming out of the oven rises and falls with the island’s tourist seasons.

“During the slower off season, we might bake a few hundred a week,” Jones said. “However during the busy summer weeks, we might roll out a thousand rolls in just a few days.”

That swing reflects the rhythm of life on Dauphin Island, a town of fewer than 2,000 year-round residents whose population grows considerably in summer as vacationers fill rental homes and beaches. Bakeries and restaurants on the island typically plan their staffing and baking around that cycle, scaling up for summer crowds and settling into a quieter pace in the cooler months.

The national recognition arrives as the island heads into its off season, a time when locals and day-trippers from Mobile and beyond often have the island’s businesses largely to themselves.

Other Southern standouts on the list

Lighthouse Bakery was one of dozens of bakeries and restaurants recognized across the country. Among the other spots named for their cinnamon rolls were several in neighboring and nearby Southern states:

• Atlanta Breakfast Club in Atlanta, Georgia
• DV8 Kitchen in Lexington, Kentucky
• Levee Baking Co. in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Blue Dog Bistro in Ocean Springs, Mississippi
• Louie and Honey’s Kitchen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Crockett’s 1875 Breakfast Camp in Gatlinburg, Tennessee
• The Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli in Columbia, South Carolina

For Gulf Coast travelers, the list offers a ready-made itinerary: Ocean Springs is a short drive west along Interstate 10 from Mobile, and New Orleans is a couple of hours beyond that.

A morning stop on a day trip to Dauphin Island

For many visitors, a stop at a local bakery is part of a day on Dauphin Island. The island sits at the southern tip of Mobile County, where Mobile Bay meets the Gulf, and is reached by car over the Dauphin Island Bridge from the mainland. Travelers coming from Baldwin County can also cross the mouth of the bay on the Mobile Bay Ferry, which runs between Fort Morgan and Dauphin Island.

Once on the island, visitors can explore Fort Gaines, the 19th-century fort at the island’s east end that played a role in the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay; walk the trails of the Audubon Bird Sanctuary, a popular stop for birders during spring and fall migrations; or visit the Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Estuarium, a public aquarium focused on the coastal habitats of the Mobile Bay region. The island’s public beach and fishing pier also draw visitors year-round.

Fall and winter can be an especially good time to visit. Crowds are thinner, temperatures are milder, and the island is a stopover for migrating birds. A warm cinnamon roll on a cool morning fits right in with that kind of trip.

If you go

• What: Lighthouse Bakery, named the best place for cinnamon rolls in Alabama
• Where: 919 Chaumont Avenue, Dauphin Island
• Hours: 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
• Menu highlights: Cinnamon rolls in a variety of flavors, plus breakfast dishes, danishes, turnovers, muffins and biscuits
• Tip: The rolls are baked fresh each morning starting at 3 a.m., so earlier visits offer the best chance at a roll straight from the oven.

The bakery’s listed hours do not include Sunday or Monday, so visitors planning a weekend trip should aim for Saturday. Because hours at small, family-run businesses can change with the seasons and holidays, it is a good idea to check before making the drive.