How to Make Homemade Butterhorn Rolls

Bake up an easy family recipe for homemade butterhorn rolls. How to make the best buttery crescent rolls, perfect for your Thanksgiving or holiday dinner.

For most people, the excitement of holiday dinners consists mainly of the turkey or the ham, along with all the fixings. Myself, I've always looked forward to dinner rolls more than any other dish on the table.

Especially my grandma's homemade dinner rolls.

On a recent search through old family recipes with my mom, we came upon my Great Aunt Ella Mae's recipe for butterhorns.

Looking at the recipe, I suddenly remembered making these homemade crescent rolls when Jacob was just a toddler. They were one of our favorite recipes.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited to un-earth this old family recipe for butterhorn dinner rolls. And when I made a batch so I could share the recipe with you, my boys were pretty happy too.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE ACTUAL RECIPE CARD?

If you’d rather skip all of my baking tips, important baking info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.

ARE CRESCENT ROLLS AND CROISSANTS THE SAME?

Short answer… No.

Long answer… Croissants require a whole ‘nother level of commitment to make. Made very similarly to puff pastry, they require a good amount of time working butter into the dough in order to create a more flaky texture.

Crescent rolls, however, are like regular dinner rolls, just crescent-shaped. You roll the dough out, shape the rolls, and let them rise before baking.

INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED FOR BUTTERHORN ROLLS:

• Milk
• Active dry yeast
• Unsalted butter (or shortening)
• Sugar
• Salt
• Eggs
• Unbleached all-purpose flour
• Salted butter

Keep in mind, all of the amounts you'll need are in the printable recipe card below.

KITCHEN TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT YOU'LL NEED:

Sauce pan – for scalding the milk.

Mixer and/or Large Mixing Bowl

Flour Sack Dish Towel – perfect for covering the dough to let it rise.

Rolling Pin – This one actually has measurements on it that help me measure how wide and thick to roll the dough. You can also use a baking mat.

Pastry Brush and Pastry Wheel

Baking Sheet

Bread Basket

HOW TO MAKE BUTTERHORNS

Making crescent dinner rolls is a fairly simple process. It just requires a few different sets of steps…

1. In a sauce pan on the stove, scald the milk (we'll get into how to do this a little further below).
2. Once the milk has cooled, whisk the yeast into it.

HOW TO SCALD MILK

Scalding milk is very easy, so don't let this step keep you from making these delicious rolls.

When I first read the word “scald,” I confused it with “scorch” and thought it meant to burn the milk.

But that's not it at all. It wants you to bring the milk to a point where it's just about ready to boil but hasn't boiled yet.

You can do this in the microwave or on the stove. I chose the stove.

WikiHow has a great article explaining how to scald milk.

Basically, you're going to heat the milk on medium-low heat, constantly stirring, until steam and bubbles start to form around the edge. As soon as you see bubbles, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.

Mixing the Dough

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and salt, mixing on low.
2. Add the milk and yeast mixture to the butter mixture and mix.
3. Then add in the beaten eggs, mixing well.
4. Add half the flour and increase the speed of your mixer to medium. Beat well for about 2 minutes.
5. At this point, you'll stir in the remaining flour by hand, at which point you should have a soft dough.
6. Put that dough on a well-floured board or countertop, and just lightly knead it for a few minutes.

Then place the dough into a greased bowl or pan, cover it with a towel, and let it rise in a warm place about 3 hours, or until it's doubled in size.

HOW TO ROLL BUTTERHORNS

When your dough has at least doubled in size or more, it's ready to shape into crescent rolls.

1. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a 9-inch circle with a rolling pin.
3. Brush the circle with melted butter.
4. Using a pastry wheel, cut each circle into 12 wedge-shaped pieces.

HOW TO SHAPE AND FORM BUTTERHORNS

1. Start to roll each wedge, starting with the wide end.
2. Roll the wedge lightly but firmly toward the point.
3. Keep rolling it until you've reached the point.
4. Once you reach the point, you will have your crescent shape.

Arrange the rolls on a baking sheet, and brush them with melted butter.

Then cover and let them rise 'til they've doubled in size or until they're very light.

Bake according to the instructions in the recipe card below.

Butterhorn rolls pair really well with apple butter and apple jelly too. We especially love eating them with strawberry freezer jam and homemade blackberry jam.

GOT HOLIDAY LEFTOVERS?

You can make stuffed crescent rolls instead of regular ones. And they are sooooo delicious!

My favorites are turkey stuffing crescent rolls and ham stuffed crescent rolls.

CAN HOMEMADE CRESCENT ROLLS BE MADE AHEAD?

Yes, they can, and you can freeze them too.

You can arrange them on the baking sheet, cover them well, and freeze them before baking. Just remember to allow 2-3 hours for thawing and 4-5 hours for a second rise, as well, before baking.

Or you can bake them and freeze them in an airtight container or freezer bag. Then just thaw and reheat them on the big day!

MORE BREAD RECIPES:

• Gluten-Free Hot Cross Buns
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Easy Banana Loaf
• Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

GET THE PRINTABLE BUTTERHORNS RECIPE

If you love this roll recipe as much as we do, please write a 5 star review, and help me share the recipe on Facebook and Pinterest!

I've joined up with a bunch of blogger friends for a Friendsgiving Virtual Potluck!

Be sure to check out the recipes below for wonderful Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving recipe and craft ideas!

Appetizers
Baked Brie with Honey & Walnuts from Kelley of Mountain Mama Cooks
Reindeer Bacon Cheddar Cheese Ball from Julie of Julie Blanner

Salads
Sauteed Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad with Cranberries and Walnuts from Shashi of Savory Spin
Creamy Brussels Sprouts Salad from Faith of An Edible Mosaic

Main Dishes
Savory Vegetable Crisp from Bree of Baked Bree
Rosemary Lamb Steaks from Danyelle of The Cubicle Chick
Turkey Pot Pie from Kelly of Eat Picks

Side Dishes
Fried Brussels Sprouts from Erin of The Almond Eater
Cheesy Horseradish Mashed Potato Casserole from Renee of Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip from April of April Golightly
Easy Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole Recipe from Mel of Adventures of Mel
Cornbread Stuffing with Chorizo from Isabel of Isabel Eats
Bacon Brussels Sprouts from Kara of Kara J. Miller
Crockpot Sweet Potato Casserole from Jennifer of Show Me the Yummy
Amazing Gluten Free Thanksgiving Stuffing from Sommer of A Spicy Perspective
Pumpkin Caramelized Onion Gratin from Denise of Chez Us
Crockpot Mac & Cheese from Leanette Fernandez of Funtastic Life
Cheesy Brussels Sprouts au Gratin from Rachel Gurk of Rachel Cooks

Drinks
Spiced Pumpkin Margarita from Sharon of Cupcakes and Cutlery

Breads
Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls from Erica of Buttered Side Up
Sweet Dinner Rolls from Jocelyn of Grandbaby Cakes
Parker House Rolls from Irvin of Eat the Love

Desserts
Sugar Pie from Julie of The Little Kitchen
Oatmeal Apple Crisp from Julie of Peanut Butter Fingers
Pumpkin Pie Milkshake from Eden of Sugar and Charm
Strudel Pastry from Justine of The Typical Mom
Tahini Hawaij Pumpkin Pie from Amy of What Jew Wanna Eat
Turkey Cookies from Meaghan of The Decorated Cookie
Mini Apple Pie Bites from Lynsey of MoscatoMom
Kabocha squash pie from Hilah of hilahcooking
Pecan Pie Cupcakes from Courtney of Pizzazzerie
Coconut Cream Pie from Schnelle of Brooklyn Active Mama
Chocolate chip cheesecake from Jeannette of Hispana Global
Chocolate Pecan Pie from Kate of I Heart Eating
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes from Chelsea of Someday I'll Learn
Turkey Donut Race Cars For Thanksgiving Treats from Theresa of Chewable Structures

Crafts and Centerpieces
Cinnamon Stick Holiday Candle Place Setting from Alli of Made with HAPPY
Metallic Pumpkin Luminaries from Amy of As The Bunny Hops
Easy centerpiece that will stun + party favor from Noelle of Oh Happy Play

CRAVING MORE BAKED GOODS? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates!