These soft and tender Butterhorn Rolls (aka crescent rolls) are easy to make and a delicious addition to any meal!
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Have you ever had a butterhorn (aka crescent roll)? It's kinda like a buttery dinner roll, but in a rolled up form rather than a plain jane dinner roll. Now don't get me wrong, I love a classic dinner roll, but these butterhorns have always felt like such a treat to me and I'm excited to share them with you today!
These butterhorns are great as a side dish (like alongside a turkey at Thanksgiving), but I grew up eating these for breakfast, snack, whenever! My siblings and I liked to unroll the butterhorns, slap some PB & J on there and roll it back up. Haha! No matter how you eat them, I think you're gonna enjoy 'em!
Ingredients Needed
- Warm Water (**you will need a thermometer!**)
- Yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- Large Eggs
- Shortening
- All Purpose Flour
- Butter
How do you make Butterhorn Rolls?
Activating the Yeast
Although making a yeast dough isn't really difficult, getting this part right is really important! You'll want to use a reliable thermometer to make sure your yeast is between 110-115 degrees F. Then you will add your yeast and a bit of sugar (think of sugar as yeast food - it helps it activate), stir and watch it grow!
Make the Dough
You'll add the yeast mixture to the eggs, shortening, sugar and salt. Then, you'll add the flour until it's getting really tough to stir.
Knead the Dough
Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5-7 minutes. Kneading the dough essentially stretches the gluten proteins in the flour, which helps create a soft and elastic dough. (Think of this part as stretching your muscles before a long run!) Once you're done kneading the dough, you'll let it rise until doubled in size.
Shape the Butterhorns, Rise and Bake!
Divide the dough into three even pieces and pat each out into a 12 inch circle. Brush with melted butter and use a pizza cutter to cut each circle into 12 triangles.
Roll each up and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let them rise an additional 45 minutes, until puffy. Finally, bake and brush with butter.
Can I freeze Butterhorn Rolls?
Yes! If you're prepping for a big gathering and want to get the rolls made ahead of time, you certainly can. Here's what I recommend:
- Make the dough, let it rise and shape the butterhorns
- Place the butterhorns on a parchment-lined sheet and place it in the freezer overnight.
- Then, place the frozen butterhorns in a tightly sealed freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- When you're ready to bake them, place the frozen butterhorns on a parchment-lined sheet and let them come to room temperature and raise a bit...then bake!
Why are my rolls not fluffy?
As I mentioned before, making a yeast bread isn't necessarily difficult, but it is pretty technical. Yeast is a living organism and is picky about its environment. Here are a few tips!
- Make sure the water is the proper temperature for the yeast mixture. If the water isn't warm enough, the yeast won't activate and if you overheat the water, it'll kill the yeast.
- You under or over-proofed the dough. If you didn't let the dough rise enough, it may turn out flat and less tender. And if let it rise too long, it may have raised then collapsed on itself (imagine blowing up a balloon and you give it so much air, it pops!).
- You didn't knead it long enough. If you don't knead this dough, it might turn out less fluffy/tender. Kneading the dough stretches the gluten proteins and helps give the texture you're going for.
Some of my other favorites breads...
Homemade Kolaches - This is another yeast bread, but don't have to be kneaded! These are SO soft and have a fruit-filled center.
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread - Not ready for a yeast bread yet? I get it. Give this easy quick bread a try!
Easy Jalapeno Cheddar Bread - This one brings the flavor!! It's an easy no-knead bread from one of my friends over at Sweet C's Designs!
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Follow us on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook so you never miss a recipe!! And as always, thank you for following along with my blog, making my recipes, liking and sharing on social media and any other way you support Dance Around the Kitchen! -Kelsey
Butterhorn Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 c warm water 110-115°F
- 1 pkt (2 ¼ tsp) yeast
- ¼ c + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- ½ c shortening melted and cooled
- 4-5 c flour
- ¼ c butter melted
Instructions
- In a 2 cup measuring cup, stir together the warm water, yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit until risen to about the top of the measuring cup.
- In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, salt, eggs and shortening. Stir in the yeast mixture.
- Gradually add the flour. When it's getting hard to stir, dump it out on a counter and knead in enough flour to make it a dough you can work with (not super tacky). Knead for a total of 5-7 minutes.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl; flip ball of dough so both sides get some oil on it.
- Cover with a sheet of waxed paper or a light kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until risen to double its size.
- Separate the dough into three equal balls. Roll each into a 12" circle and brush with melted butter.
- Use a pizza cutter to cut each circle into 12 triangle pieces.
- Roll the triangles from the outside of the circle to the center. Place the butterhorn on a parchment-lined pan, making sure the "tail" is tucked underneath.
- Let the butterhorns rise for 45 minutes.
- Then, bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until a light golden brown. Brush with additional butter.
Bob says
What is the oven temp?
Kelsey says
Hi Bob - I'm so sorry I left that out of the recipe. I just edited the recipe to include the temperature, which is 350F. Thanks so much for pointing that out!! Happy holidays! -Kelsey