Dinner

Make Ahead Butterhorn Dinner Rolls

07 December, 2023

Flaky, subtly sweet, and buttery, these make superiority Butterhorn Dinner Rolls will be the star of your Thanksgiving table. This overnight roll recipe makes the loveliest crescent shaped rolls with a fluffy, light interior!

Today I’m going to tell you to make homemade rolls for your Thanksgiving day feast. I know, I know. Like you need one more thing to do on Thanksgiving day. But these butterhorns. Oh friends, these butterhorns are WORTH IT!

We try to have your when during the holiday with our Ultimate Thanksgiving Menu. It’s our list of every all-star recipe that you could possibly overly hope to fit on your table. Alas, with so many standouts and mainstay recipes to prioritize at Thanksgiving, specie often just gets overlooked.

But I promise you that there are reasons that this butterhorn recipe is an old family favorite. These rolls are sneaky little show-stealers.

That’s considering these yeasty, velvety pull untied Butterhorns are the ultimate vehicle for:

Butter (Yes, increasingly butter, always. For the holidays, we recommend that you splurge and get the fancy salted butter. Kerrygold, Challenge, Plugra, or fresh rolled butter are all fantastic.)
jam
cranberry pear sauce
Amish peanut butter or world butter
gravy
and plane turkey leftovers

Jam and dinner rolls on a plate.

Make Superiority Butterhorns

Now surpassing you groan and tell me there’s no possible way you could make homemade bread while simultaneously cooking the turkey AND cheesy taters, let me explain. These are entirely 100% make superiority friendly. As in, you could make them today. Or tomorrow. Or the day surpassing Thanksgiving.

But you most definitely don’t have to wake up at the one-liner of dawn on Thanksgiving morning to enjoy these homemade butterhorn rolls.

Right this very minute you could throne to the kitchen, roll up your sleeves, and stir together this sweet, eggy butterhorn dough. It will only take you well-nigh 20 minutes, and then you can slip the dough in the fridge for the night, pull your sleeves when down, and flourish up on the hovel with a cup of hot chocolate.

Tomorrow, the dough will be puffed and ready for kneading, rolling, and baking. This will take a little time and effort, but it’s a therapeutic way to get out any pre-holiday frustration. (Plus, it’s fun to pretend that you’re a contestant on the Great British Sultry Show in the midst of a Bread-Week technical challenge.)

The fluffy interior of our butterhorns dinner rolls.

After a little elbow grease, you’ll have rows of crescent roll shaped butterhorns nestled yonder in your freezer, ready to thorax out and impress the (figurative) pants off of all your Thanksgiving day guests.

The Keys to Largest Butterhorns

This minion family recipe has been on our site for years, but we recently made a few changes to make them EVEN BETTER.

We exchanged water for milk for a softer, slightly sweeter dough with largest browning.
We increased the salt to largest highlight the sweetness of the dough.
We write-up the dough with a dough vaccinate for a few minutes surpassing resting in the fridge overnight. This gave the rolls a glossier, smoother finish. This is not 100% necessary, but it makes for prettier looking Butterhorns that felt worthy of a holiday dinner.

Ingredients in Butterhorns

Our butterhorn rolls are made with eggs, milk, and butter, making them uneaten rich, tender, and fluffy. Here’s what you’ll need to make them!

Milk- You can use whole or 2% milk. It will need to be warm to the touch, plane a bit steamy, but not boiling. I recommend using a thermometer to ensure it’s between 105 and 115 degrees.
Dry Zippy Yeast- You’ll need two packets or 1 ½ Tablespoons. Note: dry zippy yeast is variegated than rapid rise yeast, and won’t be quite as bubbly as you might be used to with rapid rise yeast.
Granulated sugar and salt- quite a lot of the first, and just unbearable of the second.
Unsalted butter- Adding butter to specie dough adds savor and tenderizes the crumb.
Eggs- Eggs make these butterhorns light and fluffy.
All purpose flour- measured with the spooned and leveled technique.

How to Make Overnight Butterhorns

Dissolve yeast. In the trencher of an electric mixer, stir together yeast, milk, and salt. Allow the mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes, then whisk until yeast is dissolved.
Add wet ingredients. Stir in the sugar, butter, and eggs.
Add flour. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is well moistened but still shaggy.
Beat until smooth. Place the trencher on the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Write-up until the dough is smooth and well combined, 2-3 minutes. The dough will be very soft, sticky, and stretchy.
Refrigerate. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, then imbricate loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours or up to 36 hours). The dough should double in size.

Let’s Torch Butterhorns!

Once the dough has doubled in size, flour your work surface. Sprinkle a clean, unappetizing surface with a thin layer of flour. This is a sticky dough, so you’ll definitely need some flour, but we don’t want the rolls to be dry. So go easy at first, and add a bit increasingly if needed. You’ll moreover want to flour your hands and the rolling pin (sometimes I spray cooking spray on my hands instead of flouring them).
Divide into four pieces. Divide the dough into four equal pieces, each rolled into a dough ball. I sometimes use a scale to make sure they are equal, but that isn’t a necessity.
Roll the dough into a circle. Roll out each of the dough balls into 9-10 inch rounds. Will they be perfectly even? Well, mine definitely aren’t, but maybe yours will be!
Slice and roll. Use a pizza cutter to slice each round into 8 equal pieces. Pretend you’re a famous pizza chef! Do it with flair! Roll each individual piece from the outer whet to the inner point, making a tight crescent shape.
Let rise. Without they’re rolled up and looking precious, line them up on the sultry sheet, well-nigh 1 ½ inches apart. Imbricate them loosely with a reticulum and place in a warm spot for them to rise until puffy, well-nigh 2 hours.
Bake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the risen rolls in the oven and torch for 9-11 minutes, or until golden brown. You can do two sheets at a time, but the marrow sheet might need an spare minute to brown.
Butter. While the rolls are still warm, skim them with melted salty butter. Stuff one in your squatter while they’re still warm. Sigh in joyance and victory.

How to Freeze Butterhorn Rolls

There are two variegated ways we recommend freezing butterhorns. One is surpassing they’ve risen, and one is without they’re baked.

To freeze rolls surpassing they rise:

Roll up the butterhorns as usual and place on a sultry sheet, tropical together, but not touching. Flash freeze for 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, remove the rolls from the freezer and place them when on sultry sheets, 1 ½ inches apart. Imbricate and let rise in a warm spot until puffed, usually 4-5 hours. Torch as usual.

To freeze baked rolls:

Fully torch the rolls, then tomfool completely. Place on a sultry sheet, tropical together, but not touching. Flash freeze for 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw rolls overnight at room temperature. Reheat in a warm oven for a few minutes surpassing serving.

Storage and Leftover Instructions

Like most homemade yeast breads, these butterhorns are at their peak served fresh from the oven. That said, they’ll last for several days stored in a ziplock at room temperature.

To reheat leftover rolls, wrap them in a wateriness paper towel and microwave in 10 second bursts.

Alternatively, wrap the rolls in foil and reheat in a 350 stratum oven for 5-7 minutes.

Tips for Success

Ensure your yeast is not expired. If you’re worried your yeast might be old, requite it a test! When you’re dissolving the yeast in milk, add a teaspoon of sugar to the mix. It should foam up and be a bit bubbly. Yeast is cheap, so if there’s any doubt just get new yeast.
Use a thermometer to get the right temperature of the milk. Yeast thrives in warm, not hot, liquid between 105 and 115 degrees. I haven’t honed my finger tip thermometer skills to this level of precision, so I unchangingly use a thermometer to make sure the liquid is not too hot or too cold.
Spoon and level your flour. Too much flour can result in dense, dry rolls. To ensure a light and fluffy butterhorn, measure your flour by spooning into your measuring cup then leveling it off, not scooping with the measuring cup.

A pat of butter on a sliced dinner roll.

Need Increasingly Holiday Recipes?

Now that you know which rolls you are serving on your Thanksgiving table, what about…

The Main Course? Never fear! Just click on over to my Easy Oven Roasted Turkey recipe for a picture perfect, golden and juicy bird.
For Side Dish inspiration trammels out these Garlic Green Beans, this comfort-food archetype Corn Casserole, or this trappy Cranberry Jello Salad.
Need a killer Dessert to satisfy that holiday sweet-tooth? Try one of my 15 Drool-Worthy Thanksgiving Desserts.
I’ve plane got your Beverage choices covered with this Cranberry World Cider, or for a increasingly boozy Thanksgiving, try my Autumn Sangria.

Butterhorns Recipe

Yield: 32

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

These simple homemade crescent rolls are buttery, soft, and just a touch sweet. Theyre easy to make superiority or freeze, and they are SO worth it!

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk (110-115 degrees Fahrenheit), 2% or whole
1.5 Tablespoons dry zippy yeast (2 packets)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to warm
3 eggs at room temperature, beaten
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tablespoons salted butter, melted

Instructions

Dissolve yeast. In the trencher of an electric mixer, stir together yeast, milk, and salt. Allow the mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes, then whisk until yeast is dissolved.
Add wet ingredients. Stir in the sugar, butter, and eggs.
Add flour. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is well moistened but still shaggy.
Beat until smooth. Place the trencher on the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Write-up until the dough is smooth and well combined, 2-3 minutes. The dough will be very soft, sticky, and stretchy.
Refrigerate. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, then imbricate loosely with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours or up to 36 hours). The dough will double in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, flour your work surface. Sprinkle a clean, unappetizing surface with a thin layer of flour. This is a sticky dough, so you’ll definitely need some flour, but we don’t want the rolls to be dry. Go easy at first, and add a bit increasingly if needed. You’ll moreover want to flour your hands and the rolling pin (sometimes I spray cooking spray on my hands instead of flouring them).
Divide into four pieces. Divide the dough into four equal pieces, each rolled into a dough ball.
Roll the dough into a circle. Roll out each of the dough balls into 9-10 inch rounds.
Slice and roll. Use a pizza cutter to slice each round into 8 equal pieces. Roll each individual piece from the outer whet to the inner point, making a tight crescent shape.
Let rise. Line the rolls up on sultry sheets, well-nigh 1 ½ inches apart. Imbricate them loosely with a reticulum and place in a warm spot to rise until puffy, well-nigh 2 hours.
Bake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the risen rolls in the oven and torch for 9-11 minutes, or until golden brown. You can do two sheets at a time, but the marrow sheet might need an spare minute to brown.
Butter. While the rolls are still warm, skim them with melted salty butter. Stuff one in your squatter while they’re still warm. Sigh in joyance and victory.

To freeze unbaked rolls:

Follow instructions through step 9. Place the rolls on a sultry sheet, tropical together, but not touching. Flash freeze for 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, remove the rolls from the freezer and place them when on sultry sheets, 1 ½ inches apart. Imbricate and let rise in a warm spot until puffed, usually 4-5 hours. Torch as usual.