First, this post will be a bit of a tease, as I won’t be posting the actual recipe today. That will be for another day. This is just to explain how these have come about and tell you just how much my family loves them.
Second, my Aunt is a saint. This is a recipe that comes from her and she makes them better than anyone. You know that one recipe that you can try and replicate, do everything right, and it will just never live up to the original? This is that. It has to be the pure love that she puts into these.
Thirdly, THESE ARE NOT CINNAMON ROLLS. I don’t care what they look like; the fact they are a roll of butter, dough and cinnamon. These are far superior to any cinnamon roll I have ever consumed.
Growing up, I always looked forward to the time that Aunt Quinetta would come to visit us, or we would travel to California. You always knew that butterhorns were going to be on the menu. I mentioned that my Aunt was a saint, and here are a few reasons:
- These are a labor of love. They do take a few hours as there is proofing and scalding and rolling. They are no easy task.
- In order to have them ready for breakfast, she would wake up before the sun even thought about rising and start preparing the dough.
- For one family reunion, she made batches upon batches. AND, not even all just regular old butter horns. She made me a batch of gluten free ones, and my dad a batch of a lower sugar version.
- She made them when she was in town for my wedding, and made sure I received a batch the morning after as we were headed to the airport for our honeymoon.
- In her town, the past several years, she has done a fundraiser for March of Dimes selling these by the dozen. I only wish I lived closer to benefit from this delicious fundraiser.
There are a thousand more reasons why she is amazing, but these are just a few that pertain only to butterhorns.
I think what really differentiates butterhorns from cinnamon rolls are the amount of yeast, and the folding and rolling technique. There are just so many layers of warm, flaky, cinnamon love.
Over Christmas, we had the chance to go visit my brother, his wife, and their most adorable son. The whole trip was so much fun, especially since the families were all together and in one place. This was definitely a special Christmas, as it was Parker’s first Christmas and he got to have both sets of grandparents and aunts, uncles, and cousins in tow. Only that experience would cause me to throw my 2 kids in the back of the car and drive 14 hours to Nashville. While there, butterhorns were most definitely on the menu.
Well, actually, butterhorns were on my sister-in-laws agenda. Which, in turn, meant that I was in charge of making butterhorns. Lindsay, my sister-in-law, is amazing at being a mom, clinical nurse practitioner, and opening wine bottles. However, baking isn’t necessarily what she was made to do. This allowed for some funny moments while baking!
The fun thing about family recipes, is passing them down and having everyone share in the process. When reading the recipe, it can be a little overwhelming for someone who doesn’t bake (ahem: Lindsay), so it’s always good to have an “experienced” butterhorn maker in the room.
Despite the quality of the photos, and the lack of excitement by participants (it was 6 am), this was definitely a fun morning with a delicious breakfast.
Lindsay preparing the dough. Could be the first time she used her mixer?
I mentioned Lindsay is not a baker, right? But that she is amazing at opening wine bottles. When you don’t have a rolling pin, you improvise.
Piper is having none of this. But look at all that brown sugar!
Such precision by Kyle. SO many layers of yummy sugar, butter and cinnamon!
Butterhorns are a little different as you cut and roll individually
Look at them waiting to go in the oven.
a goose and a gangster 