Old-Fashioned Butter Rolls
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This old-fashioned butter rolls recipe is something else. A Southern dessert specialty, it includes tender and moist cinnamon-spiced rolls in a creamy sweet custard-like sauce.
Some of our most beloved Southern dishes begin with flour. Biscuits, milk gravy, chicken and dumplings, and today’s recipe: old-fashioned butter rolls. I wish I could say I’d grown up eating butter rolls but the truth is I had this dessert for the first time about 10 years ago, thanks to my Grandmama.
So, what is a butter roll? Trust me when I say, it’s like heaven on a plate. If that isn’t a good enough description, its closest relative is a cinnamon roll. However, it’s baked in a rich homemade custard sauce that stays just runny enough to be considered kind of a custard gravy of sorts. They’re ooey-gooey, tender, and absolutely delicious. Oh Lawd, you need to make these.
Fortunately, they’re a relatively easy dessert to whip together using everyday ingredients like milk, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, of course. By the way, like so many of my other dessert recipes on Southern Plate, you can use Splenda in this one. Just remember that the key to cutting down on the artificially sweetened taste is to use just a hair less than the recipe calls for (remove one or two tablespoons per cup) and be sure you don’t pack it. Splenda should be measured out light and fluffy.
After you give this butter roll recipe a go, feel free to use your favorite biscuit dough or even experiment with canned biscuits. It’s really easy and fuss-free. You may also enjoy this version using a shortcut (also known as Crescent Rolls).
Before we get baking, I have a favor to ask. Since this is a nearly forgotten recipe of days gone by, help me bring it back again so it won’t be lost to future generations. If you enjoy it, please pass this recipe for old-fashioned butter rolls on.
Recipe Ingredients
- Milk
- Sugar
- Self-rising flour
- Vanilla extract
- Shortening
- Cinnamon
- Butter at room temperature
How to Make Old-Fashioned Butter Rolls
Place your flour in a large bowl along with the shortening.
Cut shortening in with a fork…
until combined well, like this.
Pour in your milk.
Stir well.
Spray your pan.
You don’t have to do this but I was in the mood.
Put some flour on a clean countertop or wherever you feel like doing this.
You can use whatever biscuit dough is your favorite or just go by this recipe. This one is gonna hold up a little better in our sauce because it’s a little drier.
Press it together to form a ball.
Then pat it out with your hands a bit and roll it out into a rectangle-type object.
Notice I didn’t get too particular here. This is an old-fashioned Southern dessert and I figure Granny was busy with kids underfoot and hungry folks marching in the door. Back in those days folks cooked their food, not built a shrine to it.
Now we’re gonna smear our butter on the rolled-out biscuit dough.
All y’all who are on the real butter bandwagon need to give me my gold star today :).
Generously sprinkle all of our sugar over it.
Then comes the cinnamon, just a hint.
The dough and sauce mixed together with the butter and vanilla are going to have the most lovely flavor on their own!
Now roll that up.
Cut it in about one-inch slices (one inch-ish).
Remember, this is old-fashioned food. It’s not supposed to look a certain way, it’s just supposed to taste good.
Place your old-fashioned butter rolls into the prepared baking dish.
Now it’s time to make the sauce!
Add the milk to a saucepan, along with…
The sugar and…
The vanilla extract.
Stir that over low to medium heat until the milk is hot and the sugar dissolves.
Pour the milk sauce over your old-fashioned butter rolls.
Oh my.
I hope you’ve tasted the sauce by now.
If you haven’t, go ahead, I won’t look. ~covers eyes and grins~
Bake at 350 for about 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown on top.
Grab one of your butter rolls, place it on a plate to serve, and…
Spoon more sauce on them. Enjoy real old-fashioned goodness, from Granny’s kitchen to yours.
Storage
These butter rolls definitely taste the best hot out of the oven. But if you do have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The roll might get soggy sitting in the sauce, so I’d recommend reheating in the oven to crisp it up once more.
Recipe Notes
- To make your own self-rising flour, see my FAQ page. Speaking of, I use a lot of both plain and self-rising flour at my house and have been known to dump whatever I grabbed first into my flour canister when it got empty. Sometimes I lose track of what is in there and need to know if it’s plain or self-rising. There is an easy fix. Dip your finger into the flour and lick it. If it tastes salty, it is self-rising. If it tastes bland, it is plain. I have to do this at least once a week but I’m perfectly alright with that because I decided long ago that being disorganized was just part of my charm. ~grins~
- If you don’t have shortening on hand, you can substitute it for an equal amount of butter.
- You can also substitute the ground cinnamon for ground nutmeg, or use a pinch of each.
- For something different, add some finely chopped apple, raisins, or chopped nuts to the filling.
You may also enjoy these other delectable old-fashioned dessert recipes:
Ole Fashioned Southern Sugar Plum Cake
Peanut Butter Pie Made the Old-Fashioned Way
Homemade Chocolate Pudding, Southern-Style
Easy Old-Fashioned Peach Cobbler Recipe
Ingredients
Butter Rolls
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 stick butter, softened can use margarine
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Milk Sauce
- 2 cups milk
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cut the shortening into the flour really well with a fork. Stir in the milk.2 cups self-rising flour, 1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup milk
- On a floured surface, dump out the dough and press together with your hands to form a ball.
- Roll out into a rectangle (about 7×10 in size). Spread softened butter over dough and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the top. Roll it up like a jelly roll and press it together lightly.1 stick butter, softened, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Cut into nine slices about one inch thick each. Place into a lightly greased 8×8 baking dish.
- In a medium saucepan, combine all of the milk sauce ingredients. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to bubble lightly. Pour over the rolls in the pan.2 cups milk, 2/3 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until rolls are golden brown on top.
- Allow them to sit for a few minutes once done so the rolls soak up more sauce. After you put each roll on a plate, spoon more sauce over it.
Nutrition
At the end of a matter ask,
“What will I learn from this to make me better?”
– Mary Anne Radmacher. Submit your quote here.
Just slid them in the oven and my son (age 13) yelled from the living room… “Mom, what are you baking?” I said… “Stuff.”
He said, “Smells like sweet stuff.”
My response? “That is just the heat from the oven, rolling out and caressing my body, and that is why it smells like sweet stuff!”
Honestly, I don’t think he bought it, but my husband said, “Good, I love sweet stuff!” (little does he know that I used the SPLENDA idea, because of his diabetes)
Thirty more minutes and we will be in butter roll heaven!
Thanks!!!
Sherry French
Christy,
Thank you for the wonderful recipes, and wonderful memories. My great grandmother made these, and i was never able to get the recipe, because she never measured anything. I made these last night for my husband, and I, and it was like taking a stroll back in time. Thank you for what you do, and for what you represent.
God bless,
Jerricca
There is a restaurant here that serves Butter Roll on their lunch buffet. It’s the only one I’ve ever had, and I had never had it until about a year ago. I soooo love the stuff!
Hi Christy & fellow SP worshippers!!
Poster Sabrina summed up perfectly what happened to my rolls!
“SO WHATS DOWN IN THE JUICY PART IS ALMOST RAW AND OFF COURSE, WE SOUTHERN KIDS GREW UP PINCHING RAW DOUGH ANY TIME WE COULD!!”
Were they supposed to turn out that way? I followed the recipe to the letter (which is something I rarely do LOL) but they def were raw’ish halfway down the roll (basically wherever there was sauce~ oh that glorious sauce!). Oh I lied I didn’t follow the directions to the letter…I ended up baking them for an additional 15 minutes after the timer went off.
Anyhoo, I plan on making them again and soon but I will try baking them slightly before adding the sauce and see if that makes a difference or if anyone here has any other recommendations I’m all ears because honestly even slightly raw’ish my family and I ate them and enjoyed them lots!!!!
My mom made a similar version of these that we grew up with as kids. Hers were made with a chocolate sauce that we called “Chocolate Butter Rolls”. No one could make them like mom (I’ve tried). Mom did write down her recipe for them, but left out one important ingredient: the cocoa powder. We think it was just her sense of humor. She is now gone so we will never know. I’m thinking I will be making your recipe to bring back those wonderful memories (and aromas!)
When I saw these they reminded me of the Rolls we used to get for dessert at School! I remember all of us coming down the cafeteria line trying hard to see the end & get a look of them. I think those had some type Cheese to them though because I vaguely remember us calling them Cheese Rolls but they had icing on them too. Those look good, I’m going to have to cook these while the hubbie is away~ had to put him on a diet 😉
Good Lord Christy, my cheeks are sore from grinning so much. When I saw this recipe it took me back to Griffin, Ga in my grandmama’s kitchen, God rest her soul. I loved these rolls but never learned how to make them. Bless your heart for posting and I hope the recipe is in your book, that I can’t wait to get in my kitchen. Thank you girl for the butter roll dessert. I am making them this Sunday for my family.