So, my friend Crystal has this Butterhorn Recipe that is a great make-ahead recipe. The rolls freeze, thaw, rise, and bake deliciously. I made them during last month’s freezer cooking, and our family has enjoyed them immensely. If you make them just as Crystal directs, you will be quite pleased.
However, since I am a little bit lazy scared of my Kitchenaid Mixer AND a little bit of a sweet tooth, I decided to tweak the recipe a little bit. I adapted the dough recipe to fit a standard bread machine AND I added chocolate to the finished product.
AND oh my word!
These are really yummy. In my recipe testing, the batch of 32 small rolls never made it to the freezer. I ended yanking the pan that was flash freezing and baking those as well.
These are that good. Easy, make-ahead, and delicious — what more could you ask for in a recipe?
Chocolate Butterhorns (makes 32 rolls)
Dough:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, cubed
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
4 – 4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoons dry yeast, heapingRolls:
1-2 cups chocolate chips, depending on how chocolatey you want themCombine all dough ingredients in the pan of your bread machine according to the manufacturer’s directions. Set on the dough cycle and start machine. When the machine beeps, remove dough from pan and divide it into four equal parts.
(While Crystal’s recipe make 32 larger rolls, I made the same number with about half the dough. This seemed to work better for my kids. Feel free to make 16 larger rolls if you’d rather.)
Roll each part into a 12-inch circle and cut each circle into 8 wedges. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the surface of each wedge. Roll each wedge like a crescent roll, starting with the bottom of the triangle and ending with the point.
If preparing ahead, place rolls, point down on baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, place in freezer bags and store in the freezer until needed.
To bake: Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment or a silpat mat. Place frozen rolls on prepared sheet. Allow to thaw and rise for five hours or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375 ° and bake rolls for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.
FishPapa lucked out and there were still a few rolls left when he came home. Upon consultation, we decided that these would be “over the top” if they were brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Let me know how it turns out if you try them.
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Those look so amazing!!!
these look great, I totally cheat and use croissant rolls and chocolate morsels!
These DO look amazing. I have been trying to do more pastries and deserts lately so I will have to try this one.
Ah hah… the answer to my pain au chocolat cravings that have plagued me for fifteen years…
@JessieLeigh, exactly! Just finished my chausson aux pommes post for URS. Wait for it….
I was hoping to find a recipe for dinner rolls for this month’s oamc. This looks like just what the Dr. ordered! Thx for posting. And I’m glad that I can just throw it all in the bread machine.
I am going to take your advice next time and make 32 smaller rolls with half the dough. I cut the recipe in half and made 16 rolls and they are HUGE. My husband jokes about eating an entire loaf of bread each when I serve them. I thought I had done something wrong!
@Rena, I’m glad to see it wasn’t just me! The original butterhorns were huge, and I thought it was me!!!
Also, does the butter need to be softened, melted, or just added straight from the fridge?
@Shaunta, I would say check your bread machine recommendations. Mine has a wonderful “resting/warming” time before mixing that means I can use flour and butter straight from the fridge or the freezer without any problems at all. (In fact, I did that with the original butterhorn recipe.) If your machine starts mixing right away, I’d suggest making sure the butter is at least room temperature when you put it in.
@Shaunta, my bread machine takes care of that. I use it cold from the fridge.
I make a breakfast/dessert pastry kind of like this using packaged crescent rolls with cinnamon chips instead of chocolate chips. The cinnamon chips are not exactly a frugal pantry item to keep on-hand, but are fun for an occasional treat. I’m sure they would work in these butterhorns, although I have to warn you – they’re terrible for you and terribly addicting.
YUM! I made the butterhorns and we’ve been eating those. They’re really tasty. I’ll definitely be trying these.
Me again, this time apart from being excited to trying these horns also to letting you know about a much deserved awrd for your blog. Come get it on my blog!
Would it work to use whole wheat or should I add some wheat gluten when I mix the batch up in the bread machine if I used ww
@Mary, yes, you can use a combination, just may need to adjust the liquid content.
I am going to pretend I didn’t see this post, because if I admit that I did then I will have to make these and will probably eat them for breakfast EVERY SINGLE DAY. And that would probably not be very good for my bottom.
oh my goodness. just made these, and they are amazing.
much better than any fake american bakery pain au chocolat. thanks!
Ok, might be a dumb question but I don’t have a bread machine so can I just mix?
Yes. Crystal’s original recipe gives directions for that.
Oh my word! These look really really good! By the way, I put this into a recipe “calculator” and they really aren’t that bad. If you make 32 butterhorns and use 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips, they come out at 137 calories each. Not too bad! I think the problem will come to when I go to make them. They sound incredible and very hard to resist! Thanks for the great recipe! : )
Is there a way to do this without a bread machine?
Use Crystal’s original recipe if you don’t have a bread machine.
Wow! You guys are killing me (literally)! My DH already loves Crystal’s butterhorn roll recipe and now you add chocolate and create a way to make it in the bread machine. I was thinking about putting it in my garage sale tomorrow — Guess that is a no-go now. haha
This is hilarious! My husband’s favorite thing to do is take any recipe I have and add chocolate to it (including Nesquik in his coffee!). He’ll love these rolls now!
Oh my! I cannot wait to make these! I’ve had to make Crystal’s butterhorns almost daily since her post… I see I’m not meant to leave the kitchen… ever!
Another way to make these amazing is to spread the dough with a little peanut butter then sprinkle with the chocolate chips and bake. I sadly ate about 5 of them the night we made them, they are that good!
Instead of chocolate chips, I think these would be DELICIOUS with a little Nutella spread on them!
How long do they need to rise if you don’t freeze them first?
Until doubled in bulk.
I made your recipe before dinner last night. My kids and I loved the chocolate butterhorns! And, we brushed them with butter & cinnamon/sugar mix. Fantastic addition! I’ve giving some to my kid’s teachers today so we don’t eat them all. Thanks for the great recipe!
I bet these would be good with Nutella instead of chocolate chips. Thanks for the recipe. We’ll be trying them soon.
Yes to the nutella! It is SO tasty.
Another way we make these here at home is to take almond pie filling (NOT PASTE!), and spread that gently on the roll, then roll it, and bake. Top with a milk/powdered sugar glaze. Enjoy.
We just make sure we make small butterhorns, otherwise they are super, super rich. Oh, and add a bit of vanilla to that glaze.
We live in Mexico City and a tube of crescent rolls cost about $5 – not really in a missionary’s budget
They are rising right now and I cannot wait to try them!!
I made these last night, and OH. MY. GOODNESS. They are delicious. Definitely a keeper.
OK, question…..I’ve never used my bread machine for dough but really want to try these. When looking at my manual for dough it gives me the option for a “knead” cycle or a “knead and first rise” cycle. Which would I want for these rolls?
Also, my machine has different quantities for the ingredients, do I use your recipe or use my manual’s guide?
@anne marie, yours sounds like a complicated machine, huh? Well, this should be suitable for any machine that can handle 2 pounds. I would choose “knead and 1st rise.” But, my machine just has “dough” so don’t quote me on that. This is a great book to learn about Bread Machines: http://astore.amazon.com/lifeasmom-20/detail/155832156X
I made these this morning and they are incredible! Question for all of you that have made them: did you use all purpose flour or bread flour? I used bread flour and I’m wondering if this is why they seem so large. I let mine double in size but they doubled in size again when I cooked them. Either way they are delicious. Thanks for creating/ sharing the recipe Jessica!
I made these for a friends jewlwery party tonight they were a HUGE hit! They are definitly a favorite! Have extra in the freezer for a beach trip…can’t wait!
I actually own a bread machine, but sometimes go for the easy way. One of my friends calls it “disco” cooking. Crescent rolls can be a good cheap find if the store has them on sale or there’s a good coupon. Mine had their house-brand crescent tubes at $1 this week. The $1 makes the ‘no coupon’ easier.
What I did yesterday:
“Fancy-full Crescents”
Put a dab of raspberry jam and a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips on each, rolled and baked them.
The raspberry and choc flavor made it a nice treat.
These are crazy good, and easy too. We baked most of the batch, but froze one pan of rolls for later. Yum! Thank you for adapting this for the bread machine. The dough is super easy to work with, and my family loves them. Will have to follow a previous poster’s suggestion and try with cinnamon chips too.
Made these to celebrate all the important women in my life in honor of Mother’s Day. I added melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar on top as you suggested. Husband sneaked 6 in less than 24 hours!! He wants me to make these again with a flavored cream cheese in the middle (onion or garlic). Anyone think this would work?
“Heaven…. I’m in heaven….” Made these for a ladies tea- of course had to sample them first! I’m speechless… fluffy, tender, melt-in-your-mouth heaven!
These are ridiculously good! Oh my gosh! I made a big batch today (used Crystal’s recipe), and I got about 60 rolls out of it. I did half regular and half with chocolate chips & the cinnamon/sugar topping. They are so good, I’ve already had 4. This is the first time I’ve even attempted to make yeast bread in over 2 years (and I was never an expert or anything before that), and I thought the recipe was pretty easy for a novice. Thank you so much for sharing.
Question, if you freeze them for later and they have to thaw/rise for five hours. Can you leave them in the fridge overnight to have for breakfast???????
@Stacy, yes. And if I stay up late and get up early, I just leave them on the counter.
for smaller batch ‘cheat-dom’, I’ve also used “tube biscuits” and rolled them out flatter. Tube biscuits are only in my fridge when they’ve been on serious sale and I have good coupons. Since I’m only trying to make them for myself, the smaller batch works. I sprinkle the flat-cuits with cinnamon sugar or orange zest to keep the chocolate company.
ok, I made these last night and they are delicious! My kids and hubs love the chocolate but I think next time I may roll a pre-cooked turkey sausage link into them instead! Maybe had a tiny square of cheese. Has anyone tried that? The rolls is VERY similar to a dinner roll recipe I had from a girlfriend of mine, only instead of rolling out into a circle it calls for splitting the dough into 12 small balls, letting it rise in a greased 13×9, brushing with butter then baking until brown. I am sure you could do that with this same recipe. It makes awesome rolls for sloppy joes or sliders!
@Cathie, savory butterhorns sound great! Mmmmm… sausage and cheese, bacon and cheese? Yum!
One word. YUMMY!!!!!!
I have a couple of questions. At what point do you add the cubed butter? Can you use breadmachine yeast? Also can you freeze the dough without rolling it out? I have a chicken roll-up recipe that I normally use canned cressant rolls for and this dough might be a good substitute instead. Thank you.
I add the cubed butter with the rest of the ingredients. Yes, bread machine yeast “should be fine,” though I haven’t tried it. I have never frozen it without rolling it. I would only let it rise about 30 minutes if I was going to try that, though. Let it do most of the rising as it thaws? And yes, I think it’s a great sub for crescent roll dough.
I just made these for a family Christmas party and they are heavenly. I made a simple powdered sugar glaze to drizzle on top. I think I’ll make them again for Christmas morning breakfast. Thanks!
This sound delicious and I want to try them!. I have a question, could I freeze the already baked rolls and reheat in the microwave?
I am not sure about the microwave part. I would probably bake, cool, freeze, and rewarm in the oven.
Just made these last night and they are awesome! The chocolate made me think, have you tried using a jam or maybe nutella? I’m curious how either of those would turn out.
I’ve heard that others have tried both those options. We are nut-free now, so I can’t try the nutella, but the jam is a great idea!
I love this recipe! I had some leftover random bits from xmas cooking and did some experimenting…White chocolate chips were very yummy (and I’m not a huge white chocolate fan), but they don’t melt the same way as the regular chocolate. Heath Bar bits didn’t really work, the flavor was barely there. But the big hit? Andes Candies bits! Chocolate and mint. Those are my new favorites!
These were yummy while warm but were really tough once cooled. Did I do something wrong or are they only designed to be eaten ‘straight from the oven’? One way I did deviate from the recipe was to put less yeast in, the recipe calls for 3x as much as I use for a regular loaf. I used about 2/3 the amount.
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