Old-Fashioned Butter Rolls
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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.
I made this when I was a young housewife but we lived on a farm so I had my fresh milk and fresh made butter I didn’t use the cinnamon but my husband and my kids fell in love with it it was a recipe my grandmother gave me and said she had used this as a young housewife herrself. I made this in 19 68 we lived in Lufkin,Texas.
What wonderful memories and there is nothing like having fresh milk, cream and fresh butter!!!!
Christy, We have been married almost 50 years and all my husband has ever asked for was some Butter Roll Pie that his mother and his Aunt Metta used to make. He still remembers being in the kitchen and watching them both make it. There was an old saying in their house when you asked them what they would like for supper they would say “Meat that is fit to eat and Butter Roll Pie. I have been looking for this recipe for as long as we have been married and have never found it until now. “Bless your heart” now I can finally surprise my husband with something he has wanted for years. His mother passed away before we even married and his Aunt said she used a little of this and a handful of that and had no recipe for it. He told me they put peaches inside the roll before they baked it. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting the old Southern recipes as I was born in Indiana and was brought up there and he was brought up in Texas. I will be checking back soon to see what other old Southern recipes you have posted. Thank you again.
Oh my goodness, please please please report back. Your comment has my heart leaping. I know just what he has been feeling like and to be able to surprise him – what joy!
My mother in law used to make these and I never learned her secret before she passed. I’m so anxious to try these because I’ve not had these for many years.
I am so glad you found my recipe and I hope they taste just like you remember!!
Thank you for this…while this isn’t exactly what my grandmother used to do it is close enough to give me an idea where to start. She made something very similar to this with either a chocolate sauce with butter, sugar, and cocoa rolled inside the rolls or with apple sauce with butter, cinnamon, and sugar inside the rolls. She called them dumplings though. I have yet to find a recipe similar to what she did and unfortunately she passed away before I could get her to teach me how. And of course… like a true southern lady, she didn’t have the recipe written down anywhere. So again… Thank you! I think this gives me the basics on the roll part and I can play around with the sauces to try to make what she used to. 🙂
I’m so glad to hear that, I know what a special memory this must be. I do have a recipe for a chocolate one from a friends grandmother. Let me know if you need it.
Hello Christy,
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. My mother used to make a dessert she called a butter roll that was a little different but oh so delicious. She used her recipe for pie crust dough in place of the biscuits. Rolled out thinly, slathered in butter, sprinkled with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar and left in a whole log. she baked this with a milk mixture using evaporated milk (she said for extra richness) sugar and vanilla. It was quickly gobbled down by her happy family. I’m going to make your version and a copy cat of Mama’s for an up coming family gathering. Hope Mama likes them both!
Best wishes,
Jennifer Smith
Oh, I just know she will!!! I hope everyone enjoys them and you all have a wonderful family gathering and enjoy sitting around reminiscing and making new memories!!
This recipe is just like my mother used to make, except she cut out individual biscuits instead of doing the long roll. My daughter remembers her grandmother baking butter rolls (which she loved) and asked me recently to make some for her. Unfortunately my mother never wrote down the recipe. I’ve looked all over online and today I found your recipe. Now I have a guide and can recreate the butter rolls from a recipe instead of guessing the proportion of ingredients. My daughter will be so happy when I make these for her. Thanks, Christy!
Oh, I hope that you and your daughter enjoy the butter rolls and memories but old and new!!!
My mom made this using canned biscuits. She rolled them out singly, put the butter, vanilla, and sugar on them, rolled them up and cut them in half, placing them in the dish on the cut end. Then, she put milk over the entire thing and baked it. I still make mine this way.