Don’t you love it when you find a sinfully good recipe that is quick and easy to make with few ingredients? So when I say a few ingredients, this Butterhorn Recipe with Cottage Cheese Rolls only takes three; butter, flour, and cottage cheese.
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These easy homemade butterhorn rolls are similar to a crescent roll and are a favorite treat in our house. The dough is super easy to make, and you can even make the dough ahead, chill it, and roll the butterhorns later. I have even frozen the dough, and the rolls come out just as delicious.
Of course, there is the option to add more ingredients if you want to sweeten things up a bit, but the basic three will get you deliciously rich, flaky, and buttery rolls; add a simple almond-flavored powdered sugar icing to dress them up. Think of these rolls as little puff pastries in the shape of crescent rolls.
Recipe Highlights
- You need just a few ingredients.
- You need a big mixing bowl and a wooden spoon to make the dough.
- These bite-sized rolls bake up golden, soft, and buttery; they almost melt in your mouth.
- When you add the sweet icing glaze, you have a delicious sweet roll.
- These rolls make tasty snacks, desserts, or appetizers.
- You can customize the rolls with sweet or savory fillings. Look below to see the Cinnamon Butterhorns.
Some delicious variations
- Cinnamon Crescent Rolls – add a sprinkling of cinnamon to the dough before rolling
- Spread the dough with your favorite jam
- Sprinkle with cheese
- Make these rolls with savory herbs like thyme, rosemary or chives
- Go south of the border and sprinkle with ground cumin and diced pepper
There is one ingredient in these tasty crescents that makes these rolls amazing. This recipe calls for Cottage Cheese! Yes, the humble white cheese curds add moistness to the rolls and makes them tender and flaky.
Cottage Cheese Roll Ingredients
- Butter – salted or unsalted butter works for this recipe
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour
- Cottage Cheese – use small curd creamy cottage cheese
This icing is optional, but I find it hard not to use it.
Remember I said this recipe has three ingredients? I decided a sweet icing drizzle on the top would taste great on the rolls, so I added three more ingredients for an almond-flavored icing drizzle.
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Almond extract -you can substitute vanilla extract
Baking equipment for this recipe
These items will make rolling the dough and cutting so much easier
- I always use a cloth rolling mat when working with pastry dough and pie dough.
- A rimmed baking sheet, this is one you will use over and over again.
- Even though this is a soft dough, you need a good rolling pin to get the job done.
- A pizza cutter makes it fast and easy to cut the pastry into wedges.
How to make Butterhorn Rolls
- Recipe notes: While I have made the butterhorns right away, I suggest you refrigerate the dough, especially on a hot day.
- I also suggest a rimmed baking sheet because some butter melts out of the rolls while baking, and a rimmed baking pan will catch the butter.
Step 1. Make sure your butter is cold, and cut it into tiny cubes. Optionally, you can grate the butter. You may need to rechill the butter so it is nice and cold.
Step 2. Mix the cottage cheese, cold butter, and flour in a large mixing bowl until roughly combined. A heavy spoon or a wooden spoon works well for this.
Step 3. Turn the dough out on a floured pastry cloth and form it into a large disk.
You are going to make two disks, but first, you need to gather the dough into one large one, then cut it in half and make two smaller ones.
Look how nicely this dough comes together. It’s nice and moist, and you can see the butter and cottage cheese pieces.
Step 4. Wrap both dough rounds in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight.
Step 5. Roll the dough into a large circle, then with a pizza cutter, cut into 16 triangles.
Pastry tip – I cut the wedges so the pastries are bit-sized, but you can also make bigger wedges for larger rolls.
Step 6. Roll each triangle up, starting at the wide end and place the rolls on a rimmed baking sheet with the rolled end down; this will keep the crescent shape intact while baking.
Step 7. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes until nice and golden brown, then remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack.
Baking tip ~Sometimes, the butter will bake out of the dough while baking, and if that happens, remove the baking pan and drain off the butter. Just tip the pan so the butter runs down the corner, and use a spoon to remove it.
How to make the optional glaze
Step 8. Make the icing by combining the powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract, and stir until the icing is nice and smooth.
Step 9. Finish the crescents by drizzling the icing over the rolls.
It is amazing what a few simple ingredients can turn into. Bake up a batch of these delectable homemade rolls for breakfast, brunch, or a potluck. I guarantee everyone will love them.
These rolls are best eaten the day they are made, but if you find yourself with leftovers since this recipe makes 32 rolls, they will still taste good over the next couple of days, but the texture will not be the same.
Make cinnamon butterhorns too!
Some delicious variations
- Cinnamon Crescent Rolls– add a sprinkling of cinnamon to the dough before rolling
- Spread the dough with your favorite jam
- Sprinkle with cheese
- Make these rolls savory by adding herbs like thyme, rosemary or chives
- Go south of the border and sprinkle with ground cumin and diced pepper
Butterhorn FAQ’s
If your dough has gotten too warm, that also means the butter has warmed up, too and will melt more quickly in the oven. The pastry needs cold butter for the best results, so keep your dough chilled.
Flatten the dough ball, then wrap it very well in plastic wrap, then wrap in aluminum foil. Put the wrapped dough into a plastic freezer bag for up to three months. When ready to use, remove the foil, and let the dough thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Cottage cheese not only adds a tangy flavor to baked goods, it also has a unique texture and provides moisture for a flaky pastry.
You will love these bites sized desserts and appetizers
- Pecan Tart are just like mini pecan pies and are very easy to make.
- Mini Swiss Cheese Quiches are bite-size quiches filled with savory egg custard.
- Jelly Roll Pie Tarts are made with pie dough and your favorite jam or jelly; these are a favorite.
- Bite-Sized Chicken Taco Cups have all the flavors of a taco but in bite-size cups.
- Apricot Parmesan Puff Pastry Roll-Ups uses frozen puff pastry for easy prep.
- Savory Homemade Cheese Popcorn with rosemary is the perfect movie night treat.
More rolls and biscuits!
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Butterhorn Rolls with Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
Cottage Cheese Crescent Roll Dough
- 2 cups AP flour
- 2 cups cottage cheese use small curd creamy cottage cheese
- 1 cup butter cut into small cubes
Almond Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- ½ tablespoon milk add extra milk if needed
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Note: This dough should be chilled at least 15 minutes before baking.
Making the crescent dough
- Baking temperature – 350° F. You will need to use a baking sheet with sides since some butter will melt out of the rolls.
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes or you can grate the butter. Rechill the butter while prepping the other ingredients.
- In a large bowl add all the flour, cottage cheese, and chilled butter cubes and mix with a heavy spoon until roughly combined.
- Pour the dough out on a lightly floured surface. With your hands gather the dough up and form into a large round disk.Divide the dough into two equal portions, wrap in plastic, and chill until firm about 15 minutes, or you can chill the dough overnight. Chilling the dough will help keep the butter from melting out of the dough when baked.
- On a lightly floured surface roll each dough portion into a 1/8" thick circle about 10-12 inches.
- Cut the dough circle into quarters, then cut each quarter into four smaller triangles. Roll each small wedge starting at the widest part and place each crescent on a rimmed cookie sheet, seam side down.
- Bake for 30 – 35 minutes at 350 degrees F., until lightly browned. When done move the rolls to a cooling rack.
Making the almond icing – optional
- In a small bowl add the sifted powdered sugar, milk and almond extract. Add additional milk if the icing is too thick.
- Leave the rolls on the cooling rack and place a piece of parchment or wax paper under the rack. With a fork, drizzle the icing over the rolls.
- These rolls are best eaten the day they are made. Store any leftover rolls in an airtight container.
Notes
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Nutrition
First published: Sept. 27, 2014, Last updated: May 31, 2023, for better readability.
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About j
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
When you say cottage cheese, are you talking dry curd or creamy cottage cheese?
Why does it have to be small curd cottage cheese? How will my large curd ruin it and how can I fix it so it doesn’t? Theses sound amazing but I only keep large curds, wanting to find something to make with the stuff I have on hand.
You can use large curd cottage cheese, but I find the small curd makes a smoother dough.
Can you freeze these unbaked and then bake
You can freeze the roll unbaked. I found they bake better if I let them thaw a little before baking.
You had me at quick, easy and cheese! These look seriously delicious and they are so easy to make 🙂
I love an easy recipe. These just melted in my mouth. Oh so good!
such a mouthwatering dessert one can have. I loved this detailed post and bookmarked. came out really well.
Not only do these sound delicious, they look delicious too!! Love how simple the ingredients are and that I don’t need to buy 100 things to make them! Thanks
These rolls are delicious and I agree I just don’t want tons of ingredients when I want to bake something.
Since we’re not fans of sweet rolls, I cut each dough circle into 8 pieces, put ham, pickled red pepper strips and a bit of Parmesan cheese on the triangle and rolled it. Let me tell you, it was amazing! Thank you for the recipe. It’s a regular now 🙂
Well, that sounds absolutely delicious. These crescents are perfect for making savory.
So easy and with only three ingredients! Can’t wait to make this. Thanks for sharing!
I love everything about this recipe: cottage cheese, crescent rolls, almond icing and my favorite, quick and easy!! This has been added to my “Must Try” list!
Thanks so much, these rolls are so delicious.
These delicious crescent rolls with almond icing look absolutely stunning! I’d love to bake up a batch for Sunday brunch.
These are the perfect little sweet rolls to add to a brunch.
Making these for a tea party. They will go nicely with my favorite jasmine tea.