My favorite Butterhorns recipe is a classic in our house. They’re light, buttery, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. I can’t make these fast enough!
Homemade Butterhorns Are A Favorite In My House!
Today is a good one, you guys. Butterhorns are basically my kids most favorite cookie behind chocolate chip cookies. And really, these are the only cookies that they sit and wait, counting the minutes until they are done, and then basically eat the entire batch in one sitting. I mean, I do have teenage boys, so they are pretty much never full, but you get the idea.
I will say, I don’t make these as often as they would like. And that’s mainly because they take a few minutes longer to prepare than a quick cookie recipe…BUT they are SO super worth it.
Long story short, there is necessary chill time involved. I hate waiting too…I get it.
What Are Butterhorns?
They are kind of a cross between a pastry and a cookie. They are buttery and flaky, but a little chewy on the inside. I seriously hope you try these.
The dough is really simple, and there aren’t a lot of ingredients involved here. But, like I said, you do need to chill the dough. It’s a lot like a pie crust, in that there is no sugar in the dough. BUT there is sugar in the filling, so don’t worry about your sweet tooth…it will be satisfied.
You roll the dough out into 3 circles, and then sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top! Then you cut it into wedges and roll each piece up, pinching it tight to seal.
Aren’t they little beauties?
You bake them until they are golden. And then you can go ahead and drizzle a little icing on top. If you drizzle it when they’re warm, the icing melts a little and becomes like a glaze, OR you can wait until they have cooled completely and drizzle on the icing, like I did in these pictures. I do it both ways.
PIN for later:
We love these so much in my house. The cinnamon sugar gets a little caramel-ish at the edges when it bakes, the edges get golden and crispy, and the inside stays tender and slightly chewy. Literally ALL the textures of the perfect cookie!
I mean look at those gorgeous cookie guts.
Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!
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My Favorite Butterhorns
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 33 minutes
- Yield: 36 Cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
Light, buttery cookies, that are the perfect amount of sweet. Such a classic!
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 13 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cups sour cream
Filling
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Dough: In a large bowl combine the flour and salt. Add in the cubed butter and cut in using a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture is crumbly. Add in the egg yolk and sour cream and stir until combined and the dough comes together. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- For the filling, in a small bowl combine the light brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Divide the dough into 3, equal portions. Roll each portion out on a floured surface into a thin circle, 12-inches in diameter. Sprinkle 1/3 of the filling mixture onto each dough round.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 equal wedges. Roll up each wedge, starting at the wide edge tightly. Place onto the prepared baking sheet with the seam side down and pinched.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the butterhorns are lightly golden. Some of the filling might leak out, this is fine.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Glaze: Whisk the powdered sugar and milk together. Drizzle over the butterhorns when they are warm for a thinner glaze, or when they are cooled for a thicker glaze.
Notes
store airtight for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 96
- Sugar: 5.7 g
- Sodium: 71.9 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.5 g
- Protein: 1.3 g
- Cholesterol: 17.9 mg
Make these for my family all the time, absolutely delicious especially the day after!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
I prefer salted butter, but you can use either.
I’ve made these for years except we added crushed walnuts and never drizzled icing,going to try it though,these are holiday favorites
This recipe says it yields 12 cookies but in the direction it says to divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll out. It then says cut each circle into 12 wedges which would make 36 cookies. I am confused.
nope, not confused, just a typo!! All fixed 🙂
The dough for these is in the refrigerator. In the body of your post it says to divide it into 2 pieces before rolling out, but in the recipe it says 3 pieces. Would you please tell me which amount is correct? I’m making these for my son who is coming to visit tomorrow. The butterhorns at Starbucks have been a favorite of his for many years. I’m hoping these will come close.
it’s 3 pieces!! I will fix the body of the post!
These look sooo good! Do you think they would freeze well?
These are a nice change up from cookies and sound worth the wait for sure!
Lovely looking butterhorns, will definitely try your recipe as this is one of my favorite desserts. I like the scant frosting on top, they should never be too sweet.
In ways this reminds me of the KING CAKE I recently made. The recipe has been printed and anticipate making this week! Stay tune! =)
I’ve been making butterhorns for years. Only I add chopped nuts to the sugar mixture…solo yummy
Jabeve – how much chopped nuts did you add as I love this addition!
I use 3/4 cup chopped nuts and granulated sugar. These are delicious!