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Nut-Filled Butterhorns

It seems many nationalities claim these dainty sweet rolls are from their ethnic heritage. It is no wonder, as they are a delightful treat to any occasion.

Yield 64 butterhorns

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Reviews

Ingredients

Dough

4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 (0.25oz each) packages (14g) or 4 1/2 teaspoons Red Star Active Dry Yeast
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup butter (room temperature)
4 large egg yolks

Filling

4 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup walnuts (finely chopped)
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Instructions

In a stand mixer bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast; set aside. Heat water, sour cream and butter to 120-130°F (butter does not need to melt). Add to flour mixture; blend on low speed using a paddle attachment. Add egg yolks; beat 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed.
Switch to dough hook attachment. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a firm dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 to 8 minutes.
(NOTE: For hand mixing: following above steps, mix ingredients in large mixing bowl using a wooden spoon or dough whisk. Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic.)
Transfer dough to a greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Chill dough 4 to 24 hours. This is a rich dough and will rise very little. Since this recipe makes 64 butterhorns, half of dough could be made after 4 hours; the rest later. If you are only making 1/2 of recipe, prepare half of filling.
Prepare filling: Beat egg whites to soft peak stage. Gradually beat in sugar and vanilla. Beat again until stiff. Gently fold in finely chopped nuts.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Divide dough into 8 equal parts. Roll out one at a time on work surface sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar. (Cover and refrigerate the rest.) Shape dough into a ball, then roll from center in all directions to an 8-inch circle. Add more confectioners’ sugar to board for easy rolling. Dough can be patched by pressing with fingers and rolling to smooth. Cover circle with a thin layer of Filling. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 8 wedges. Roll up, beginning at rounded outside edge. Place on ungreased pan.
Bake immediately for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from pan, cool on rack. If desired, dust with in confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Notes

Get Bread Machine Method here.

Photo by Jen Schall.

Review & Comments

Corinne | 12/21/2023 Reply

Hi,
Do you publish your recipes anywhere in metric measurements? I bake using the metric system. Having a kitchen scale makes baking much quicker and certainly very accurate. Thank you.

Red Star Yeast | 12/22/2023 Reply

Hi Corinne,

Some of our recipes do but not this one. If you want to weigh the flour each cup of All Purpose Flour weighs 140 grams.

Happy Baking!

Julianne M. Ravely | 12/21/2023 Reply

This is a traditional Hungarian pastry very popular at Christmas and other occasions. My grandmother made these since she was a girl a hundred years ago. They are called kipfl or kifli. We bury a vanilla bean in a bag of powdered sugar weeks before baking to create a more flavorful sugar. I make them now. Sour cream is essential. I still have my grandmother’s handwritten recipe. It starts with “ take 2 cents worth of yeast…” living in Milwaukee, WI, it was always Red Star.

Sharon Foster | 12/15/2022 Reply

Baking at 375 for 12 minutes was too long. Second batch I baked fir 10 minutes and they were perfect. Also I found filling each wedge preferable as suggested by a friend.

Maria l schwellinger | 11/26/2021 Reply

Though this recipe is a lot of work, it is well worth the time and effort. These go wonderfully with a morning cup of coffee. My grandmother and mother made these and I have now for years.

Lena | 6/30/2021 Reply

I baked these cookies twice.
The first time, I didn’t rise them after forming them, and they came out rather flat.
The second time, after I formed the cookies, I let them rise and they came out nicely puffy and more tender than the first time. I used the Platinum yeast and had the cookies on the kitchen counter covered, to rise, at 74 degrees, for 6 hours. Don’t know what would the optimal rising time be in this situation, I just experimented, and they came out great. And no, the dough didn’t turn out sour. (I can imaging, lesser rising time could be just fine. I just couldn’t attend to the dough earlier.) I baked them on a silicone mat in a baking tray for 18 minutes at 350 degrees, rotating the tray once. I made 1/2 of the recipe.
Also, it helps to roll out the dough on 1 mm-thin plastic cutting boards and in 2-3 steps, refrigerating the circles on the boards after each step for 30 minutes, as dough softens quickly once you start rolling it out which means it then may tear easily.
Just wanted to share my experience with anybody who’d be interested to bake these cookies.

Josh | 12/29/2020 Reply

This recipe is very similar to my grandma’s. They freeze very well in a container with parchment paper.

Ann March | 12/9/2020 Reply

Do these freeze well?

Red Star Yeast | 12/9/2020 Reply

Hi Ann,
I’m not sure how the filling would freeze, but you can give it a try. Let us know how it turns out if you do. Use the tips in this link for freezing bread: https://redstaryeast.com/yeast-baking-lessons/postpone-baking/.