Butter Roll Dessert Recipe With Crescent Rolls
My shortcut Southern butter roll dessert recipe includes flaky crescent roll dough with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling baked in a deliciously sweet sauce.
The Southern Plate Family is plum full, brimming over actually, with brilliant people. I’m talking about you, y’all, and all of us collectively. Seriously, y’all have the best ideas! So when I posted my old-fashioned butter roll recipe on Southern Plate Family’s Facebook page recently, I had a few comments and emails about how some folks make them with crescent roll dough.
I was intrigued. I was inspired. And most importantly, I was hungry. So I took my intrigued, inspired, and hungry self into the kitchen and decided to give it a go. My mother called every five minutes to check on the progress. My house began to smell like it was placed two steps from the gates of Heaven. Then I pulled them butter rolls from the oven and had a taste while they were so hot steam was coming off my fork. Mama called and I told her, “I do not say this lightly, but these are actually better than the from-scratch version.”
Now, in case you don’t know what a Southern butter roll dessert recipe entails, let me tell you ALL about how delicious they are! Our crescent roll dough is filled with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling, then we bake it in a vanilla-flavored milk sauce. It’s a little bit thinner than a custard but just as delicious. Can you just picture the combination of a flaky butter roll with a sweet sauce? It’s the best, y’all.
So, if you’re not in your kitchen already making this butter roll dessert recipe, I’m not quite sure what is keeping you!
Recipe Ingredients
- Milk
- Crescent roll dough
- Cinnamon
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
How to Make Butter Rolls With Crescent Rolls
What you need to start…
To start, you’re gonna need a surface to roll all this out onto. Usually, I get some waxed paper and sprinkle a little flour on it but I felt like being even easier today so I just grabbed a baking sheet and sprayed it with cooking spray.
Place your crescent roll dough on the greased or floured surface.
Roll it out and press the seams together so it is one big old sheet of dough.
Spread that whole thing with softened butter.
Don’t spread all the way to the edge but leave about 1/2 an inch all around.
Sprinkle that with sugar.
Sprinkle a wee bit of cinnamon over it if you like. You can also leave this off.
Roll that up longways and press it together a little bit with your hands.
Cut that into 10 or 12 pieces.
Just see where your knife ends up and cut. It doesn’t make no never mind if you have 9, 10, or 12 slices.
Spray an 8-inch round pan (a cake pan works fine) with cooking spray.
Place your slices in it.
Place milk and vanilla in a microwave-proof measuring cup and heat it in the microwave for about a minute or until it is very warm.
Stir your sugar into the warm milk and keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour the over the rolls.
Place this in a 350-degree oven and bake until rolls are golden brown (about 30-35 minutes).
I like to serve these warm as dessert at the end of a good country meal, but they are also delightful for breakfast or a coffee snack.
Just eat one. And then another. And you should probably have at least a third or fourth, just for quality control purposes, before serving them to your family, if there are any left!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can quickly reheat them in the microwave, oven, or the air fryer.
Recipe Notes
- You can use Swerve as a replacement for sugar in this whole recipe if you like. A lot of folks have been on a Stevia kick lately so I gave it a go but Stevia is definitely not for me. Of course, if you have a favorite sweetener and want to try that, go for it. I’ve only done it with Swerve so I can’t speak for any others from a personal account.
- For more flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg when you sprinkle on the ground cinnamon.
- If you like, you can also add some finely chopped apples, raisins, or chopped nuts to the filling.
Check out these other scrumptious Southern desserts:
Chocolate Chip Biscuits, Southern-Style
Ole Fashioned Southern Sugar Plum Cake
Mini Boston Cream Pies, Southern-Style
Lemon Chess Pie: A Southern Family Tradition
Homemade Chocolate Pudding, Southern-Style
Ingredients
- 1 8-ounce can crescent roll rough
- 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter or margarine
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Milk Sauce
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a greased or floured surface and press seams together.1 8-ounce can crescent roll rough
- Spread softened butter over the dough, leaving 1/2-inch of space at the edges on all sides. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up longways and squeeze lightly with hands to seal.1/4 cup softened unsalted butter or margarine, 1/8 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Cut into 10-12 slices and place slices in a greased 8-inch round pan or cake pan.
- Place milk and vanilla in a measuring cup and heat in the microwave until very warm. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour over the rolls.1 cup whole milk, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Once removed from the oven, let them sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
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Nutrition
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Thank you Christy for sharing your wonderful recipes and encouraging thoughts. It is fun to try the recipes and then add my own touches.
Our family has enjoyed many Southern Plate creations.
You always make me smile and sometimes laugh out loud.
Blessings to you and yours, J B.
Hi Christy! These look delish! I will definitely be trying them. I looked for your original/scratch butter roll recipe here, but wasn’t able to find it. Would you please post a link for that recipe too? Thanks! ~Peggy
Christy, Have you been to Marvin’s in Fayetteville, TN? They have butter rolls on their buffet most weekend nights. Wonderful stuff.
Oh my goodness…just made these and they were sooooooooooooo good! Thank you for another great recipe!
Just received your email on the Butter Rolls and immediately went and made them for my husband for breakfast. I really had trouble. I ended up with way too much liquid and the bottom half of the rolls ended up almost mush and we ended throwing most of it away. I must admit the smell of them cooking in the oven was wonderful but so disappointed with the outcome.. I followed the recipe to the T except I used the Crescent Creations–roll of crescent dough without the seams!!! If you have time try this recipe with that and see if it makes that much difference. Thank you for your great site and up until today we have loved all your recipes. You have a great site.
Hey Sharon! I’m so sorry you were disappointed! It sounds to me, though, that they turned out just right. There is supposed to be a lot of that yummy sauce, you can spoon it over the rolls once you take them out of the pan. Also, the bottom isn’t going to be brown and flaky like the top, it will be mooshy, more like a dumpling, since it cooks beneath all of that yummy sauce.
Now, after they sit a few minutes it does absorb some of the liquid, but there is always some to spoon over, too. I haven’t made this with the crescent roll creations because I like the versatility of crescent rolls so much (Can make other recipes, but can always make crescent rolls out of them, too!). I’m terribly sorry you didn’t like the outcome of these but I thank you for your kindness and for being here!
Gratefully,
Christy
Thank you so much for your response. Since I didn’t use the regular Crescent Rolls I am definitely going to try this again. I never give up on a recipe the first time I try it. Thanks for the info and will try them again this weekend. Love your site and look forward all the time for your emails. You are a wonderful inspiration as well as a fantastic cook.
These look fabulous!
Instead of whole milk, has anyone successfully substituted skim milk or almond milk in this recipe?
Thank you!
Christy,
The butter roll is equally good vegan using Earth Balance spread and almond milk
Thank you for letting us know Cheryl!!!
Sounds so great can’t wait to try them. Will be making them soon for home and then for a family gatering.
Thanks Christy.
For years someone has asked me about a butter roll, I came across your website and subscribed to it. Lo and behold you publish this recipe, I’m sure my friend will be pleased. I like how fast and easy it is. Can’t wait to see their reaction. I will prepare myself a pan soon.
I hope you enjoy the Butter Rolls, Cheryl!! Thank you so much for your support and subscribing to Southern Plate, it means the world to me!