Duncan Hines’s Butterhorns

Rinne Allen

Unlike Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines was a real person and an early food influencer as well. Born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1880, Duncan and his brother Porter spent their summers with their maternal grandparents on a farm, where his love of good food began. His mother had died of pneumonia when he was 4, and he relied on his connections to family all his life, sending a Christmas card to them with the names of great restaurants he found while he was a traveling salesman. That card evolved into collecting recipes from these restaurants, and then became cookbooks and travel books.

His nephew, Hugh Hines Jr., of Danville, Kentucky, recalls those recipes because his mother, Geraldine Hines, was the one who tested Uncle Duncan’s recipes. “My mother would cook them, and the family would gather around and say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ He had a briefcase of recipes he’d acquired by the time he got back home. His favorites were country ham and yeast rolls.”

Duncan Hines died in 1959. He had come from a family of good farm cooks where people raised their own chickens, put up hams, grew their vegetables, and made everything from scratch. In addition to his cookbooks, he created his own cake mix, which he sold, along with his name, to Proctor & Gamble.

This beautiful and buttery roll recipe, which has Mennonite origins, was one of the family’s favorites for special occasions. The dough is easy to work with and keeps for 3 to 5 days in the fridge, so you can take out one ball of dough at a time during the holidays and have fresh, hot rolls each day.

Rinne Allen

Start the day before.

Prep Time: 20 minutes Rise Time: 1 1/2 hours for 2 rises, plus overnight in the fridge Bake Time: 12 to 15 minutes

Makes 3 dozen rolls

• 1 cup whole milk
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks/170 grams) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, plus more for greasing the bowl
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) dry yeast
• 4 cups (480 grams) all-purpose flour, plus about 3 tablespoons for handling the dough
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Parchment paper for lining the pan
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick/57 grams) salted butter, melted, for brushing, divided

Place the milk and unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until the butter nearly melts, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let the mixture cool to room temperature or to no more than 125°F on an instant-read thermometer. Whisk in the yeast.

Turn the mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat on low speed to combine. Stir the salt into the remaining 2 cups flour. Add this flour mixture, alternating with the beaten eggs, to the bowl, beating on low until smooth. The dough will be sticky. Lightly grease a large clean bowl with a little butter. With a rubber spatula, turn the dough into the bowl. Cover with a light kitchen towel and place it in a warm spot to rise until double, about 1 hour.

Dust a work surface with 1 tablespoon flour. Punch down the risen dough with the rubber spatula and turn it onto the flour. With floured hands and using a bench scraper or metal spatula, knead the dough for several minutes by folding it over again and again until you can work with it and it springs back. It may still be a little sticky. Try not to use a lot of flour during this step, which will result in dry rolls, just enough to stop it from sticking. Clean out the bowl in which it rose and turn the dough back into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. (Or you can skip this step and let it rise until doubled again, 1 hour.)

Rinne Allen

The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and divide it into 3 pieces, about 14 ounces each. Working with one at a time on a lightly floured surface, roll out a 10- to 11-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick.

Line a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the dough round into 12 wedges using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Starting at the wide end, roll up and tuck the pointed end underneath the roll. Place several inches apart on the pan. Brush with about half of the melted salted butter. Let rise again, uncovered, until the rolls rise slightly but are not doubled, 30 minutes.

Rinne Allen

Heat the oven to 375°F, with a rack in the middle.

Bake until the rolls are golden brown on top and bottom, 12 to 15 minutes. Brush with the remaining melted salted butter and serve.

Note: You can make all the rolls at one time, or, after dividing the dough into thirds, you can store 2 pieces of the dough in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days. I have also frozen the dough for up to a month, let it defrost, and then baked fresh rolls.

Recipe reprinted from “Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories” by Anne Byrn. Copyright 2024 by Anne Byrn. Photographs 2024 by Rinne Allen. Used by permission of Harper Celebrate.