My great grandfather, Charlie Stiburek, owned a bakery in the small town of Cascade, Idaho. It was aptly named Stiburek's bakery. He made all manner of breads, pastries, desserts and even candies - but one thing he was known for were his Butter Rolls.
Butter Rolls are made from a sweetened yeast dough that is spread with a thin layer of butter and rolled into a snail shape. Once baked, the rolls are topped with butter icing and dipped in chopped peanuts. It was one of the most popular menu items at his little bakery, with out of town visitors coming in just to give them a try because they had heard about them from a friend.
These rolls were so beloved that people from the tiny mountain town of Cascade would ask my great aunt to bring the famous butter rolls to every town event for more than 20 years after my great grandfather died.
Since my grandma grew up helping in the bakery, she naturally made us Butter Rolls all the time. From my youngest years, I don't think there was ever a weekend breakfast or holiday gathering that didn't have butter rolls. My grandma would make huge batches of rolls to fill her freezer, so she could serve them anytime and send bags home with anyone who came to visit. She also liked to use the dough recipe to make loaves of fruit bread and cinnamon bread at the holidays.
This is me as a toddler helping my Grandma making butter rolls.
A container of butter icing was always in her refrigerator and often spread on toast, waffles and even cookies as a quick treat. My family did plenty of experimenting with toppings for the rolls too - chocolate butter icing, apple pie filling, and more. My dad likes to cut the rolls in half and put the toppings in the middle, like a sandwich. LOL
If you'd like to give the tasty recipe a try, here is the copy from the family cookbook my Grandma published in 1988.
No one from my family knows the origins of Butter Rolls, but I have a theory. My great grandfather's family emigrated to the US from the Czech Republic around 1900. There is a traditional Czech sweet roll, called Jidase, that is very similar in preparation - even the shaping is similar. I think it's very possible that he was trying to create a treat inspired by a passed down family recipe. Of course, there is no way to know for sure as food inspirations can come from anywhere!
If you give the recipe a try, please send me a message and let me know what you think. One day I hope to create a gluten free version of these rolls so I can enjoy them again.
I have shared a few other recipes from my Grandma's cookbook, which you might enjoy trying.
