Robin and Tom Davis' butterbit rolls are big sellers at Regina Bakery around Thanksgiving. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

Practice, practice, practice.

One reason Tom Davis, the owner of Regina Bakery in Miami Heights and Cheviot, makes the best butterbit rolls must be lots of practice. Davis has been making them for more than 30 years.

He began working at Regina in 1973, when he was 16. He and his wife, Robin, bought the bakery in 1980 from original owners Paul Jansen and Tony Anneken.

Jansen and Anneken opened the bakery in 1964, naming it after Jansen's daughter, Regina. Even at age 80, Anneken continues to work part time at Regina Bakery.

The bakery has sold butterbits from the beginning, says Tom, a certified master baker, and he makes the rolls by the same recipe and method. Laminated dough, which is layered with bits of butter like Danish roll dough, is folded with more butter, then shaped and placed in muffin tins for a 45-minute rise. Yeast in the dough provides the leavening and lends the sweet, distinctive flavor to the bread.

In addition to butterbits, Regina Bakery is known for its beehive coffeecakes, an old German delicacy filled with pastry cream and topped with honey and pecans.

Some who have moved away from Cincinnati also love Regina's rich sandwich buns so much, they have them shipped out of town.

But in November, the butterbits reign. Regina sells about 450 dozen of the rolls the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Most years, special orders aren't required, Tom says.

But this Thanksgiving, maybe it's a good idea to order Regina's butterbits in advance.

Chuck Martin