Homemade Crescent Rolls
If you’ve ever popped open a can of crescent rolls as a last-minute dinner side, raise your hand! 🙋🏼♀️ I think we’ve all been there… While those canned rolls are quick to make and taste “OK”, if you’ve got some time on your hands and want truly delicious rolls, you need to make them from-scratch. An upgraded (and cuter) version of your average dinner roll, homemade crescent rolls start with a simple yeast dough that you’ll knead, let rise, cut and shape (and then let rise one more time), before letting them bake into beautiful half moons. That may sound like a lot of steps, but trust me when I say this recipe is anything but difficult. Even better, you don’t need a stand mixer and there’s no fancy laminating required! These flaky, buttery crescent rolls go as well with a cozy bowl of tomato soup as they do with Thanksgiving dinner. If you really want to take these over the top, serve with a generous amount of homemade honey butter. Let’s get started!
What You Need
This recipe is almost as simple as popping open a can! Here’s what you need:
Milk & Water. I opt for a blend of both milk and water for today’s recipe. The fat from the milk (preferably whole milk) enriches the dough while the water helps to keep it from being too heavy and leaves you with a still-soft and springy center.Yeast. I recommend and prefer active dry yeast, but instant/rapid rise can be used in a pinch and i include notes in the recipe on how to substitute.Butter. Melted butter mixed into the yeast dough serves to enrich the dough, and is one of the key ingredients for a tender, buttery crescent roll.Eggs. We’re using a single large egg and then an additional egg yolk! Adding an extra yolk to the dough enriches it and makes these rolls so tender.Sugar. This serves to add a subtle sweetness to the dough while also enriching the crumb. As you’ve likely realized by now, any of these ingredients serve to enrich the rolls, but I think you’ll find the end result is personally balanced so that the crescent rolls have the perfect soft but chewy, tender but sturdy texture.Salt. There’s no need for any sea salt, or any fancy variety of salt here! Just use whatever salt you put in your salt shaker.Flour. Either all-purpose or bread flour will work with this recipe, but I generally recommend using bread flour if you can get your hands on it. Crescent rolls made with bread flour will have a more traditional chewiness to them, while those made with all-purpose will be fluffier.
Sam’s Tip: This recipe makes quite a lot of rolls. If you aren’t feeding a crowd, you can always seal the leftovers in a Ziploc bag and freeze for about a month. Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Crescent Rolls
Once you have a beautiful elastic ball of dough, place it in a large, covered bowl and let it rise until doubled in size.
Form The Crescents
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like
Sweet BreadNo-Yeast Bread (Soda Bread)Homemade Bread BowlsHoney Wheat Rolls
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
More Great Holiday Dinner Sides:
