How to Make Easy Golden Crescent Rolls
All the right words describe homemade crescent rolls: buttery, flaky, easy and tasty. One bite, and you’ll never buy canned dough again.
With the popularity of canned crescent rolls, you might think they’re difficult to make from scratch. But it isn’t so! Homemade crescent rolls are among the easiest yeast-based breads you can make. In fact, they can open you up to a whole world of recipes for homemade rolls and other breads.
Named for their shape—curve the horned ends, and they resemble a crescent moon—they’re similar in shape to croissants. But this buttery crescent roll recipe is much easier than working with laminated dough or puff pastry.
Outside of the rise time, these crescent rolls take just a half hour of hands-on prep, then they bake in about 10 minutes. That means, if you start the dough early enough, you can have hot crescent rolls ready for dinner without much fuss! Another bonus: They freeze great, so you can pull some out whenever you crave a hot, buttery crescent roll.
Ingredients for Crescent Rolls
- Yeast: Look for active dry yeast in small packets or jars in a grocery store’s baking aisle. This fine, granular yeast should be proofed before you use it. Avoid instant yeast for this recipe; even though it can be mixed into dough without proofing, it causes the dough to rise too quickly.
- Sugar: The initial teaspoon of sugar encourages the yeast to proof in warm water. The remaining sugar in the recipe is only for flavor and adds a slight sweetness to the dough.
- Butter: Before you start mixing the dough, let your butter come to room temperature. It will be far easier to work in when softened. Use unsalted butter for less sodium in the recipe.
- Milk: Tepid-warm milk gives the dough a jump-start on its rising time. Substitute whole milk for 2% milk if you prefer a richer dough.
- Egg: The egg helps loosen the dough, letting it rise more rapidly and improving the crumb. Mixing it into the dough with the other liquid ingredients keeps the dough soft and easy to knead.
- Flour: Crescent rolls are known for a light, fluffy crumb, and all-purpose flour helps achieve that. It usually has a lower protein content than bread flour, which would give the rolls a chewier crumb. Both are among the most popular types of flour.
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In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Add butter, milk, egg, salt, remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
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Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
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Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 12-in. circle; cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll up wedges from the wide end and place point side down 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 350°. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks
Nutrition Facts
1 roll: 128 calories, 4g fat (3g saturated fat), 19mg cholesterol, 107mg sodium, 19g carbohydrate (4g sugars, 1g fiber), 3g protein.
