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This post was originally posted April 2015. I am re-publishing it so that you can all make these amazing rolls for your Thanksgiving dinners!!
I know it’s been two weeks since I’ve posted a new recipe for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment, and I’m so sorry. I know some of you are loving it just as much as I am– I’ve been thrilled with the overwhelming response that you guys obsess over chocolate chip cookies as much as I do! I promise, I haven’t forgotten about it or neglected it (in fact I have a great one all lined up and ready to go for next week).
It’s just that with Easter right around the corner, I’ve been really wanting to focus on Easter-y type recipes, before you all get your menus all set and planned…
And I can’t think of a better Easter/holiday recipe to share with you today than my Aunt Carol’s crescent rolls!
Now, it has to be said that I come from a family of pretty serious bread-makers. My mom makes an awesome white loaf (and has her own famous crescent roll recipe). And my Grandma is well known for her biscuits. One of my cousins even used to sell her wheat bread loaves because they were in such high demand.
And my Aunt Carol’s crescent rolls are always the talk of holiday get-togethers on my Dad’s side of family– for good reason! She’s from Utah, and she totally brings her Western, fluffy, bread-making skills to the table.
I’ve talked a little bit about this recipe before (back when I made these Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls) and explained one of the quirky things about this recipe: scalding the milk. I won’t repeat myself (you can just click over and read what I wrote back then if you want), but don’t skip out on that step, tempting as it may be. Okay? It’s important to the chemistry of the dough.
I am obsessed with these soft, buttery, fluffy rolls, and I know that you will be too! Enjoy them at your Easter meal this year (and with a bunch of other meals too!!).
Yield: 16 large rolls or 32 small rolls
My Aunt Carol's favorite crescent rolls are always the main event of every family get-together! I love eating them with butter and homemade strawberry jam.
Ingredients
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, cold
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
4-6 cups flour
Additional: melted butter for brushing inside and on top of the rolls.
Instructions
Dissolve the yeast into 1/4 cup warm (about 125ºF or the same temp as a warm bath) water with 1 tbsp sugar.
Scald the milk over medium-high heat (milk should be about 180ºF). Stir continually so the milk does not burn.
Remove from heat and add cold butter (this will help in bringing the temperature down faster). Stir as the butter melts. Milk needs to cool to 125ºF (think warm bath water).
While the milk is cooling, beat the eggs and 1/2 cup sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeasty water, the cooled milk, and the salt and 4 cups of flour to the mixing bowl. Use the bread hook to mix and knead.
Once a sticky wet dough has formed, add more flour (by 1/4 cup at a time) until the dough is pulling away from the edge of the bowl (but still slightly sticky). Lightly grease the bowl and dough. Cover and let rise until double in size (about 30 minutes in a warm place).
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Punch down the dough and divide into two portions. Keep one portion covered while working with the other. Roll one ball of dough out into a circle, and cut 8 slices (just like you would a pizza). Cut 16 if you want to make smaller rolls. Brush the surface of the dough with melted butter.
Roll up each slice from the fat end to the skinny point, and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with all of the slices and with the second ball of dough.
Bake for 10 minutes. Brush the tops with melted butter.
UNROLL dough; separate into 8 triangles. ROLL UP triangles, starting at wide end. PLACE on ungreased cookie sheet; curve each into crescent shape. BAKE 10 to 13 minutes or until golden brown.
In contrast, store-bought crescent rolls, such as Pillsbury Crescents, can last unopened up to 2 weeks past their expiration date in the pantry and, if refrigerated, 1 week after opening. The preservatives in these rolls help maintain freshness over a longer period when stored properly.
To keep rolls warm until serving, place in a serving basket; loosely cover with foil. Crescent Rolls can be shaped and placed on cookie sheets up to 2 hours before baking.
Crescent rolls have a similar crescent-moon shape as croissants, but most aspects of these baked goods are different. Unlike croissants, crescent rolls are not laminated. This makes crescent rolls more bread-like than croissants.
Flavor: Butter is the key flavor in crescent rolls. It's what makes them so darn craveable (and it's the reason there's never one left in the bread basket). Canned crescent rolls should have perfect butter flavor with a hint of salt—the right combo for munching solo or using as the foundation for plenty of recipes.
Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.
Substitution Tip. Veggie pizza is traditionally made with crescent roll dough, but there's no reason it has to be. Your favorite pizza dough, my Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, or Broccoli Pizza Crust will work too.
Puff pastry – Puff Pastry makes the BEST “blanket” for these Pigs in a Blanket. Traditional recipes call for crescent roll dough, but I always prefer the flakiness of puff pastry. You'll need one box of it, which can be found in the frozen foods aisle (near the ice cream) at your local grocery store.
Puff pastry is a laminated dough that gets its signature airy puff from layers of butter, while phyllo dough is comparatively low-fat. Phyllo dough is mostly flour and water and can dry out easily. The fine sheets of pastry dough create a crispy, crackly effect when layered and baked.
Miss those flaky, buttery pillows of perfection? You can pick up a tube of Pillsbury Crescent rolls to fill your craving, because they don't contain any dairy products. Pillsbury's pizza dough and apple and cherry turnovers are also dairy-free.
The crescent-shaped croissant is a flaky pastry with buttery layers whereas a puff pastry is a drier composition of dough. Both use similar ingredients and preparation work.
Did you know @pillsbury makes accidentally vegan biscuits and crescent rolls? There are a few Grands biscuits that are vegan friendly (the southern style ones and sweet Hawaiian) and all of the crescent rolls from what I can tell (including the honey butter - no actual honey or butter it seems!). They're poppin off!
Hobby: LARPing, Kitesurfing, Sewing, Digital arts, Sand art, Gardening, Dance
Introduction: My name is Amb. Frankie Simonis, I am a hilarious, enchanting, energetic, cooperative, innocent, cute, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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