Crescent Rolls

Soft and fluffy homemade crescent rolls made from scratch with simple ingredients. These buttery, golden rolls bake up light and tender with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, perfect served warm with butter and honey. A classic comfort food bread recipe for holidays, Sunday dinners, and family meals.

Course Appetizer, Bread, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword crescent-rolls-recipe, homemade-crescent-rolls

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Rise time 4

Total Time 4 40

Servings servings

Calories 144kcal

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (110-115°F)
2 (0.25 oz each) packets active dry yeast
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted, plus additional 2 Tbsp melted to brush tops
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs beaten
4 1/2 cups bread flour or all purpose flour

Instructions

To Make Dough: In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir together 1/4 cup lukewarm water with yeast. Let bloom for 5-8 minutes. It should become frothy and bubbles should form on top.
To the bowl add remaining 1 cup water, 1/2 cup melted butter, granulated sugar, beaten eggs and salt. Mix on low just until well combined.
On low speed, gradually add flour 1/2-1 cup at a time to the bowl. After all of the flour is added, increase to medium and knead for 2 minutes or just until the flour has fully incorporated. (The dough will be softer and may be slightly sticky but don’t add any extra flour.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, gently punch down dough to release air and gently pull it away from the sides. Brush a separate large bowl with vegetable oil, and transfer dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. Chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, no longer than 3 hours. (This allows the flavor of the dough to intensify.)
To Assemble: Line a large baking pan or two standard size baking pans with parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray.
Remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a lightly floured surface turning to coat while kneading just until it's no longer sticky. Divide into 2 even halves.
Using a floured rolling pin roll out each dough half into a 8-10-inch circle similar to a pizza crust, ⅛-¼ inch thick (add flour to rolling pin if dough is sticking). Use a pizza wheel or pastry cutter to cut into 12 equal size wedges.
Tightly roll each triangle beginning at the widest edge to form the crescent. Place on the baking sheet, point side down at least 2-inches apart. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise in a warm draft free place for 2 hours or until doubled in size (Rise time will depend on the ambient temperature.)
To Bake: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Uncover crescent rolls and brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Brush with additional butter and serve immediately.

Notes

Use Fresh Yeast - When starting with the yeast, if it doesn't bloom or become frothy with bubbles on top throw it out and start over.
Yeast - You can use Rapid Rise yeast in the same amount as active dry yeast which will shorten the rise time. Rule of thumb is, the dough should double in size before moving to the next step.
Herbs - You could change the flavor profile by adding fresh chives or dried Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

Please note these key steps: The dough rests for 30 minutes initially, it's then chilled for 2-3 hours to allow the yeast to bloom in the dough and intensify the flavor. After forming into the crescents, they rise again on the pan for 2 hours or until doubled before baking.

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