So, the baby shower I told you about this week? When I said that I ate myself silly at that party, I wasn’t kidding. And we’re not going to talk about it. But I will at least admit to eating more than one of the crescent rolls.
Okay, so I make darn good crescent rolls. Our family can eat several dozen in a matter of, well, day…that is not a typo, I literally mean one day. Anyway, the rolls are amazing, but they aren’t that great when they’re cold. I always have to heat them up a bit before eating the leftovers.
Well, my friend Emily made crescent rolls for the baby shower that were cold and still amazingly delicious! When I called to ask her for the recipe, she said the same thing…this recipe is great because the rolls are actually still tasty when they’re NOT hot out of the oven! I made them today…and they were delish as expected!
The other fun bonus to this recipe is you can freeze the rolls prior to baking. I am so excited to have two dozen homemade rolls waiting in the freezer for another day!
Quick note: The batch that Emily made were a little denser and better…I think I might have let my rolls rise a little too long, so I would suggest maybe not letting them rise too long, so not quite double in size.
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup very warm water
- 9 cups flour
- 2 cups warm milk
- 1 cup butter, melted in the milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- softened butter for middle and tops
- Dissolve yeast in very warm water.
- Add warmed milk mixed with melted butter to a large bowl (I made the dough in my KitchenAid stand mixer, so the large bowl was my KitchenAid bowl). Add 4 cups of the flour to the milk-butter.
- Whisk together eggs, sugar and salt. Add to the flour-milk mixture along with the yeast and mix well. Add the last 5 cups of flour. Mix, adding additional flour if needed until dough pulls away from side of bowl, but dough is still sticky. Attach the dough hook and knead in the mixer until dough is elastic.
- Place dough into a greased bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1½ hours.
- Divide dough into four parts. Roll each piece out into a 12-in circle and spread with butter. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the circle into 12 triangles (or 16 if you want smaller rolls). Roll pieces into crescents.
- Choose your own adventure time...
- If you want your rolls now, place on an ungreased cookie sheet and let rise until not double (remember my note from before? I let them double in size and it was too long, so don't let them rise that long, but long enough...I know, helpful). Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes, then brush the tops with melted butter.
- If you want to freeze the rolls for later, place the rolled up triangles close together on a greased cookie sheet then freeze. Place frozen rolls in a Ziploc bag. When you are ready to cook the rolls, take out of the freezer, place the rolls on an ungreased cookie sheet and let sit 3-4 hours, then bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes, then brush the tops with melted butter.
And, because I love people’s recipe cards, here is what Emily emailed to me. I have to post it since it’s all yellow and folded up and loved and stuff.
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
When do you add the yeast? Do you have to make it bubbly?
good catch! it goes in with the sugar/eggs/salt mixture.
it will be bubbly by the time you put it in – if you dissolve it in the warm water first then do the other stuff, by the time you need to add it to the flour it will be poofy and bubbly and ready to go!
I’m a big fan of crescent roll dough rolled flat. Works well for breakfast pizzas, though no topping is necessary for enjoyment.
…it’s almost 11pm at night and I am now suddenly feeling the need to get my bake on!
Oh NO! A recipe that needs yeast.
I’m a yeast murderer. 🙁 Is there any way you could give me a round about temperature for the water? I think my water must be too hot—or I am just untalented in the yeast prep area. Probably both.
I like the thought of freezing some of the rolls so I don’t eat all the finished product in one day.
don’t be scared! you can do it!
I don’t have an exact temperature, but I’m sure you could google that. you want the water to be very warm. not hot, but close. I let the water run and warm up and as gets to the point where I think it might get a little too warm, thats when I use it. my yeast grows happily!
another few tips:
– make sure your yeast is not expired
– let it sit in the water until it all dissolves – I think back in the day when I would mess up my yeast I just wasn’t letting it sit long enough. 5-10 minutes should do it.
– yeast does better if it is stored in the fridge or freezer, but I find the yeast itself is actually cold when I take it out and tends to cool the water down, so I always put the yeast in the bowl first and sort of swish it around with a dry finger and let it come more to room temperature before I add the warm water.
if you’re super duper scared of yeast, you might want to try Instant yeast. it’s different than active dry – you don’t have to activate it in the warm water first, you just add it to your dry ingredients. you need to adjust the liquid amounts in your recipe a bit and find the conversion for the yeast measurement, but my friend who is a pastry chef ONLY uses instant yeast and loves it.
Crescent Rolls have always been one of my favorite foods. My mom’s recipe has mashed potatoes in the dough. Literally. They are soooo good!!! Now I am craving some…
These rolls were delicious:) Thanks for sharing the recipe! On the question about the temp of the water with yeast I believe it’s around 105-115F.
Can’t wait to make these!
110 degreesðŸ‘