Soft and Fluffy Crescent Rolls Recipe
Hey there friends! Its been a busy week and I have been working feverishly to get a couple things done around the farm and our garden. But, its always nice to take a little time out to bake. Baking bread is one of my most favorite things to do. Recently I have been sharing some of my bread recipes including wheat bread, sourdough bread, cinnamon rolls and more! Well, today I want to share my easy, light and fluffy crescent rolls recipe!
Now, there is a secret to this crescent rolls recipe. This dough recipe is one that can be used for more than one kind of bread. Actually this bread recipe is exactly the same as my cinnamon roll recipe! SO what I am saying is you can make this dough and use it for both!
I can make one batch of this crescent rolls recipe and use half to make cinnamon rolls and half to make the crescent rolls and be as happy as a clam. This roll dough is really a great dough, and it is an enriched dough. An enriched dough is a dough that uses butter, eggs, milk, or cream in its mixture. These crescent rolls have butter, eggs and powdered milk.
It has an amazing flavor that comes from using these ingredients, but also the flavor comes from the double rising. Double rising is where you let the dough rise to double its size two times before rolling it out and preparing before baking.
The double rise does a couple things. It helps to ferment the dough a bit with the longer rising time and give it flavor. It also aids the dough in giving it a better internal structure, from the development of the gluten.
This crescent roll dough is a very sticky when it is done mixing. Don’t adjust it by adding more flour, this will make them heavy.
The sticky dough is the secret to the light and fluffy texture.
These crescent rolls take about 3 hours to make from start to finish, but with most bread recipes, a lot of that time is passive time, when you will be doing other things while you let the crescent roll dough sit and rise.
How to make these amazingly yummy crescent rolls:
This dough starts out with warm/hot water. You do not want it boiling. if your water is too hot, it will kill the yeast. This is common with any recipe you use yeast in. The yeast needs warm water, and some kind of sugar to be fed.
You want to put the warm water, sugar, salt, powdered milk, and 2-3 cups of flour in a mixer. Mix until all is well combined.
Add the eggs, one at a time.
Once they are mixed in with the dough, add one more cup of flour.
Mix that in, and then add the yeast, add it slowly and make sure it mixes in well.
Once the yeast is mixed in, you can finish adding the rest of the flour. I like to add it 1 cup at a time.
You want this dough to be sticky. If you stick a knife in it and it pulls away easily and stretches, it is ready.
You want to knead the dough for about 4-5 minutes until the gluten is developed.
Let the dough rise in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap until it doubles in size at the least. I will let it rise to the top of the bowl most days, depending on how much time I have. I also like to let it rise in a warm spot, near the stove or on the fireplace hearth.
Let the dough rise 2 times. Once it has risen a second time, you are ready to roll out your dough to make your crescent rolls.
- Divide your dough into 4 even balls. Cover three of the dough balls with a towel or plastic wrap to keep it from forming a hard skin.
- Roll out your dough ball into a circle shape, approximately 12-14 inches across.
- Cut it into 12 slices, first into 4ths, then cut each section into 3 even pieces.
- Grab the wide side of a slice and roll it up towards the skinny end. Wrap the skinny end around the roll, securing it under the roll.
- Place it on your baking sheet. You should be able to get 12 rolls on each 15 by 21 inch large baking sheet. I spray cooking spray on the sheet before laying them on so they do not stick.
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Let the crescent rolls rise covered in your kitchen for about 20 minutes or until they have almost doubled in size. You can check to make sure they haven’t over proofed by poking the side of a roll with your finger. If the dough bounces back, it is still rising, if it stays indented, its time to bake. You do not want to over proof your rolls, this will cause them to go flat.
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Bake them in the oven on 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. You will want to check them about 15 minutes in. I find the time can be different depending on the oven.
Want other great bread recipes? Check these out:
The Ultimate Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
Easy French Bread Recipe in Under 2 Hours
How to Make Banana Bread Your Family Will Love
Light and fluffy Crescent Rolls Recipe:
Light and Fluffy Crescent Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 6-7 cups bread flour
- 1/2 cup powdered milk
- 2 cups warm water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp yeast I love Saf Instant Yeast
- 3/4 stick butter softened and room temperature
- 1 tbsp salt
Instructions
- Put your warm water, sugar, powdered milk, salt, 3/4 of the cube of butter, and 2-3 cups of flour in your mixer.
- Mix with the paddle until all ingredients come together. I use my KitchenAid
- Add your eggs, 1 at a time.
- Mix well, then add 1 cup of flour.
- Once that flour has been mixed in, add your yeast slowly.(I use Saf Instant Yeast)
- Once the yeast is mixed in, add the rest of your flour slowly. This dough will be very sticky, but that is what you want!
- I usually end up using 6 cups of flour. Yours may be different. But let me make something clear. Make sure you are not packing your flour down before using. I like to fluff mine up, or you can use a whisk to lighten it. Do not flatten and level off the measuring cup, this will give you an overage of flour. Keep the flour light and fluffy.
- Once you have the rest of the flour mixed in, you want to let the dough need for3 or 4 minutes.
- Next, you can transfer the dough into a large oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit and rise until it doubles in size. This could take 30 minutes to an hour.
- Once it has risen to double its size, punch it down and let it rise one more time.
- Once it has risen a second time, you are ready to roll out your dough to make your crescent rolls.
- Divide your dough into 4 even balls. Cover three of the dough balls with a towel or plastic wrap to keep it from forming a hard skin.
- Roll out your dough ball into a circle shape, approximately 12-14 inches across.
- Cut it into 12 slices, first into 4ths, then cut each section into 3 even pieces.
- Grab the wide side of a slice and roll it up towards the skinny end. Wrap the skinny end around the roll, securing it under the roll.
- Place it on your baking sheet. You should be able to get 12 rolls on each 15 by 21 inch large baking sheet. I spray cooking spray on the sheet before laying them on so they do not stick.
- Let the crescent rolls rise covered in your kitchen for about 20 minutes or until they have almost doubled in size. You can check to make sure they haven't over proofed by poking the side of a roll with your finger. If the dough bounces back, it is still rising, if it stays indented, its time to bake. You do not want to over proof your rolls, this will cause them to go flat.
- Bake them in the oven on 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. You will want to check them about 15 minutes in. I find the time can be different depending on the oven.
- I like to set my crescent rolls on a baking rack to cool for a bit before eating. My family loves to eat them hot out of the oven. Believe me it is worth it!
- You can store these on the counter in a bread bag, 12 to a bag for 3-4 days. You can also freeze them and eat them later!
I hope you will try out this amazing crescent rolls recipe. It is definitely one you should try!
These are perfect to make for a big dinner, make amazing small sandwiches with your favorite filling, and try toasting them with a bit of butter or Nutella. You will not be sorry!
And you can also make cinnamon rolls with this same recipe! Its my favorite go to rolls recipe!
I am eternally grateful to my mom for taking so much time to show me how to bake and develop the skills I now have. I remember watching her as a child and those memories have stuck with me.
Make sure to follow me on Pinterest, where I share tons of great recipes and follow me on Instagram to see what I am doing day to day!
Could you please clarify when to add the yeast? In the body of your post you have it added twice, once with most of the ingredients and then again by its self. Also in the recipe for printing it says to add yeast by its self. I thought the yeast needed the water and sugar to activate? I’d like to try this recipe but don’t want it to fail due to yeast problems!
So sorry, I fixed that. You want to add it after you have mixed up the water, butter, powdered milk, salt, sugar, and flour, and also after the eggs. I have fixed it to reflect that.