Homemade rolls don’t get much better than these golden brown Homemade Crescent Rolls! Buttery, flaky and so delicious!
If you’ve ever wondered how to make crescent rolls, look no further! I promise these are the best homemade crescent rolls! So perfect for the holidays!
This recipe is what I like to call “a happy mistake.”
Much like with my Belgian Waffles, a mistake on my part led me to a wonderful outcome. I had actually set out to make croissants when I was creating this recipe; however, my butter wasn’t cold enough and I therefore ended up with a very buttery, very delicious crescent roll dough instead of a flaky laminated dough.
Don’t be intimidated by the length of the recipe- its not difficult at all. I’m not even sure that I would call it time-consuming (especially if you know your way around the kitchen reasonably well).
Due to the chilling in between, its definitely not a 30-minute recipe, but the active time required is probably only 45-60 minutes. The rest of the time, the dough is sitting in the fridge.
Homemade bread can be an intimidating feat, what with the yeast and such. But I am here to show you how easy it can be. And how much more satisfying it is to break open a roll that you made yourself! So let’s get on to the recipe.
To start, add the yeast, sugar, and warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir the ingredients together and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy. Next, add the paddle attachment to the mixer and pour in the salt, melted butter and flour.
Run the mixer on low until the dough comes together. It will be shaggy and slightly sticky to the sides of the bowl. You can add up to ¼ cup more flour if you think the dough is too sticky. Next, turn the dough out onto a floured surface, form into a ½” thick rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
While the dough is chilling, cut the sticks of butter in half lengthwise. Remove the dough from the fridge and place onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to a 9 x 13″ rectangle.
Turn the dough so that the 9″ side is towards you, then place the sticks of butter vertically and side-by-side (touching) on the center of the dough. Fold the bottom ⅓ up over the butter, then fold the top ⅓ down. If it helps you to visualize, think about folding a letter. Press the outside edges together to seal the butter in.
Next, rotate the dough 90 degrees, (the folded side should be to your left,) and dust with additional flour, if necessary. Then roll the dough out to a 10 x 20″ rectangle. Repeat the same letter folds- bottom ⅓ folded up, top ⅓ folded down. Once folded, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
Repeat the 90 degree turn and folding steps an additional three times. After all three times, wrap in plastic wrap again and allow the dough to chill for 90 minutes, or up to overnight.
After the dough has chilled, line two baking pans with parchment paper or silicone mats. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a size of 9×18″. Cut the dough in half lengthwise, then cut each of those into 4 squares/rectangles. You should have 8.
Cut each square diagonally to make triangles. Then working with one triangle at a time, roll up the dough from the wide end to the pointed end, gently slightly stretching the dough as you go.
Place the rolled dough, tip down, on the baking sheet. Gently curve into a crescent shape, if desired. Repeat with remaining triangles.
Let the homemade crescent rolls rise for approximately an hour and a half before baking. While they are rising, preheat the oven to 400F and position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Brush the rolls with the egg wash and place in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until desired level of golden brown is achieved, rotating the trays halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
These homemade crescent rolls would also freeze very well. Prepare them up until the rising portion, then freeze the formed rolls on a baking sheet until solid. Let thaw and rise until doubled in size when ready to use. You can also freeze any baked rolls, and rewarm the frozen rolls in the oven.
If you enjoyed this dinner roll recipe, be sure to check out these other homemade dinner rolls:
- Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants)
- Flaky Butter Croissants
- Parmesan Pull Apart Rolls
- Honey Butter Soft Dinner Rolls
What you’ll need to make these butter crescent rolls:
- Stand Mixer – I recommend using a stand mixer to combine the ingredients required in this recipe. This [easyazon_link identifier=”B000R4LD1Y” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Classic Stand Mixer[/easyazon_link] should do the trick!
- Baking mat – I recommend using a [easyazon_link identifier=”B0725GYNG6″ locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Silicone Baking Mat[/easyazon_link] for nonstick baking and easy clean up!
- Baking sheet – This [easyazon_link identifier=”B00XBC3T6Q” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Baking Sheet Set[/easyazon_link] is great for any kind of baking. You’ll get some great use out of them!
Homemade Crescent Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 tsp yeast
- 3 T sugar
- 1 1/4 cups warm whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 T melted butter
- 2 1/2- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flours
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- 1 egg beaten with 1 T milk
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast, sugar, and warm milk. Stir together and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
- Add the paddle attachment to the mixer, then pour in the salt, melted butter and 2½ cups flour. Run the mixer on low until the dough comes together (it will be shaggy), adding up to ¼ cup more flour if needed.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, form into a ½" thick rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, cut the sticks of butter in half lengthwise. Remove the dough from the fridge onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 9 x 13" rectangle.
- Turn the dough so that the 9" side is towards you. Place the sticks of butter vertically and side-by-side (touching) on the center of the dough. Fold the bottom ⅓ up over the butter, then fold the top ⅓ down (think folding a letter). Press the outside edges together to seal the butter in.
- Rotate the dough 90 degrees; folded side should be to your left. Dust with additional flour, if necessary, and roll the dough out to a 10 x 20" rectangle. Repeat the letter folds- bottom ⅓ folded up, top ⅓ folded down. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
- Repeat Step 7 an additional three times. Allow dough to chill for 90 minutes, or up to overnight, after the last time.
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a size of 9x18". Cut dough in half lengthwise, then cut each of those into 4 squares/rectangles. You should have 8. Cut each square diagonally to make rectangles.
- Working with one triangle at a time, roll up the dough from the wide end to the pointed end, gently slightly stretching the dough as you go. Place the rolled dough, tip down, on the baking sheet. Gently curve into a crescent shape, if desired. Repeat with remaining triangles.
- Let rolls rise for approximately an hour and a half. Preheat oven to 400F and position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
- Brush the rolls with the egg wash and place in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until desired level of golden is achieved, rotating the trays halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
Jen | Baked by an Introvert says
This was certainly a happy mistake! The crescent rolls look perfect, Jacqueline!
Karly says
I must say, I’ve never seen a mistake that looked as delicious as this one. These look so soft and buttery and delicious and I must try them as soon as humanly possible. Love these!