Easy Crescent Rolls

Soft, yeasty, buttery rolls rolled into crescent shapes.  They make great dinner rolls, sandwich rolls, or snacks.

The people at Patience Brewster unique gifts gave me with a great idea.  They wanted to hear about a recipe that had been passed down from the mothers in my family just in time for mother's day.  I thought these crescent rolls were the perfect fit.

A recipe passed down from mom #mothersday [Tweet this]

You can tell my husband rolled this one...his look so much better than mine.  That's why I dubbed him The Official Crescent Roll Roller (he can also roll faster than I can).

This is a recipe that my husband's mom used to make.  He talked about it all the time and how delicious they were.  I make lots of homemade bread and have been making many yeast rolls lately and while he enjoyed them all he would always say that they almost tasted like the kind his mom made.  Finally, I got the recipe from a family member and made these rolls for him.  He was so excited and absolutely loved them.  I think we ate all of the first batch in one day (probably not super healthy for us but oh so good).  Well, I had to make them again and get some pictures so I could blog about them.  My husband did not mind, in fact, we've had these many times since I got the recipe.

We ate them all in one day. [Tweet this]

The original recipe was written in cups and tablespoons. but I prefer to use weight when baking bread so I converted it.  I also added some whole wheat flour just because.  This final recipe is great and easy to scale up or down depending on how many you are feeding.  These rolls are perfect on their own (with or without butter), to accompany any dinner, and make great sandwich rolls too.  You'll never want to go back to the canned/refrigerated kind.

You'll never go back to the canned/refrigerated kind [Tweet this]

Easy Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

229 grams lukewarm water
45 grams sugar
7 grams active dry yeast
352 grams bread flour
150 grams whole wheat flour
1 egg (about 45-50 grams)
5 grams salt
24 grams cooking oil

Pour the warm (barely warm to the touch about 110F) into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Stir in the sugar and then sprinkle on the yeast.  Swirl until yeast is moistened then cover with a towel and let sit for 15 minutes or until foamy.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir, on low speed with the paddle attachment, until the dough forms a sticky ball (you may need to add a little more water just a bit at a time until all of the flour is hydrated and the dough the proper consistency).  Cover with a towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 6 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and very tacky but not sticky (add flour if needed to reach this consistency).

Add a little oil to a large bowl and roll the dough around in it until it's lightly coated in oil all over (you can also use spray oil).  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk (about 1-2 hours).

Form the risen dough into a ball and let rest on a floured board for 5 minutes.  Roll the dough out into a large circle or rectangle (mine never stay round so I just make it a rectangle--you actually don't need to form the dough into a ball first if you're making a rectangle) about 1/4 inch thick.  Brush the dough with softened butter and cut into 12 triangles (or 24 for dinner rolls--then you want to split the dough ball in two).

Roll the triangles into crescents and place on a baking sheet.  Let rise for 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 375F.

 Then bake at 375F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to a cooling rack and let cool for a few minutes before eating/serving.

They are best warm but still great cold.  Again they taste the best the same day they are made but still good up to 4 days later (pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to soften).  They also freeze well.

Enjoy.

For more rolls check out:

Rye Yeast Rolls

Onion Buns

Best Burger Buns

Linked to:  Best of the weekend, 2 Cup, Treasure Box, Lou Lou Girls,Whimsy, Tickle My Tastebuds, Tasty, Freedom Fri, foodie friends

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Onion Buns

Soft fluffy buns studded with onions.  Great for sandwiches, burgers, or all on its own.

Submitted to YeastSpotting 1/13/14

When I was a kid, my dad would occasionally buy onion buns.  These were always such a treat any sandwich tasted so much better on an onion bun.  Now that I'm an adult I try to make all of the bread I eat so it's been a while since I've had an onion bun.  Once I finally perfected the basic bun in Best Burger Buns I immediately thought about turning it into an onion bun.  With a little thought and some help from many other recipes I finally did it.  These buns turned out fantastic.  They are soft and fluffy and full of onion flavor.

Ingredients:

401 grams all purpose flour
249 grams water, luke warm
192 grams onion, diced
40 grams butter
28 grams dry milk
36 grams sugar
8 grams salt
6 grams active dry yeast
*1 egg slightly beaten for egg wash

Saute the diced onion, in a little butter or oil, until soft and translucent.  Set aside to cool until it reaches room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour the barely warm water (about 100 degrees F, it should hardly feel warm to touch).  Stir in the sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes until it becomes frothy and active.

To the yeast add the flour, onions, butter, dry milk and salt.  Stir on low with the paddle attachment for about 1 minute until ingredients combine and form a sticky ball.  Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 6 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until dough becomes elastic and is very soft and tacky but not sticky (it should just clear the bottom of the bowl).

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for about 90 minutes until it has doubled in size.

Cut the dough into 12 pieces of about 80 grams each and gently shape into balls stretching the dough over the top and pinching underneath to develop surface tension.  Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on a non stick or parchment covered baking sheet.  With the flat of your hand gently press down on each ball to slightly flatten.  Brush with *egg wash and cover with plastic wrap.

Preheat oven to 400F and allow buns to rise (at room temperature) for 30 minutes until they have puffed up.

Remove plastic wrap and again brush with egg wash, sprinkle some dried minced onion on top, and bake for 12-15 minutes (rotate pan(s) half way through for even baking) until golden brown.

Cool for about 15-30 minutes, slice, and enjoy.

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Best Burger Buns

Soft and fluffy burger buns that don't fall apart or leak.

Submitted to YeastSpotting.

I prefer making home made bread when possible.  I've been making homemade buns and rolls for a while but they always are a little tough.  When I want a bun I like it to be soft and tender (almost like store bought but better).  With this recipe from Utter Epicure I have finally made the best burger buns.  These buns were used for my Asian Pork Burgers and are great as sandwich rolls too.

Ingredients:
(only slight modification from original recipe--I used fast acting yeast instead of instant)

310 grams warm water
8.5 grams active dry yeast
47 grams sugar
500 grams all purpose flour (I have used bread flour too with good results)
50 grams butter, at room temperature
35 grams powdered milk
2 teaspoons salt
egg wash
sesame seeds

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the warm water (about 100F) with the yeast and sugar.  Let sit for about 15 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly.  Next add the flour, butter, dry milk, and salt.  Stir with the paddle attachment until ingredients come together and form a ball.  Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 6 minutes, adding more flour or water as necessary, until it just pulls from the bottom of the bowl.  Dough should be very soft and tacky but not sticky and it should be elastic.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, rolling to coat on all sides with oil, and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow the dough to rise for about 90 minutes or until doubled in size

Divide the dough into about 12 pieces of 80 grams a piece.  Shape into rounds, stretching the dough over the top and pinching underneath to develop surface tension.  And lay out on parchment lined sheet pan(s) or a good nonstick pan.  When dough is on the pan gently press down to slightly flatten the rounds and brush with egg wash.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for about 30-60 minutes until the buns have puffed (make sure to preheat your oven to 400F).

Uncover the buns and brush again with the egg wash, then sprinkle on sesame seeds, if using.

Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes.  Rotate and switch the pans from top to bottom about half way through baking for even browning.  Allow to cool 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy.

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