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This post was originally posted April 2015. I am re-publishing it so that you can all make these amazing rolls for your Thanksgiving dinners!!
I know it’s been two weeks since I’ve posted a new recipe for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment, and I’m so sorry. I know some of you are loving it just as much as I am– I’ve been thrilled with the overwhelming response that you guys obsess over chocolate chip cookies as much as I do! I promise, I haven’t forgotten about it or neglected it (in fact I have a great one all lined up and ready to go for next week).
It’s just that with Easter right around the corner, I’ve been really wanting to focus on Easter-y type recipes, before you all get your menus all set and planned…
And I can’t think of a better Easter/holiday recipe to share with you today than my Aunt Carol’s crescent rolls!
Now, it has to be said that I come from a family of pretty serious bread-makers. My mom makes an awesome white loaf (and has her own famous crescent roll recipe). And my Grandma is well known for her biscuits. One of my cousins even used to sell her wheat bread loaves because they were in such high demand.
And my Aunt Carol’s crescent rolls are always the talk of holiday get-togethers on my Dad’s side of family– for good reason! She’s from Utah, and she totally brings her Western, fluffy, bread-making skills to the table.
I’ve talked a little bit about this recipe before (back when I made these Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls) and explained one of the quirky things about this recipe: scalding the milk. I won’t repeat myself (you can just click over and read what I wrote back then if you want), but don’t skip out on that step, tempting as it may be. Okay? It’s important to the chemistry of the dough.
I am obsessed with these soft, buttery, fluffy rolls, and I know that you will be too! Enjoy them at your Easter meal this year (and with a bunch of other meals too!!).
Yield: 16 large rolls or 32 small rolls
My Aunt Carol's favorite crescent rolls are always the main event of every family get-together! I love eating them with butter and homemade strawberry jam.
Ingredients
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, cold
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
4-6 cups flour
Additional: melted butter for brushing inside and on top of the rolls.
Instructions
Dissolve the yeast into 1/4 cup warm (about 125ºF or the same temp as a warm bath) water with 1 tbsp sugar.
Scald the milk over medium-high heat (milk should be about 180ºF). Stir continually so the milk does not burn.
Remove from heat and add cold butter (this will help in bringing the temperature down faster). Stir as the butter melts. Milk needs to cool to 125ºF (think warm bath water).
While the milk is cooling, beat the eggs and 1/2 cup sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeasty water, the cooled milk, and the salt and 4 cups of flour to the mixing bowl. Use the bread hook to mix and knead.
Once a sticky wet dough has formed, add more flour (by 1/4 cup at a time) until the dough is pulling away from the edge of the bowl (but still slightly sticky). Lightly grease the bowl and dough. Cover and let rise until double in size (about 30 minutes in a warm place).
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Punch down the dough and divide into two portions. Keep one portion covered while working with the other. Roll one ball of dough out into a circle, and cut 8 slices (just like you would a pizza). Cut 16 if you want to make smaller rolls. Brush the surface of the dough with melted butter.
Roll up each slice from the fat end to the skinny point, and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with all of the slices and with the second ball of dough.
Bake for 10 minutes. Brush the tops with melted butter.
Crescent rolls have a similar crescent-moon shape as croissants, but most aspects of these baked goods are different. Unlike croissants, crescent rolls are not laminated. This makes crescent rolls more bread-like than croissants.
Once a package is opened, you should store the remaining dough in a food storage container for two weeks. This will help keep the dough from drying out. Our biscuits crescent and cinnamon rolls are in pressurized cans, you should NOT freeze them.
The crescent-shaped croissant is a flaky pastry with buttery layers whereas a puff pastry is a drier composition of dough. Both use similar ingredients and preparation work.
Flavor: Butter is the key flavor in crescent rolls. It's what makes them so darn craveable (and it's the reason there's never one left in the bread basket). Canned crescent rolls should have perfect butter flavor with a hint of salt—the right combo for munching solo or using as the foundation for plenty of recipes.
Mix together egg replacer or egg, applesauce, minced garlic, and salt.Add in coconut flour, baking powder, and xantham or guar gum if using. Divide dough into 5 portions (feel free to make more or less, depending on how much and what size you want them).
When crescent rolls are stored at room temperature, they should generally be used by the "best by" date for optimal taste and texture. If refrigerated, they can last beyond this date, usually up to two weeks.
Your croissants were probably under-proofed. Just let them proof a bit longer so they get wobbly and increase visually in size. When under-proofed the butter tends to leak out from in between the layers and you end up with a butter puddle.
Move the pan to a higher shelf in the oven. Or you can buy an insulated baking sheet (such as Air-Bake) that will give a little protection from the heat of the bottom burner in the oven. You can also put another baking sheet under your pan.
How come my croissant is flat? Croissants can turn out flat for a couple of reasons: The protein content in the flour was too low (see "Perfecting the dough" above) The croissants were over-proofed (they are ready to be baked before they reach double in size)
To put it simply, crescent rolls are bread, whereas croissants are pastries. While both recipes result in light, fluffy, and buttery sweet treats, the ingredient lists are noticeably different. For example, croissants typically have milk and substantially more butter, whereas crescent rolls usually have more sugar.
2. They contain trans fat. The downside to using hydrogenated palm oil is that it contains trans fat, which is bad for your cholesterol. It's not so good for your body, which is why you should definitely eat these babies in moderation.
If additional storage time is needed, pastries may be stored in an airtight container for two days. Moist air inside a refrigerator will affect the texture of the pastry. Savory pastries (quiche, twice baked ham and cheese croissants) should be refrigerated if you are not eating them the same day.
According to Sixty and Me, croissants made with butter are typically straight since it is said that French law requires croissants made with margarine to be shaped like a crescent. And because of this, straight croissants are generally considered superior — which is ironic, considering their name.
Why are your croissant not crescent shaped? According to Raymond Calvel croissants laminated with margarine are formed into the crescent shape, while croissants laminated with butter are left in the straight form. We say, use whichever shape you like best, but do use real (organic) butter!
Crescent-shaped breads have been made since the Renaissance, and crescent-shaped cakes possibly since antiquity. The modern croissant was developed in the early 20th century, when French bakers replaced the brioche dough of the kipferl with a yeast-leavened laminated dough.
Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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