Homemade Crescent Rolls
No more store-bought crescent rolls! These can be made ahead of time, refrigerated or frozen. It’s so easy, buttery and fluffy!
So for years, well, my entire life actually, I was using the crescent rolls that come in those refrigerated tubes.
Always, always, always.
But, I am frequently asked if I have a homemade recipe.
I honestly didn’t even know you could make a homemade version.
That is, until now.
And after extensive recipe testing with my team, and many failed yet consumed batches of crescent rolls, I think we were able to finally perfect this.
After this, we’ll never be using those refrigerated tubes ever again.
Because you can make this ahead of time, refrigerate or freeze as needed.
So now you really have no excuse!
Homemade Crescent Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups warm whole milk, 105-110 degrees F
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine milk, butter, honey and yeast; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Add 2 cups flour, egg and salt. Using the dough hook, beat on low speed for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft, smooth ball of dough is formed. The dough should feel elastic and slightly tacky to the touch. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes.
- Lightly oil a large bowl or coat with nonstick spray; place dough in bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a clean dishtowel and let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Gently deflate dough by punching down. Working on a lightly floured surface, divide in half. Roll into 12-inch rounds; cut into 12 wedges. Roll up wedges, starting from the wide end, to form a crescent shape.
- Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray. Place rolls, point sides down, onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a clean dishtowel and let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush tops with butter. Place into oven and bake until golden brown, about 12-14 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Just made these today. Hubby says, “every bit as good, if not better than the can.” I think they are way better! I don’t like the ones out of the can but these are delicious!9
Also should have said – I used lactaid milk and plant based olive oil Country Crock butter and they turned out great! In case you are lactose intolerant like me.
no review- just a question
Crescent rolls in the tube don’t have eggs, my grandson has an egg allergy, would love to make homemade for him, but all the recipes I have see have eggs – WHY! :0) Your recipe only has 1 egg, do you think I could use the egg subsitute? Thanks
This looks amazing, I want to try it but don’t have the mixer. I do however have a hand mixer. Same directives with a hand mixer?
You got it! 🙂
How Often can one read the reviews and eat one of these delicious hot out of the oven rolls? That’s what I’m doing this very moment…..eating of these glorious rolls.
I’m from Australia and we don’t have Crescent Rolls at all. I see a lot of recipes using dough in a can like monkey bread and garlic knots…would this work for those too?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know! 🙂
I tried them today and they were delicious. I added cheese and sausage. Eventhough it is still fluffy I can taste a little bit of the yeast. What did I do wrong?
And another question: what does it mean when you say until step 3? If the dough has risen, I can immediately put it in the fridge?
Hi Dascha! You may have added a lot of wet ingredients or ingredients that give away a lot of moisture in the cooking process which might stop the yeast from completely developing. So that might have been an issue.
And until step 3: (these are make-ahead directions only) follow the directions and make the dough, then place the dough in a Ziploc bag as directed in the notes and keep refrigerated for up to 2 days. The dough hasn’t risen at this point and won’t rise in the fridge. When you’re ready to make the rolls, continue with step 3 (the rising happens then).
Hope that helped!
I was so happy to find a recipe to replace the canned crescent rolls my son loves. I made these in the bread machine to save me some hands-on steps and it worked like a charm! The dough is super easy to work with and it could not have been easier to pull these together. I baked up a few and put the rest in the freezer. Although they’re not exactly the same as the canned (thank goodness!), they got a thumbs up from the fam, which is a win in my book! I will always have a batch of these in the freezer ready to go from now on. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks, Toni! That’s great!
I needed rolls without any soybean oil that is in most breads now. And though I am not a cook or baker by any means….these crescent rolls actually weren’t too much trouble to make and amazingly enough turned out very well! I was concerned I had overmixed the liquid ingredients as the dough initially seemed too soft but I used the oil coated plastic bag to store them in the frig overnight and we ended up being able to make the dough balls and able to cut them into the individual rolls. My husband deemed them damn delicious 🙂 and my sister was very pleased to be able to have rolls with her dinner. Thank you for the great recipe!
That’s awesome!
I made for Thanksgiving and they were great!!! The dough was so easy to work with, these looked and tasted fantastic
So happy to hear!
Hi! I LOVED this recipe! The only comment I got from my family was that they would like the rolls to be a bit sweeter. Can I add additional Tbsps. of honey? If so, would I need to edit any of the other ingredients to account for the additional liquid/sugar?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I choose the Damn Delicious rolls because they had less sugar content. I was considering this one https://laurenslatest.com/no-knead-crescent-rolls-with-cinnamon-orange-butter/ but it calls for more sugar.
maybe this is helpful to you.
To freeze these you say to prepare as directed until step 5 and then put in a single layer on a baking sheet overnight and cover tightly with plastic wrap and then transfer to freezer bags. Are they supposed to be put in the freezer for the overnight period and then put in the freezer bags?
Yes, that is correct.
I’m making these right now (they’re in the oven)…they smell amazing.
I wondered if you can make these with hot dogs and a cheese slice rolled up with them? It’s because I want to make a hot dog bake using Crescent rolls. I could always slice these once they’ve cooled and put hot dogs in them, with chilli and grated cheese on the top and oven-bake again…but I think next time, I’m going to roll them directly into the dough triangles, just before the final rise. Thank you for providing the recipe online – I can’t wait to try one! x
Hot dogs + cheese = sounds amazing!
In your make ahead and freezer instructions: when you say “until step 3” and “until step 4,” do you mean THROUGH these steps, or through steps 2 and 3 respectively? For example, do I punch down the dough and then put in the refrigerator or do I put in the refrigerator right out of the mixer?
Thanks, always love your recipes!!!
“Until step 3” does not involve continuing with step 3. Hope that helps!
That helps for make-ahead, but for freezing you are saying stop before dividing and rolling, but then say to put the rolls in the freezer. I think for that one you meant until step 5…
You are completely right – thank you!
You’re welcome!
Love these! My boys will devour these when I make them.
Do you think these will cook in the waffle machine? I currently use canned crescents for crescent waffles, but have been wanting to ditch the can.
Can you use whole wheat flour place of the AP floor?
It’s hard to say with certainty without further recipe testing but this article may help!
http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/bake/how-to-substitute-whole-wheat-flour-for-all-purpose-flour/
I cannot wait to try this and hopefully ditch the canned rolls!
My daughter has Celiac disease, and consequently she has a gluten free household. I am wondering if I could sub with something like C4C, and surprise them on Christmas with Crescent rolls? My grandsons would be in heaven!
What a great surprise! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. Sorry, Karen!
These sound delicious. I’m going to experiment with making the dough in my bread machine. Makes it even easier!
I have never made crescent rolls from scratch before but your recipe makes it look so easy! A little time is needed but other than that, I think I can do this recipe! Thank you! Kitty
Absolutely! Just time and patience! 🙂
I’m so glad to see this recipe. Do you have any suggestions of how to tweak it if I’m using Gluten free flour?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. Sorry, Fotini!
Will this recipe work with a non-dairy substitute for whole milk and butter? Such as soy-milk or almond milk and margarine?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. Sorry, Tamiko!
If you want to make them even better, put a layer of sour cream over the dough before you cut and roll. Have made a roll like this for the last 40 years.
That sounds amazing! I will definitely have to try that next time.
TO FREEZE: Prepare the dough as directed until step 4. Place rolls in a single layer on a baking sheet overnight; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Transfer to freezer bags. Resume with step 5 with desired number of rolls, loosely covered with plastic wrap, letting it come to room temperature and doubling in size prior baking. My question is: the dough needs to thaw (in or out of refrigerator?) and once it is thawed why do you skip the kneading, rising and dusting in step 4.
Terry, are you referring to making this ahead of time? When you freeze, the rolls are not going in and out of the refrigerator. Please refer to these directions to make this ahead of time.
*MAKE AHEAD: Prepare the dough as directed until step 3. Place into a lightly oiled Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for up to two days. Resume with step 4.
I think when you say “until” step 4 this would suggest not doing step 4 – only doing 3, then proceeding to step 5 after thawing. This is where the confusion is. If you want to include step 4, the instructions should say “through” step 4. I asked a question below about the same thing…
“Until step 3” does not involve continuing with step 3. Hope that helps!
The rolls look delicious! To make half would I cut all ingredients in half, including the yeast?
Thanks!
Yes, that is correct!
can soy milk be substituted for the whole milk and can margarine be substituted for the butter?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. Sorry, Janet!
How can I make these without a stand mixer? They look amazing!
Do you have a hand mixer?
Any particular reason you chose AP flour rather than bread flour? Thanks for adding tips on refrigeration and freezing. 24 are too many for my small family so will make and freeze some for future meals. Thanks for this, and your many other delicious recipes!
Bread flour actually has a higher protein content so it makes denser, chewier bread, which is not ideal for crescent rolls. Hope that makes sense!
Must make sense since the family graded these A+! Thanks again.