Best Ever Dinner Crescents

Last updated on May 30th, 2018 at 06:15 pm

These Best Ever Dinner Crescents are really the perfect dinner rolls, soft, buttery, best tasting yet still simple to make. There’s nothing better than fresh hot dinner rolls right out of your oven.

I’m a sucker for hot bread, hot buns, anything fresh coming out of the oven. I cannot resist a hot dinner roll, the smell alone drives me crazy. I really am in my element whenever I’m baking something, but most especially bread or rolls. Maybe it has to do with me working in a bakery when I was only 14 years old and that’s when my love for baking began. I was 14, yet I looked forward to waking up at 3 am on weekends to go to the bakery just so that I could fry donuts, it was so much fun. Not to mention, I could sample pretty much everything there. 

I probably bake something every week. I love the ambience it creates in my home.

If you follow my blog you know that I love to bake and quite often I get questions regarding yeast. I think yeast is what probably scares people away from baking. There are different types of yeast, there’s fresh yeast which you don’t normally find unless you go to a bakery and ask the baker to sell you a block, it’s usually pretty cheap. I love to use fresh yeast if I can find it, but it seems to be harder and harder to find. I find that it’s pretty much impossible to fail with fresh yeast.

The most common types of yeast though, are active dry yeast and instant dry yeast. I probably will use active dry yeast most of the time and the difference really is that active dry yeast needs to be activated in warm water first, where instant yeast can just be directly added to your dry ingredients.

I always keep my yeast jar in the freezer, I find that it lasts longer this way. When I want to use some, I just take the jar out of the freezer about 30 minutes before using it. I always activate it in warm water. The water should be warm to the touch, not too hot because it will then kill your yeast, and that’s not what we want. All I do is add the yeast to the warm water, stir it a bit and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. You will notice the yeast dissolve and froth up. That’s how you know that your yeast is good, and if you passed this step, then you can go ahead and continue baking, otherwise stop here and go buy some fresh yeast from the store.

For more information regarding yeast check the recipe notes, lots of useful information there that should answer most of your questions.

Look at my dinner crescents, they almost are too big, but that’s what happens when your yeast is good and I actually have had this yeast jar in my freezer for a couple years now.

The dough for these crescent rolls is actually quite easy to make, you mix your dry ingredients, which really is just flour and salt, and you mix your wet ingredients and combine them. I really would recommend using a stand mixer for these rolls otherwise you’ll have to knead by hand, which is not a bad thing, you’ll get your workout in.

These rolls do require the dough to rise twice, once for the dough and once for the rolls. My tip for the dough rising quickly, which is something I’ve shared with you many times before, is to warm my oven up a bit, then place the bowl in the oven, this way you have a nice warm environment for your dough, free of drafts. Your dough could double in size in as little as 30 minutes, that’s how long it took for mine.

To actually make the rolls is quite simple. You basically roll out the dough like a pizza dough then cut it in 12 slices, again just like pizza, then roll up each piece to form a crescent. Super easy and fun. Let them rise again, then bake them and finally I brush mine with a bit more butter, because butter is better. Hope you give these a try, I’m sure you’ll love them!

Try some of my other popular roll recipes like these Texas Roadhouse Rolls and Hawaiian Sweet Rolls for your dinners. Fresh bread is always the way to go!

If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!

Best Ever Dinner Crescents

These Best Ever Dinner Crescents are really the perfect dinner rolls, soft, buttery, best tasting yet still simple to make. There's nothing better than fresh hot dinner rolls right out of your oven.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings: 24

Calories: 144kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup butter unsalted
• 1 large egg
• 4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp salt

US Customary - Metric

love what you see?Follow @jocooks on Pinterest!

Instructions

• Activate your yeast first by combing the water and yeast together in a small bowl. Stir the yeast a little bit and let it sit until it foams about 10 to 15 minutes. If your yeast doesn't activate, do not proceed.
• In a microwave safe bowl combine the milk, sugar and 1/4 cup of the butter and microwave for about a minute until the butter melts. Whisk it a bit, so that the butter melts completely. Let the milk cool a bit, so that it's just warm to touch. Whisk in the egg.
• In the bowl of your mixer, start with 4 cups of flour, add salt and mix. Add the milk and yeast mixture to the flour.
• Using the dough hook mix for a couple minutes. The dough is ready when it comes clean from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is too sticky add more flour, starting with about 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes clean from the sides of the bowl while mixing. Mine only required 4 cups, that's why start with 4 cups and go from there.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it up with a clean damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rest until it doubles in size. 
• Once the dough is ready, punch it down to let the air out. Cut it in 2 pieces. Roll each piece into a circle about 14" in diameter. Spread the top with remaining butter. For both pieces you shouldn't need more than 1/4 cup. Using the pizza cutter cut the circle into quarters first, then each quarter into thirds, for 12 pieces in total. Roll up each piece to form a crescent.
• Repeat with other piece of dough. Place the rolls onto a buttered pan.
• Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. 
• Let the rolls rest until the edges touch, they should almost double in size.
• Bake for about 15 or 20 minutes until golden brown. Melt remaining butter (should have about 1/4 cup of butter left) and brush the rolls while still warm.

Watch How To Make It

Notes

Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn't expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast, who knows it could have been on the shelf past its expiry date.

To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard. However, you can also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. If you do store it in the freezer and need to use yeast for your baking, make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for at least half hour before using.

Once your yeast package or jar has been opened, you must refrigerate the yeast or freeze it in an airtight container.

One thing to remember about your yeast, is that it is a living organism and over time it will lose activity, even if you’ve never opened the jar or package. So if you don’t bake often, buy the smaller yeast packages rather than a big jar of yeast.

 

Tip: To help your dough rise faster, heat up your oven to 200 F degrees, then turn off the oven. Place your dough in the oven, close the door and let the dough rise in peace for about 30 minutes. 

 

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

 

★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll | Calories: 144kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.57g | Protein: 2.92g | Fat: 6.45g | Saturated Fat: 3.89g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.357g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.669g | Trans Fat: 0.233g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 153mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 0.7g | Sugar: 2.53g | Vitamin A: 9% | Calcium: 2% | Iron: 6%

tried this recipe? rate it belowtag @jocooks on instagram and hashtag it #jocooks!