Homemade Crescent Rolls

I've been making a lot of homemade breads since I got a Bosch mixer last fall... It's an old mixer, but it was free!  Wahoo!  My bread-making skills have improved a million times since I no longer have to knead and mix the dough by hand.  A few months ago I decided to make a conscious effort to stop buying "convenience foods".  I try to avoid the frozen aisles all together and have tried to make even more things from scratch than I did before. 

It's been great!  We're eating better and I'm saving money!  One thing I used to always have on hand was refrigerated crescent roll dough.  I used it in all sorts of yummy foods... everything from appetizers to main dishes to desserts.  I haven't bought them for a while which means I haven't made any of my crescent roll dough recipes.


I decided to attempt homemade crescent roll dough and it turned out pretty dang fabulous!  It makes a big batch, so I not only got 16 rolls from the dough, I was able to make a crescent roll ring.  Have you ever made one of those?  The concept originated from Pampered Chef and I've been making them here and there since I tried it at a Pampered Chef party like a billion years ago.  You can put just about anything inside of them.  I should have taken pictures of each step, but I'll try to explain it the best I can...

Crescent Rolls

2 c. warm water
2/3 c. powdered milk
2 TBSP yeast
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter, melted
egg
2 c. flour

3-5 c. flour

In your Bosch or KitchenAid mixer (with a dough hook) mix everything except the 3-5 c. flour for 2 minutes on medium speed.  Add 2 more cups of flour and mix 2 minutes.  Turn your speed to low and continue to add flour while mixing on low, half a cup at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the sides into a ball and a very soft (almost sticky, but not quite) dough is formed.  Once you hit that point, mix on medium for 2 more minutes.

Cover and let rise in a greased bowl until doubled.  Punch down and divide dough in half.  Roll dough into a circle.  Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into 16 wedges.

To make crescent rolls:  Roll each triangle up and place on greased cookie sheet or baking stone with the small pointy end down.  Cover and let rise until double (or so).  Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes or until beautifully golden.  Brush with melted butter after 10 minutes of baking and again as soon as you pull them out of the oven.  These rolls are incredibly amazing!

To make a crescent roll ring:  Place the triangles on a round baking stone or pizza pan with the pointy ends out and the bulk of the triangles hanging off the pan like a sun.  Smash the dough together at the wide ends (the part on the pan) making a nice place to put your filling.  Place your filling of choice on the smashed dough and fold the pointy ends over the dough, tucking the ends under.  Bake at 350 until golden and dough is cooked, about 30 minutes.  Brush with butter.  Slice to serve.

The beautiful pink filling you see is a package of cream cheese mixed with a small container of "cranberry salad" I found close-dated at Smiths for .39 and cooked, diced turkey.  It was pretty much amazing!  It was like dessert and dinner in one!  Other filling ideas are:
-taco meat & shredded cheese, serve with salsa and sour cream
-cooked chicken & broccoli in cream of chicken soup
-leftover turkey in mayo with dried cranberries and slivered almonds

Enjoy!