Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Dark Days Challenge Week 9- Homemade Crescent Rolls

Something I've always lusted after, food-wise, is Crescent Rolls. The only ones I've really ever known are the Pillsbury pop-and-peel kind. They always seem like some sort of weird chemistry experiment to me- the container needs to be popped, and then you peel out this weird chunk of dough that is perforated?

I love them all the same, but wanted to find a healthier, homemade, SOLE (Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical) option. So here it is!
Homemade Crescent Rolls
Ingredients: (Makes 32 rolls)
3 1/2 cups flour
source: Westwind Milling Co., 50 miles
2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
source: Mexico? I need a better source for this!
1/3 cup water, warm
source: ya know- the tap
3/4 cup milk, warm
source: Calder's Dairy, 50 miles
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
source: grown in the US of A
2 eggs
source: Baer Poultry Farm, 50 miles
1 tsp salt
source: far away, purchased from Ypsi Food Co-op
4 tbsp butter, softened
source: Calder Dairy, 50 miles
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix flour with sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add to the flour mixture. Add eggs and milk, then mix everything together. Add the butter and knead the dough until it is smooth. Cover with a clean towel and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm area, until doubled in size.
2. Punch down dough and divide into 2 equal parts. Form them into balls. *If you don't want to make a million crescent rolls all at once, now is the time that you should take one of the dough balls, wrap it in plasticwrap, and then wrap tightly in aluminum folil and freeze!*
On a floured surface roll each part into a 16 to 17 inch round, using a
rolling pin. With the back of a spoon, spread about 2 tbsp of very soft
butter onto the dough round. Using a pizza wheel, cut the
round into 16 triangles.
3. Start rolling each triangle into crescents, starting from the outside edge of the triangle. Once rolled, place on a greased baking tray with the tip tucked down and under the roll. Repeat rolling with the rest of the triangles. Let them rise for about 20 minutes. Melt additional butter and brush the tops of the rolls with it.
4. Preheat the oven to 400F. Bake for 14-18 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Let them cool on a wire rack few minutes before serving, or just shove them into your mouth right away, which is what I did.

3 comments:

  1. yum! thanks for sharing! we'll have to try it. one of the meals we make when we don't have a ton of time is a chicken, gruyere, and peas in a crescent roll. i might have seen it in real simple magazine, or on pinterest, but we'd basically take a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, gruyere, and peas and roll it all up in a pillsbury crescent roll. like pigs in a blanket, but not. i'd love to be able to make a "real food" version of that, and pigs in a blanket too now that i'm thinking about it. :) i rarely comment, but i'm so glad you share these ideas and recipes.

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  2. Those sound awesome! I'll have to try them soon.

    Speaking of local eating... I just made a fantastic iced mocha using Meijer's Michigan cherry coffee and Calder's chocolate milk. Yum!

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  3. Yummm! That sounds like a recipe I need to find, Chelsea :)

    Di- also sounds amazing- I'll have to pass that on to my partner, who is a big coffee fan!

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