The Best Fluffy, Buttery Crescent Dinner Rolls

These are the best dinner rolls for your Thanksgiving spread.

These homemade crescent rolls not only look beautiful on a dinner table, but they are a delicious addition to a family meal! They’re slightly sweet, soft and fluffy, and rich and buttery.

Heather Thomas shares the recipe for homemade crescent dinner rolls. Her number one tip for making rolls is to avoid the urge to add more flour. This dough is very soft and easy to work with, and it’s very forgiving! You may see a little bit of dough sticking to the sides of the bowl when it’s kneading – don’t panic! Go by how it feels. You want to use just enough flour so that it doesn’t feel wet or excessively sticky. Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls. You can always add a bit more flour after it has kneaded if it’s too sticky to work with.

For more recipes and ideas from Heather, you can connect with her online at @ThatBreadLady and www.thatbreadlady.com.

Crescent Dinner Rolls

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (454g) warm water (about 115°F)
• 1/4 cup (28g) nonfat powdered milk
• 1/2 cup (43g) boxed potato flakes
• 1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (12g) instant yeast *
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons (9g) salt
• 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup (92g) butter flavored shortening
• 2 large eggs
• 5–6 cups (600-720g) bread flour

For rolling up

• 1/4 cup (56g) salted butter, melted

METHOD

Prepare the dough

1. In a large bowl, combine warm water, powdered milk, potato flakes, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk. Pour into the mixer bowl and secure the dough hook attachment to your mixer.
2. Add the butter, butter flavored shortening and eggs. Add 3 cups of the bread flour. Mix for about 30 seconds until ingredients are incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula.
3. Turn mixer on low and add 2 more cups of the bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time. After adding the 2 cups of flour, let dough continue to mix for about 1 minute. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. If dough is not mostly cleaning sides of the bowl, add more flour 1/4 cup at a time until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer and check the dough by gently pressing your finger into it. If the dough does not stick to your finger, it should be ready to knead. *When in doubt, it’s always best to go lighter on the flour. You can always add more flour, but you can’t take flour away. Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls.
4. Knead on low speed for 5 minutes.
5. Remove dough from mixer and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.

Gather Items together for Rolling Out

1. Gather a small bowl of flour for your work surface, a rolling pin, pizza cutter, pastry brush, 2 baking sheets and 2 sheets of parchment paper. If you have them, a dough scraper and food scale come in handy too.
2. Melt the salted butter in a microwave safe bowl and set aside.
3. Flour your work surface and divide the dough into two equal pieces. If you are weighing it, each piece should weigh about 28-30 ounces. Round each piece into a ball shape. This will make it easier to roll out into a circle.

Roll out the dough

1. With one ball of dough, roll it out onto your floured surface into a circle about 15 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick.
2. Brush the top with salted butter, careful not to use too much or it will be difficult to roll up. Usually, about 2 Tablespoons of melted butter per dozen rolls is just enough.
3. With a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 12 equal wedges, just as you would a pizza.
4. Starting at the outer edge of one of the wedges, roll up towards the middle, pulling slightly to tighten it up as you roll until you have rolled it to the end.
5. Tuck the end under and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet with the tip side down.
6. Repeat with the remaining 11 wedges.
7. Roll out and cut up the remaining balls of dough.
8. Allow rolls to rise until puffy and doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes. *The key to fluffy, soft rolls is letting them rise long enough.

Bake

1. Bake on the middle rack, in preheated 350°F oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Store in a heavy-duty bread bag. I suggest a 2-mil thickness.