Holiday Crescent Rolls

Crescent rolls at holidays is a long-standing tradition in my family.  While I didn't like being assigned to make "normal bread" as a teenager, I would raise my hand to make the crescent rolls at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Seeing they had a willing vict- . . . I mean volunteer in the family, the rest of the family usually stepped aside and let me do it.  (They tossed in a little flattery to make sure I would continue to want to take on the task . . . either that, or they actually liked the way I made them.)

I've continued this tradition in my own family.  It's a good recipe for Master Kitchen Helpers or Kitchen Artistes in Training to help in the shaping, as it involves painting butter with a brush, dividing circles with a pizza cutter, and rolling triangles of dough before putting them on baking sheets.  All sorts of fun to be had which doesn't require a lot of precision.  (I mean all sorts . . . especially since we double the recipe, which is the maximum my stand mixer can handle at a time.)

This time, I had my Kitchen Artiste in Training helping me, but by the end, the Master Kitchen Helper and the Junior Taste-Tester had also joined us.  Everyone wanted to get in on the fun.

Pretty basic ingredients.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 Tablespoon shortening
3/4 cup lukewarm water for yeast
1 Tablespoon yeast (with mine, a little less)
4 1/2 cups flour (Well, you know how flour in yeast dough recipes goes . . . probably a bit more than this.)
Butter for brushing.  (You can use margarine if you want.)

Scald the milk (can be done in the microwave--makes life easy) and stir in the sugar, salt, and shortening.  Cool the mixture to lukewarm.  (The shortening does not have to melt.)

Mix the yeast in the lukewarm water and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes until dissolved.

If you are using a stand mixer with a bread hook, mix it all together as in Mixing a Yeast Bread in a Stand Mixer.  I start by putting in about 3 cups of the flour, then adding the milk mixture.  After it has mixed somewhat, I add the yeast mixture and continue with the flour until the dough is cleaning up the sides of the mixer bowl.  Then I drizzle oil into the bowl, allow the bread hook to carry the dough around the bowl a couple of times, then stop it, remove the bread hook, and flip the dough over.

If you do not have a stand mixer, start with the yeast water in your bowl, then add the milk mixture, and add half of the flour.  Beat it until smooth, then add the rest of the flour.  Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic.  Then place the kneaded dough into a greased bowl and brush with shortening.  (I've never done that . . . place the kneaded dough into a well-oiled bowl, twirl it around a couple of times so the dough on the bottom gets nicely oiled, then flip it so the oiled side is on the top.  Who wants to mess with brushing shortening when this is so much easier?)

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about one hour.  Punch down the dough and turn it out on a lightly floured board.  Divide the dough into three equal pieces.

I suppose I should weigh these, especially as they are thirds.

Roll pieces (one at a time, of course, or you'll run out of room on your board, unless you have a very, very large board) into circles about 9 inches in diameter.  (Mine always end up larger.  Remember as you roll, the elastic dough will try to shrink, so you'll have to roll them larger if you want them to end up with 9-inch diameters.)

Brush with melted margarine (No way!!  Butter!!).

Cut into 8 pie-shaped wedges.  A pizza cutter is an excellent tool here, but only if you roll your dough out on a board, instead of the counter.

Roll up tightly and seal the points.

Place on greased baking sheets, with the points underneath, about 2 inches apart.  Curve each roll to form crescents.  (We don't curve them very much, but it works.)

Cover and let rise until doubled.  (About an hour . . . if you find yourself a nice warm spot, it might be less.  I always shoot for a half hour if I can help it.)  Brush with melted margarine (Butter!!) on the tops.

Bake in an oven which has been preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 13-15 minutes.

Because I end up with so much help, my crescent rolls rarely turn out with the most beautiful shapes.  But the fun we have, dancing in the kitchen to Pandora stations while taking turns in the shaping process, outweighs any desire I have for picture-perfect rolls.  After all, the true value of holiday traditions is the time spent together and the memories made as families.

Fluffy!!