Orange Crescent Rolls
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So, every year for Christmas, one of our family friends would bring my family a batch of Orange Crescent Rolls. And those beauties would be DEVOURED before they even made their way to the kitchen. In fact, I have a vivid memory of standing in the dark living room lit only the outside Christmas lights after receiving them at the door and chowing one down. It was definitely my favorite treat of the Holiday season!
So I wanted to recreate those as best I could with these, and thankfully, it brought back all those nostalgic vibes. These are made with scalded milk (don’t worry, I wrote the directions on how to do that in the recipe!), which means that this dough is EXTRA fluffy and soft, since the scalded milk breaks down the whey proteins. It’s definitely worth the extra step!
I made sure to attach pictures on how to roll up the crescent rolls, since I know that can be intimidating some people.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I’ve made this super easy for you to enjoy these delicious treats, so make them and QUICK! They’re sure to become a family favorite for dessert, breakfast, or brunch!
As always, be sure to comment below if you have any questions or comments, and make sure to keep up with all the action on Instagram, @theflouredcountertop and on Pinterest under the same name. Happy baking!
Scalded milk should be heated to 170º F, then cooled back down to 110º F before being added to your yeast mixture.
Rolls it out into approximately an 18 inch circle
Cut 12 slices out of the 18 inch circle. Hopefully you’ll be more succesful than me in making them all even!
Spread the filling onto each triangle, leaving a border around each one.
To form into a crescent shape, roll each triangle up, starting at the long end.
Place 6 on a baking sheet.
Orange Crescent Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 Cup + 2 Tbsp Milk
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 3 Tbsp warm Water
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp freshly-squeezed Orange Juice
- 1 Egg
- 3-4 cups of All-Purpose Flour
- 1/3 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- Zest from one Orange
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 Tbsp freshly-squeezed Orange Juice
- 2/3 cup Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- To begin, you need to scald the milk. In a small saucepan, pour 1 cup +2 Tbsp of Milk and heat on Medium High heat. Heat until it reaches 170º, which you can check with a kitchen thermometer. This should only take a few minutes. Once it's reached that, remove it from the heat and pour it into a 1 cup measurement. There might be a little extra left, which you can feel free to discard. There just needs to be a little more than 1 cup of milk to account for evaporation. Drop in your 1 1/2 Tbsp of Butter into the warm milk. Let it cool to around 110º, so it's not too hot and doesn't kill the yeast when added to the rest of the dough.
- While you wait for the milk to cool, work on the rest of your dough. Add 2 tsp of Yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with 3 Tbsp of warm water and 1 tsp of 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix together, and let stand for about minutes, until it's foamy.
- Then add the rest of the sugar, 2 Tbsp of Orange Juice, 1 Egg, and 1 tsp Salt. When the milk and butter have cooled, add that, along with 3-4 cups of All-Purpose Flour, (add just enough so that you can handle the dough without it being sticky). Combine everything, then turn your mixer on High for 5 minutes to knead the dough. Let rise in a warm environment for 1.5-2 hours.
- Right before you pull out your risen dough, make the filling. Combine together 1/3 cup of softened Butter, the zest from 1 Orange, 1 cup of Sugar, and 1 tsp Vanilla.
- Once risen, punch down the dough and roll it out into an 18 inch circle. With a pizza cutter, cut 12 triangles. Spread the filling onto each triangle, leaving a border around each one. This may seem tedious, but don't try to take a shortcut and spread out the filling and then cut it. A perimeter is important to ensure that too much of the filling doesn't ooze out while baking it.
- When each triangle is covered, take them, one at a time, and form into a Crescent shape. You do this by starting at the long end, and tightly rolling it up towards the tip, then bending into a crescent shape as well as you can. Place on a greased cookie sheet, fitting 6 on each sheet. Cover, and let rise for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350º.
- After they've risen again, place them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top. Rotate the pans halfway through the bake time.
- When they're done baking, let them rest for just a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack, to ensure any sugar that might have leaked out in the baking process doesn't harden and make it difficult for you take off the pan. If you are sensitive to sweetness, you can brush butter over the top of each one as soon as they come out. If you would prefer it to be more a little more sweet, combine the 2 Tbsp of Orange juice and 2/3 cup of powdered sugar and give your rolls a light drizzle. Best eaten fresh. Enjoy!