Homemade Crescent Rolls (No-Knead Recipe)

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These Crescent Rolls are simple enough to make any weekday but fancy enough for any holiday (I’m looking at you Thanksgiving). They are the easiest recipe and require ZERO KNEADING! It’s a perfect, buttery roll that tastes simply amazing!

Crescent Rolls Made Easy

You guys, this might be the laziest bread recipe I’ve ever made. All you need is a large bowl, a wooden spoon and a little bit of elbow grease. Aaaand lots of butter. Crescent rolls are only as good as the dough you’re using and this is a good one: it’s an enriched dough filled with milk, egg, sugar and butter. After you make your dough in your bowl (with no kneading required!) you let it rise, form it into crescents, rise and bake.  

It’s a perfect recipe for all you bread making virgins, anyone who likes carbs, or anyone who’s tired who doesn’t want to put in the effort. Not that I’m currently tired…ha!

Basic Ingredients Needed

 Just like any bread recipe, this list of ingredients is pretty darn basic. Lots of pantry staples here! The biggest key is using fresh yeast. Double check your expiration dates before getting started.

• water, yeast + honey– I like proofing my yeast in a little warm water and honey before I add it in with the rest of my ingredients. This allows you to give it a head start but more importantly it lets you know whether or not your yeast is still good.
• sugar– I love a good sweet roll and these would probably qualify as that. If you just want a normal crescent that is more savory, cut the sugar in half.
• egg– adding eggs to bread recipes makes the dough taste richer, gives color and creates a finer crumb. The more you know.
• melted butter– I add melted butter to the dough and even more butter to the dough before I roll them up into crescents. These are very tasty.
• all purpose flour + salt– flour is needed for the gluten and salt adds flavor. Please oh please don’t forget the salt! You won’t notice when salt is added in but you will absolutely notice when salt was forgotten.

How to Make Homemade Crescent Rolls

Ok, prepare yourselves for the easiest (most buttery!) Crescent Roll recipe ever. For full recipe details and increments, scroll down to the printable recipe card below.

1. Stir warm water, honey, and yeast together in a large bowl. Set aside to proof.
2. Melt butter. Pour in some cold milk to make it a lukewarm mixture. Pour into the yeast mixture.
3. Add in an egg, sugar, and salt. Stir well.
4. Add flour in 1/2 cup increments stirring well after each. Add flour until the sides of the bowl become clean and the dough is sticky but not sticky enough to stick to your hands.
5. Grease your bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise.
6. Punch down dough and cut into two.
7. Working with one of the halves, flour a board and the dough ball. Roll it out into a rectangle. Brush dough generously with butter. (Let’s pretend I remembered to brush these with butter before I cut them into triangles, m’kay?)
8. Cut into even triangular pieces. If you’re using a ruler, I measured 2 1/2 inches for each base.
9. Starting at the larger end, roll each piece into a crescent. Place onto baking sheet.
10. Set aside for a second rise. Optional step: brush rolls with a simple egg wash to help with browning.
11. Bake until golden brown. 
12. Optional step: spread more butter onto the hot baked rolls. Enjoy!

Making Ahead for the Holidays

The beauty of this Crescent Roll recipe is you can make these in advance so they are ready to go for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any weeknight. Simply make the dough according to the recipe and follow the directions below.

Freezing Unbaked Crescent Rolls

Once rolls are formed and right before the second rise, stop! Place your baking sheet into the freezer for about two hours to freeze the crescent rolls. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to bake, thaw and let rise on a baking pan at room temperature. This should take about 2-3 hours in a warm kitchen. Once rolls are puffed and risen, bake as normal.

Freezing Baked Crescent Rolls

Follow the directions all the way through and let your rolls cool completely. Once cooled, transfer to a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, simply place on baking sheet frozen and warm in a 250 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Any leftover crescent rolls can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days OR in the fridge for up to one week. Be sure to store in an airtight container to preserve freshness.

Crescent Roll Recipes to Try!

• Cheesy-Stuffed Garlic Butter Crescent Rolls
• Pepperoni Pizza Rolls Recipe
• Peach Dumplings
• Cheese Danish Recipe  (Or really any of my Danish Recipes!)

You need these crescent rolls in your life. With the butter too. They’re lovely sweet little pillows of warm carby heaven that will make your love handles sing. Mine sure did after having 7. Yes, that figure is accurate.  SEVEN.

The printable recipe card is below! Enjoy and happy baking 🙂

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4.85 from 13 votes

Homemade Crescent Rolls (No Knead Recipe)

These Crescent Rolls are simple enough to make any weekday but fancy enough for any holiday. They are the easiest recipe and require ZERO KNEADING! It's a perfect, buttery roll that tastes simply amazing!

servings 16 rolls

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 2 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

for the crescent rolls:

• ▢ 1/2 cup warm water
• ▢ 2 1/4 teaspoons quick rise yeast
• ▢ 1 tablespoon honey
• ▢ 1/2 cup cold milk
• ▢ 1/4 cup butter melted
• ▢ 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour give or take 1/4 cup
• ▢ + 3 extra tablespoons butter melted

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• In a liquid measuring cup, stir warm water, yeast, and honey together. Set aside to proof.
  
• Melt butter in a small bowl and stir in cold milk to make the mixture lukewarm. Pour foamy yeast and water mixture into a large bowl with milk, butter, egg sugar, and salt.
  
• Stir together to break apart the egg. Using a wooden spoon, stir flour into mixture in 1/2 cup increments.
  
• After it is incorporated, the bottom of the bowl should be pretty clean, and the mixture should be pretty sticky but be able to hold a loose ball shape.
  
• Grease bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap and dish towel. Set aside to rise 1-2 hours.
  
• Punch down dough and divide into two equal pieces. Flour a clean work surface and one of the halves. Roll out to be a 12'' x 8'' rectangle. Brush with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.
  
• Cut into 6-8 triangles, depending how large you'd like your rolls. (Mine had 2-2 1/2 inch bases.) Roll into crescents. Place onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
  
• Repeat with the other half of dough. Brush tops of rolls with remaining tablespoon of melted butter. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and rise 30 minutes or until almost double in size. Optional step: brush with egg wash to brown tops.
  
• Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until tops have browned. Remove from oven to cool and immediately brush with more butter {if desired}. Serve warm.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 199mg | Potassium: 61mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 181IU | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg

Course: Breads

Cuisine: American

Keyword: crescent roll recipe, crescent rolls