Warm, fluffy, pillowy bread filled with smoked ham and gooey, melted cheese. There is not a single thing wrong with that sentence. Not only because homemade bread is always a good idea, but because stuffing that bread with ham and cheese? Uh, yes please! I made these crescent rolls recently thinking they would be a great easy lunch recipe. I mean, they are, but they are also so much more? Easy snack when you have a crowd of people over? Yup. Perfect casual appetizer with drinks? Indeedio. Side dish to beat all side dishes at Thanksgiving or Christmas? Right again. There is nothing these rolls can’t do. Topped with herby salt and baked until golden, they are the cheesy, hammy, bready recipe of your dreams.
Ingredients
Warm water. Instant yeast. Sugar. Flour. Any flour will work for this, cake, all purpose or bread. Egg. Softened butter. Ham. I used Gypsy ham. Mozzarella. Dried herbs. Any mixed dried herbs will work. Salt.
How to make crescent rolls
This is a very simple bread dough recipe enriched with butter and egg to make it soft and fluffy. Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook makes easy work of kneading the dough but you can absolutely do it by hand too. Start by whisking instant yeast into warm water and sugar. The water needs to be just warm enough so that when you put your finger in it, it feels like nothing. That is blood temperature and the perfect temperature for the yeast to start doing its thing. Water that is too hot will kill the yeast. Allow this mixture to stand for 5 minutes until it looks frothy and milky. This means the yeast is alive and is starting to eat the sugar. Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer then pour in the yeast mixture. Add the beaten egg and turn the mixer on. Allow the dough to come together then add the softened butter. If the butter is too firm it won’t incorporate into the dough properly. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth and just ever so slightly tacky. If the dough is too sticky, add a tablespoon or two of flour until it starts coming away from the side of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for an hour in a warm spot. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface into a large rectangle. Cut the dough into long triangles, similar to how you would cut croissant dough. Place a piece of ham and mozzarella onto the wide side of the dough then roll up to the pointy side of the dough. Tuck the point in and place the rolls onto a sheetpan lined with parchment paper. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Brush with egg then sprinkle with dried herbs and salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the rolls are golden brown and baked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Freezing and making ahead
Homemade bread recipes
