12/18/2006

Recipe of the Week

Crescent Dinner Rolls

Pam Jamieson Yarwood, formerly of Benzie County and now living in Washington and Arizona, sent her recipe for Butter-Flake Crescent Rolls at our request.

She'd emailed a note discussing some recent activities and described going to a Soup Supper prepared by a Mennonite youth group that had "three choices of delicious soup, crescent dinner rolls to rival mine ...”

Well, we had to ask for the recipe, which she wrote back to say came from an out of print 1968 Pillsbury Bake-off Breads Cookbook.

"One of the first recipes I tried from this book I ordered by mail,” she writes. "Became a family tradition for Thanksgiving, Christmas, company dinners. I make them ahead and freeze them in bags of 12. Both daughters now make them, too.”

Crescent Dinner Rolls

• 4-5 c. flour (Pam uses unbleached)
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 3/4 c. warm water
• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 3 eggs
• Melted butter

In smallish mixing bowl, combine 1 c. flour, 1 T. sugar, dry yeast and warm water. Mix well. Let rise in warm place until light and bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes. (It rises big and is sticky, so don't cover it to avoid it sticking to a cotton towel.)

While the yeast mixture is rising, combine in a large mixer bowl the butter, sugar, salt and eggs; Beat until well-blended. Add the yeast mixture; mix well. By hand or with bread hook if you are using a stand mixer, gradually add three to four cups flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface about 30 strokes. (Or continue kneading with dough hook.) Grease the large bowl you used and place dough in it, turning to grease top. Cover with clean cotton dish towel, let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, 1-1/2 hours.

Punch down dough; divide into two pieces. Roll each piece into a circle and brush with melted butter. Divide, using a sharp knife, into 12 triangles for each circle. Roll up, starting with large end of triangle, pinch to seal, curve a bit to form a crescent and place on greased cookie sheets. Cover with dish towels and let rise again for about a half hour, until roughly doubled in size.

Bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Watch them; they very well can be ready in 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. While they are still hot, Pam usually brushes more butter on top to make them shiny. Makes 24 large rolls.

If you have a recipe please send it, along with your name, mailing address, phone number and some details on you, where you got the recipe and the reactions it gets to: Recipe of the Week, Record-Eagle, P.O. Box 632, Traverse City, MI 49685; fax (231) 946-8632.