HOMEMADE CRESCENT ROLLS RECIPE

I always wanted to bake my own bread or rolls but somehow never tried. Now with social distancing and not being able to shop daily, it seemed like the perfect time to actually give it a go. I was also excited to try out my brand new and beautiful KitchenAid mixer. Most bread recipes call for yeast which turned out to be a challenge to find. Who would have thought! Anyways, after searching for a couple of weeks, I was lucky enough to snatch several packets for my new found baking cravings. First I made challah bread and chocolate pin-wheels but it was time for a more traditional Hungarian breakfast roll called Kifli (crescent roll of some sort). I went through a few recipes and decided on one from Street Kitchen, a Hungarian cooking site with a few of my own adjustments. Now, Kifli is something we buy fresh every single day in the bakeries or grocery stores as they are best eaten the same day, and because it is only my youngest daughter and myself at home, I halved the recipe to only bake 5 rolls instead of 10. I think that this recipe is very easy to make, however takes some time as the dough needs to rise twice, so if you want it for an early morning breakfast, you better be up a couple of hours before everyone else. Otherwise, make it any time of the day, they are excellent for lunch sandwiches with your favorite cold cuts, or accompanying your dinner dish as well. Did I mention spreading it with Nutella for desert? OK, enough of the teasing, let’s start baking!

Ingredients: makes 5 large rolls

• 175 ml/6 fl oz milk

• 12.5 g/1 tbsp of sugar

• 1 tsp of salt

• 15 g fresh yeast or 7 g active dry yeast (1 packet)

• 250 g/ 1 & 1/2 cups of flour

• 15 g/1 tbsp of butter

Now, I believe that it is easier to get the right dough consistency if we can measure the ingredients precisely with a scale instead of using cups. But I included the conversion in case you do not have a kitchen scale. First, add yeast and sugar to warm milk and let it sit for few minutes to foam & grow. Make sure your milk is not too hot or too cold because it will not let the yeast activate.

Next, in a large bowl mix flour and salt. Add soft butter and milk with yeast. If you have a mixer, use it to kneed dough into a nice, smooth and flexible consistency. You can also do this by hand but it would take much longer. Cover dough with plastic foil to keep dough from drying out and place a towel on top to seal in heat, and let it sit for 40 minutes to rise. (Perfect time to walk the dog.)

Lightly grease a wooden board and remove dough from bowl into board (I basically put a very little amount of olive oil on my hand and rubbed it on the board). With a rolling pin roll out your dough into a nice and thin circle, moving the rolling pin into every direction to keep the circle shape.

Now comes the tricky part, divide dough into 5 even triangles. Good luck with that without any help. I did cheat a little by printing out a circle with measurements, makes it so much faster and easier.

Take each triangle and roll it out a little more with your pin, then tightly roll it up starting from the wide edge into a nice half moon shaped pastry. Place rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let rolls rest and rise for another 30 minutes. No need to cover it up this time. (Just enough time for a quick 30 minute workout while thinking of the warm, crispy rolls)

When 30 minutes is up, brush each roll with milk to achieve a crispy, light brown exterior. If you like, sprinkle coarse salt on top. I opted out of this step as we do not like it too salty. Bake at 425 F/220 C for about 10 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and let it cool a little before transferring onto plates. Eat it warm with butter and strawberry jam or just plain. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, careful, they will not last long! Enjoy!