Crescent Rolls

I too CAN BAKE with yeast!!! Well, to be frank I had always dreaded about baking with yeast mainly because of the rising time! For a person like me with a full time job, a joint family and a number of hobbies, and who is hardly at home, even on weekends, it is actually difficult to spend a couple of hours for one item. Well, that includes the rising time, though, but it still is counted as the time, right?

Of course my parents used to bake breads, buns and rusks at home some 15-20 years back, with their limited resources, and they used to do a decent job at it, I must say. But somehow I hadn’t mustered enough courage yet.
But the urge to bake was just reaching the skies, especially drooling over some baked delicacies from fellow bloggers, and I just couldn’t resist it. So finally on a busy weekend, I decided I’m going to try my hand with the yeast bought long ago.I had decided that my first bake would be these crescent rolls from Champa, a major source of inspiration! Dee offered to help me without having a clue of what I am up to. He did all the kneading, and had not expected that we have to wait for a couple of hours in between. Anyways, I did all other stuff while the dough was doubling and made the pesto ready too. The first two rolls didn’t come anywhere close to a crescent roll, but then we got the hang of how thin the dough should be flattened and how it should be rolled. Except the first two, all of then came out well. I made some with jam also, for little niece Hima.
It was well accepted at home and all of it was neatly washed off by the next day! Guess what? A couple of my European friends dropped in for breakfast next day and they too complimented the rolls, along with other Indian breakfast!

Thank you Champa for your inspiration in baking :). These go to your Bake-off.

Crescent Rolls

Preparation time : 30 min + rising time + 15 minutes Cooking time : 20 min Makes : 15-18 Ingredients: For the Dough: All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups Sugar - 2 Tbsp Instant dry yeast - 2 1/4 teaspoons Salt 1 ½ tsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Warm water - ¾ cup Olive oil - 2 Tbsp Green chillies chopped - 8 Coriander leaves - a handful, chopped Milk - 2 Tbsp (original recipe used non fat dry milk) 2 pods of garlic crushed (I didn’t use it) For the Filling: Peanuts - 1/4 cup, dry roasted Coriander leaves - ¼ cup, chopped Green chilies - 8 Salt to taste Garlic - 3 pods (I didn’t use it) Olive oil - 2 Tbsp Onion - 1, finely chopped For Brushing: 1 Tbsp olive oil + 1 Tbsp milk Method: • In a large bowl, add warm water and sugar and mix • Add in the yeast and let it proof for 10 minutes. If the yeast does not create bubbles, then it is bad • Once the yeast proofs, add oil, chopped green chilies, coriander, salt, milk, crushed garlic cumin seeds • Mix in the flour and knead. • This is not a sticky dough, so working with it is not difficult. Knead for 10-12 minutes. • Coat it with some oil and keep in a warm place, covered with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to double - this might take 1 to 2 hours depending on the temperature. Filling: • In a pan, dry roast the peanuts, and transfer to a blender / mixie jar • In the same pan heat 1 Tbsp of oil • When hot, add chopped onion and crushed garlic if using • Sauté till the onion is translucent • Meanwhile blend the other ingredients for the filling along with the roasted peanuts in the blender. You can add the remaining oil to facilitate the blades. Do not add any water. • Add this paste to the sautéed onions and stir. Making the rolls: • After the dough has doubled in volume, gently punch it down to release the air bubbles • Grease a baking tray and keep ready • On lightly oiled kitchen platform, roll it into a big circle with a rolling pin. The thickness should be a bit lesser than ¼ of an inch. • Cut it into wedges and spread the filling, leaving a boundary of about ¼ inch on the sided • Roll it in, starting from the bigger side, tightly, till the corner, and give a crescent shape. • Place it on the greased baking tray, allowing space in between for rising • Repeat with all the wedges • Keep it the tray in a a warm place again, for the second rise. I left it for about 30 minutes • Pre heat the oven to 170 deg C • Brush the rolls with milk + olive oil mixture • Bake for 18-20 minutes, till it turns a light golden brown • Once done, turn it on to a wire rack and let cool • Enjoy the rolls hot, warm or cold! Tips n Tricks: • I use my microwave in convection mode for baking. I’m still not happy with my OTG. I preheated the oven to 40 deg C and left the dough in the oven to rise, and it worked fine. It doubled in about an hour and quarter • The larger you roll the dough, the nicer will the rolls come out, with multiple layers. I messed up initially and re-rolled bigger Variations: • Use any variation of the filling and enjoy the rolls