Christine's Awesome Crescent Rolls

I'm not sure where Christine got this recipe, but I'm calling it Christine's because she's the queen of delicious rolls and she passed this beauty on to me. I like to consider myself a pretty accomplished baker, I've been baking for as long as I can remember and enjoying it. However, I do realize that sometimes I get over-confident in my baking skills and get sloppy with the whole process. This happens most often when I'm making homemade bread or rolls. I think it is because it is such a long process of mixing, bubbling, kneading, resting, kneading, rising, shaping, rising, baking...too many -ings.

So for Thanksgiving this year I decided to take on these crescent rolls and I made a commitment to focus on the task at hand. And the results...

Delicious!!!!

Here's the recipe:
Crescent Rolls
1 cup warm water
5 1/2 tsp yeast
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted)
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp salt
6 cup flour
1 stick cold, unsalted butter

Mix the warm water and yeast and let it sit for 2-3 minutes (it should start to get bubbly). Mix in the milk, butter, sugar, salt and about 4 cups of the flour. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes adding more flour as needed (I used a little less than 6 cups total when I made it). Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover lightly and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour. Punch it down. Put the dough onto the counter and let it rest for 10 minutes, covered lightly with a towel. Roll the dough out into a large circle. Using a cheese grater, grate the cold butter over the circle of dough. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into pizza-like slices and roll into crescent rolls (wide side first). Place in a cookie sheet with edges and cover and let rise for another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375. Put rolls in oven after rising and then decrease the oven temperature to 350. The recipe said to cook for 25 minutes, but for me they were done after 15 minutes (you always have to check early). Once out of the oven, rub with butter (yes, more butter!)

The recipe did not call for unsalted butter but I thought they were a tad on the salty side so I think unsalted would help. Also, the original recipe called for grating 2 sticks of butter over the dough, but Christine and I both agree that one stick is enough and they are buttery and delicious. Enjoy!