Homemade Crescent Rolls with Orange and Honey are perfectly delicious! This buttery sweet enriched yeast dough is what dreams are made of, and these homemade crescent rolls be the highlight of any dinnerplate.
If you love to bake with yeast then you simply must add this recipe for homemade crescent rolls to your baking list. I promise that you won't be disappointed!
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This recipe was originally shared in 2014. This post has been updated with additional information, including a recipe card complete with nutritional information, but the recipe itself has remained unchanged.
Table of Contents Found Here
- The ingredient list:
- Kitchen tools and equipment needed:
- Why this recipe works:
- How long will it take to make this recipe from start to finish?
- How this recipe came to be:
- Here's what I wrote back in 2014 about this challenge:
- How many crescent rolls does this recipe make?
- Can these rolls be baked ahead and frozen?
- How to make Homemade Honey Orange Crescent Rolls:
- What to serve alongside these delicious rolls:
- Printable Recipe Card
- Please comment if you've made this recipe.
The ingredient list:
*Please note that the exact measurements along with a "shop the recipe" feature from Instacart and Walmart is available inside the printable recipe card.
- all-purpose flour
- active dry yeast
- salt
- honey
- eggs
- butter
- orange zest
- orange juice
Kitchen tools and equipment needed:
- stand mixer (optional, but so helpful) OR large bowl with a wooden spoon
- medium and small bowls
- citrus zester
- measuring cups and spoons
- plastic wrap
- grapeseed oil (or other neutral-flavored oil)
- rolling pin
- pizza wheel (for cutting dough)
- parchment paper
- baking sheets
- fork
- pastry brush
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Why this recipe works:
These warm, yeasty homemade crescent rolls have mild orange flavor, light sweetness from the honey, and incredible richness that only real butter can give.
Quite simply, these Orange Honey Crescent Rolls are some of the best rolls I've ever tasted, and I'm confident you'll feel the same when you taste them for yourself!
How long will it take to make this recipe from start to finish?
Because this is an enriched dough (enriched with butter and eggs) the proofing/rise time will take longer than if it were a standard dough with only flour, yeast, water, and salt.
There are two rise times (hands-off time) in this recipe, both for 2 hours each.
That time combined, with the mixing, rolling, shaping, and baking brings this recipe to approximately 5 hours total from start to finish.
Please plan accordingly.
How this recipe came to be:
Back in 2014, I used to belong to a bread baking group called Twelve Loaves.
Every month (hence the Twelve, in Twelve Loaves) we were set a challenge with a different bread theme.
Within the theme, we were encouraged to be as creative as we wanted with our recipes.
In April of 2014 the theme was "Oranges," and this Honey Orange Crescent Rolls recipe is what I came up with.
Here's what I wrote back in 2014 about this challenge:
When I'd heard that the flavor theme for April's #TwelveLoaves challenge was orange, I was a bit worried.
You see, I'm more of a savory lover than a sweets lover so it took me a while to wrap my head around a recipe idea.
But after I'd decided to try my hand at making my very first homemade crescent rolls, the idea for these Orange Honey Crescent Rolls had me so very excited that I simply could not wait to get baking!!!
In truth, I was a little intimidated at the idea of making my own homemade crescent rolls, but no longer!
These honey orange crescent rolls are super simple to make and will give you such a tremendous feeling of pride and satisfaction once they're done and ready to eat!
And isn't that what cooking and baking are all about?
How many crescent rolls does this recipe make?
As written, this recipe makes 24 sweet orange crescent rolls.
If you need to divide the recipe in half for making 12, simply divide the ingredients in half, and carry on with the recipe as written.
Can these rolls be baked ahead and frozen?
Yes!
Allow them to cool completely and then wrap them well in air-tight freezer bags and freeze them for up to 2 months.
How to make Homemade Honey Orange Crescent Rolls:
- Assemble the ingredients.
- In a small bowl, completely dissolve the yeast in warm water.
- Add the honey to the yeast and water and allow the yeast to sit get foamy for at least 10 minutes. *Note - if the yeast does not get foamy, the yeast is no longer active, and it's time to discard.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat two eggs, and set aside.
- In another small bowl, zest two oranges to make approximately 2 tablespoons orange zest, and set aside.
- In a large bowl (stand mixer is shown) beat together the softened butter and orange zest.
- Add the beaten eggs, and the yeast mixture, along with two cups of all-purpose flour.
- Use the dough attachment (or wooden spoon) to bring the ingredients together into a wet dough.
- Add the remaining flour and salt, and knead for 6-8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, but still a little sticky.
- Lightly flour a work surface and hand knead the dough for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover the top of the dough with a light touch of oil.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until doubled (in a warm, draft-free place), for approximately 2 hours.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and divide in half.
- Working with one half at a time, roll (or press) each into an approximate 15" circle, making sure the dough is of even thickness.
- Use a pizza wheel to cut the dough into 12 equal triangles.
- Roll each crescent roll, starting from the widest end and form them into a crescent shape.
- Place each roll onto a parchment lined baking sheet and continue the same process with the second half of the dough.
- Allow the rolls to rise again in a warm, draft-free place for an additional 2 hours.
- Once the rolls have risen for a second time, preheat the oven to 375-degrees.
- In a small bowl, beat 1 egg along with 1 tablespoon of fresh orange juice.
- Brush each crescent roll with the egg/orange mixture and bake for 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking process.
- Remove and cool on a wire rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Enjoy!
What to serve alongside these delicious rolls:
You'll be amazed at how delicious Brown Bag Roast Turkey is! The skin is crispy, and the meat juicy! It’s utter perfection!! This method for roasting a Thanksgiving turkey has it IN THE BAG so don't miss out your chance to serve the best roast turkey you've ever had!
Copycat Sunflower Crunch Kale and Cabbage Salad is a colorful and crunchy cold salad everyone will go bonkers for. It's a healthy feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.
You can have this impressive Bacon Bourbon Green Bean Almondine side dish on the table in under 30-minutes. It's fancy enough to serve for the holidays and yet it's easy enough to make any night of the week.
When you make today's recipe (and I hope that you will), I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to come back and give it a star rating along with a comment on why you rated as you did.
Search engines such as Google appreciate comments and ratings and, in turn, will show my recipes to more people. Please look for the pink star rating box within the printable recipe card. Thank you!!
Printable Recipe Card
Homemade Crescent Rolls with Orange and Honey
Equipment
- stand mixer optional
- Pizza Cutter optional
- kitchen scale optional
- microplane for orange zest
Ingredients
- 4½ teaspoons (2 packages) active dry yeast
- ¾ cup warm water 105-110 degrees
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup (2 sticks) butter softened
- 4 tablespoons (2 oranges) orange zest
- 4 cups all-purpose four
- 1¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
Instructions
- In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water (110-115℉)
- Stir in the honey and allow the mixture to sit and get foamy (approximately 5-10 minutes). *Note - if the mixture does not get foamy, the yeast is dead. Discard and start over with new yeast).
- Add the yeast mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a wooden spoon).
- In a small bowl beat two of the eggs.
- Add the two beaten eggs along with the orange zest and butter to the bowl with the yeast mixture.
- Using the dough hook (or wooden spoon), stir in 2 cups of flour until loosely incorporated.
- Stir in the remaining flour and salt and continue to knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic, but still slightly sticky (approximately 8 minutes).
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 1-2 minutes.
- Place the dough into a large oiled bowl (using grapeseed oil or another neutral-flavored oil) and lightly cover the dough surface with more oil.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest in a warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk. Approximately 2 hours.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it in half.
- Working with one half of dough at a time, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into an approximate 15" circle of even thickness.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough circle into 12 equal sized triangles.
- Roll each triangle, starting with the wide end, and place each roll point side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Gently hand bend each roll to form a crescent shape.
- Follow the same procedure with the other half of the dough.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to proof in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 2 hours.
- In a small bowl, beat together the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon of fresh orange juice.
- Brush the top of each roll with the egg and juice mixture.
- Bake at 375-degrees F (190 degrees Celsius) for approximately 20 minutes (or until golden brown), rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking process.
- Cool on a wire rack, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's recipe for how to make homemade yeast dough crescent rolls as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!
Should you have any questions or comments regarding anything you've seen on my site, please don't hesitate to reach out to contact me. It is always my distinct pleasure to get back with you just as soon as I possibly can!
Thank you so much for visiting me today in my Kudos Kitchen. I hope you found something you'll love and that you will come back and visit me often. Please know that there is always room for you around my kitchen table!
Until we eat again, I hope you have a delicious day!
Kathya Rodriguez says
First I love the name, second, those will be perfect in my diner table today.
Holly @ abakershouse.com says
Crescent rolls are one of my favorites and I've never made them. Yours are perfectly formed and so nicely done. Beautiful!
Felice Geoghegan says
One of my daughters is the biggest fan of crescent rolls, so I can't wait to surprise her by making some that are homemade. They look delicious!
Karen Kerr says
Those are so cute, and the colorful dish towel is perfect! I need to definitely try these!
Alice // Hip Foodie Mom says
orange honey crescent rolls?!!! love these! they are perfect! my kids would gobble these up within minutes!
Renee says
Homemade crescent rolls - my husband would probably eat the whole batch and be looking for more. This is a keeper recipe for sure.
Bakingyummies says
What a beautiful color your rolls have got! perfect shape and they have proved really well.
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
Easy enough for ME! Nice baking with you this month for #TwelveLoaves!
Liz Berg says
What beautiful crescent rolls, Renee! I could eat them with every meal 🙂
Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez says
I'd never guess they were your first go at crescent rolls - they look perfect Renee. And the honey-orange flavor you've worked into them is brilliant. And yes, I want some. 😉
Stacy Rushton says
Well, if those aren't the prettiest crescent rolls I've ever seen! Just lovely, Reneé! You do make them sound so easy so I'm pinning on my Recipes to Try board.