Beginner-Friendly Sourdough Crescent Rolls (better than Pillsbury)
These beginner-friendly sourdough crescent rolls are flaky and can be made with sourdough discard! They’re super easy to whip up and don’t take a lot of time. Instead of getting Pillsbury canned crescent rolls make them at home with your starter. You’ll save money and protect your body from harmful ingredients!
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Why this easy sourdough crescent rolls recipe is beginner-friendly
- You can use either sourdough discard (unfed starter) or fed starter.
- There’s no fancy lamination process.
- These step-by-step instructions are super easy to follow.
- It doesn’t take a lot of time to whip them up
- Optional bulk fermentation and second rise
Tips for beginners
- Use a box grater to easily incorporate the butter.
- Instead of cold milk, warm it on the stovetop just a bit to help your dough rise.
- Place the end of the crescent rolls under the dough so it doesn’t pop up when baking.
Ingredients you’ll need
- sourdough starter (fed or discard)
- milk
- salt
- all-purpose flour
- cold butter (salted)
- raw honey
Helpful kitchen tools for this recipe
How to make sourdough crescent rolls from scratch
Add flour and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine.
Grate butter into the dry mixture or use a fork to cut butter into flour until pea-sized. Stir to evenly distribute butter pieces.
Add in milk, honey, and sourdough starter. Stir to combine.
Use your hands to finish combining flour into dough
Turn the dough out on the counter and knead for 3 minutes (or use an electric mixer with a dough hook on the lowest setting).
OPTIONAL: For more gut-health place the dough back in its bowl and cover it with a damp towel or lid loosely. Let it sit for 8-10 hours at room temperature to bulk ferment.
Shaping crescent rolls
Shape the crescent rolls by rolling out the dough into a large rectangle about 1/2 thick, 15 x 11 rectangle.
Grab a pizza cutter or a knife and slice the dough in half horizontally so you have two rectangles.
Then slice both sections in half vertically to make 4 smaller rectangles.
Finally, slice each rectangle in half diagonally so you have 8 triangles.
Begin shaping by rolling each triangle up starting with the largest end and ending with the smallest one. You’ll want to roll the dough tight so it doesn’t unfold while baking.
Place the shaped croissants on a parchment-lined sheet pan, 2 inches apart, with tails tucked under the croissants.
Now you can either bake the rolls right away or cover them loosely with a towel or plastic wrap, and let them rise for 2 hours on the counter at room temperature. (You can keep them in the fridge for up to 24 hours if you need more time)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until they’re golden brown and baked all the way through.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Homemade sourdough crescent rolls variations
If you prefer you can do a few variations to this recipe. Here’s some ideas:
- Put a few chocolate chips in the dough before rolling it up so you have a chocolate center.
- Drizzle honey butter over your crescent rolls for added flavor.
- Use whole wheat flour for a heartier flavor.
- Add ham and cheese into the center of the crescent rolls for a simple lunch or appetizer.
Storing leftover sourdough crescent rolls
Store leftover homemade sourdough crescent rolls in an airtight container for about 3 days. After that, store them in the fridge for 2-3 more days.
FAQs
You can use either fed starter or discard (unfed starter). Both work well for this recipe.
You can stick your thumb into the dough and if it bounces almost all the way back, it’s ready to bake. If it takes awhile or doesn’t bounce back hardly at all, it needs a few more hours of rising. If it bounces back quickly all the way, it’s overproofed and needs to be baked ASAP.
Yes, you can! Freeze unbaked crescent dough that’s already been shaped for 1-2 months.
A croissant goes through a lamination process using butter that creates beautiful layers. A crescent roll, on the other hand, has butter in the dough but doesn’t go through this process.
Yes, you can! Freeze baked crescent rolls for up to 3 months.
You’ll want to let the rolls rise another hour or two next time. Your kitchen temperature may be a little cooler, which means it takes longer for your dough to rise. You can also use warm milk instead of cold to help.
That’s a simple fix. Just place the little end under your crescent roll on the pan. This will keep it from popping up while it bakes.
More Sourdough Treats to Make
- Sourdough Croissants (EASIEST recipe online!)
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones
- Sourdough Brownies Recipe
- Cut Out Sourdough Sugar Cookies
If you try this recipe and love it, come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @plumbranchhome
Beginner-Friendly Sourdough Crescent Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter (fed or discard)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 8 Tbsp cold butter (salted)
- 1/4 cup raw honey
Instructions
- Add flour and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Grate butter into the dry mixture or use a fork to cut butter into flour until pea-sized. Stir to evenly distribute butter pieces.
- Add in milk, honey, and sourdough starter. Stir to combine.
- Use your hands to finish combining flour into dough
- Turn the dough out on the counter and knead for 3 minutes (or use an electric mixer with a dough hook on the lowest setting).
- OPTIONAL: For more gut-health place the dough back in its bowl and cover it with a damp towel or lid loosely. Let it sit for 8-10 hours at room temperature to bulk ferment.
- Shape the crescent rolls by rolling out the dough into a large rectangle about 1/2 thick, 15 x 11 rectangle.
- Grab a pizza cutter or a knife and slice the dough in half horizontally so you have two rectangles.
- Then slice both sections in half vertically to make 4 smaller rectangles.
- Finally, slice each rectangle in half diagonally so you have 8 triangles.
- Begin shaping by rolling each triangle up starting with the largest end and ending with the smallest one. You’ll want to roll the dough tight so it doesn’t unfold while baking.
- Place the shaped croissants on a parchment-lined sheet pan, 2 inches apart, with tails tucked under the croissants.
- Now you can either bake the rolls right away or cover them loosely with a towel or plastic wrap, and let them rise for 2 hours on the counter at room temperature. (You can keep them in the fridge for up to 24 hours if you need more time)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until they're golden brown and baked all the way through.
- Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Hello,
I just tried making this recipe but I had to add a good bit more flour to get the dough to come together, I checked and rechecked my measurements which all seemed right so I was wondering if the recipe measurements were correct?
Hi Sherry, the recipe measurements are correct. Your dough could be extra wet due to a more hydrated sourdough starter. This is the most common issue if you have to add a lot more flour to a sourdough recipe. My starter, that I used to develop this recipe, is at a 50% hydration meaning I feed it a 2:1 ratio of flour to water (example: 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup water). Depending on how you feed your starter the results will vary. Next time just thicken your starter up a little before making this recipe. Hope this helps!
Yes my starter is at 100% so that would make sense, sorry I hadn’t thought about that but after just adding more flour they turned out amazing, my husband could’t stop eating them. Thanks so much! 😊
No worries at all, it’s such a common issue. I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing!
Does this recipe work as a substitute for any recipe that calls for Pillsbury crescent rolls? I’m new to sourdough baking and am happy to have come across this recipe on your site. Thanks!
Great question! Yes, you can substitute this recipe for any that calls for Pillsbury crescent rolls.