Soft yeast dough, melted butter, milk, and a poppy seed topping create fluffy, bakery-style crescent rolls. After baking, you can brush them with a mixture of water, rum, and powdered sugar for a gentle aroma and beautiful shine.
This recipe is easy and yields 16 pieces. The preparation itself takes 25 minutes, the dough rises for about 60 minutes, and baking takes another 20 minutes, so you’ll need about 1 hour and 45 minutes in total. The rolls taste best while still warm, perhaps with butter, jam, cocoa, or coffee.
What You’ll Need
For the yeast dough:
- 600 g plain flour,
- 300 ml lukewarm milk or water,
- 100 ml melted butter or oil,
- 100 g sugar,
- 1 teaspoon salt,
- 1 egg,
- 1.5 teaspoons dry yeast or 20 g fresh yeast.
For brushing and finishing:
- 1 egg yolk for brushing,
- poppy seeds for sprinkling,
- water, optional,
- rum, optional,
- powdered sugar, optional.
The original recipe doesn’t specify the exact amount of poppy seeds or ingredients for the rum glaze, so adjust them to your taste and desired consistency.
Step-by-Step Preparation:
1. Preparing the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the plain flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast. If using fresh yeast, use 20 g instead of the dry yeast.
2. Making the dough: Add the lukewarm milk, melted butter, and egg to the dry ingredients. You can substitute water for milk, but using milk will make the rolls fluffier and more delicate in flavor.
3. Kneading and rising: Work everything into a smooth, non-sticky dough. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
4. Dividing the dough: Turn the risen dough out onto your work surface and divide it into 16 roughly equal pieces. Even division helps the rolls bake evenly.
5. Shaping the rolls: Roll each piece into a triangle. Roll the dough up from the wide end towards the tip and shape into the classic crescent form.
6. Preparing for baking: Place the shaped rolls onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Before baking, brush them with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle evenly with poppy seeds.
7. Baking: Place the rolls in an oven preheated to 180°C. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden on top.
8. Glossy finish: Right after baking, you can brush the hot rolls with a mixture of water, rum, and powdered sugar. This optional step gives them a shiny surface, sweetness, and a gentle rum aroma.
9. Serving: Let the rolls cool briefly and serve them while still warm. They’re delicious with butter, homemade jam, a cup of cocoa or coffee, but they also taste great on their own.
How to Easily Change Up the Rolls
For a more delicate aroma, you can add a teaspoon of vanilla sugar to the dough. If you want a stronger rum flavor, you can also use water with rum when making the dough. The original recipe doesn’t specify the amount, so add the liquid as needed to achieve the right dough consistency.
You can replace the poppy seed topping with coarse sugar or sesame seeds. You can also substitute part of the plain flour with wholemeal or spelt flour, but make sure the dough remains smooth, workable, and non-sticky.
How to Store the Rolls
Once completely cooled, wrap the rolls in a clean tea towel or place them in a resealable bag. This way, they’ll stay soft for up to 2 days.
You can also freeze the finished rolls, ideally as soon as possible after baking and cooling. After thawing, they’ll taste fresh again.
Can You Prepare the Dough in Advance?
You can make the dough the day before baking and let it rise overnight in the fridge. In the morning, divide it into 16 pieces, shape the rolls, brush them with egg yolk, sprinkle with poppy seeds, and bake as described above.
