Pillsbury Crescent Rolls are the dough crescents sold in the refrigerator section of grocery stores. This Crescent roll recipe is the Copycat recipe for Pillsbury crescent rolls and is equivalent to two 8-count tubes of Pillsbury dough sheets. Learn how to make crescent rolls for quick and easy recipes using this convenient ready-to-use dough for your favorite crescent dough sheet recipes! 

homemade pillsbury crescent rolls (dough recipe)

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Try these easy weeknight dinners using pastry dough like this Chicken Pot Pie Casserole with Biscuits, Easy Stromboli Recipe, or Sheet-Pan Breakfast Pizza! And if you’re craving something sweet this flaky Nutella Dessert is made from an easy cream cheese dough!

Pillsbury Crescent Roll Recipe

Pillsbury Crescents can be used in so many recipes, it’s no wonder these tube crescents are known as convenient food that can be quickly unrolled and used for favorite recipes. Our ultimate favorite ways to use up this dough is Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll-Ups, Pigs In A Blanket (hot dog crescents), and this Bacon Cheddar Pizza Twists!

how to cut crescent dough into triangles

Of course, you can make turnovers, plain dinner rolls, apple dumplings, taco pie pizza, cinnamon rolls, wreaths, danishes, bars, pizza rings, and so much more! But the idea of keeping a few sheets of this dough in the fridge can make mealtime a breeze throughout a busy week.

And since crescents are flexible dough, you can easily pinch together seams to shape it any way you like for your favorite crescent recipes. It’s basically like using Pillsbury crescent rolls from the tube. This recipe makes 2 dough sheets with 8 triangles just like Pillsbury dough.

how to make crescent rolls like Pillsbury refrigerated cans

Snack on them, make pretty appetizers, use them with chicken recipes, bake them with brie cheese, make cups, or wrap around smokies–there is a recipe for you whether it’s dessert or breakfast!

What Are Pillsbury Crescent Rolls Made Of?

Originally Pillsbury crescent rolls are made up of flour, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, dough enhancers, sugar, and leavening. The good part about making this dough is that healthy fats and flour can be used. Feed your family healthier ingredients like swapping out butter for margarine and unbleached flour for enriched.

Since homemade crescent dough stores well in the fridge you can use it up within a week or freeze it for extended use.  Keep in mind fats that solidify will harden once refrigerated so plan accordingly and give your dough time to thaw on the counter before unrolling. On the other hand, margarine stays soft even when cold, which makes it great for this purpose. However, I only use butter now.

how to roll up crescent dough sheets for refrigeration like Pillsbury cans

Crescent Rolls vs Croissants

The difference between crescent rolls and croissants is that crescent rolls are made from hydrogenated fats and leavening, like baking powder. This creates a flexible dough that is easy to work with. Croissants, on the other hand, are buttery flaky layers of pastry sheets that get laminated with butter to create flaky layers.

Although both crescents and croissants roll up starting with the widest part of the dough, the two differ in texture and fluffiness. Crescent dough is not as flaky as Croissants.

Make These Bacon Cheddar Pizza Twists From Crescent Rolls: 

 

pull apart bread from crescent dough to make a pizza twist

Q&A

Ingredients Needed:

  • Flour- all-purpose or bread flour can be used.
  • Sugar- I used granulated white sugar.
  • Leavening- a combination of dry yeast and baking powder is used to enhance dough.
  • Margarine or Butter- the original recipe calls for margarine but I like to use unsalted butter instead. The only downside with that is that it needs to thaw longer than margarine-enriched dough which is more flexible.
  • Warm Water- binds the dry ingredients together.

How Do You Make Pillsbury Crescent Rolls?

This sheet of refrigerated crescent rolls dough makes eight rolls. It makes an easy dinner or side by simply baking in the oven. Use your favorite Pillsbury recipes to make creative triangle-shaped snacks or go seamless by pinching seams together to create a quick pastry or pizza crust.

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Separate the dough into triangles or unroll if refrigerated. Cut or fill according to your favorite recipe if needed.
  2. If making dinner roll crescents roll up starting at the widest side of the triangle and roll up to the pointed tip.
  3. Place dough on an ungreased cookie sheet.
  4. Curve each into a crescent shape.
  5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: filled crescents may take longer to bake.

How Many Crescent Rolls Does This Dough Make?

This recipe makes two rectangle sheets of dough with 8 cutout triangles. This is equal to 2 store-bought Crescent cans.

Storing Crescent Dough:

Crescent roll dough equals two (8oz) cans of store-bought crescent rolls that you pop, roll, and bake. To replicate the Pillsbury crescent rolls you’ll have to roll the dough over aluminum foil or parchment paper. This helps protect the dough from drying out or sticking.

Roll dough out to a 12×8 rectangle over a piece of parchment paper. Using a bench scraper cut rectangle into 4 equal pieces then each piece in half to make 8 triangles. Leave on the paper and roll up in sheets of triangles starting at the shorter end. Place rolled-up sheets of crescents into a grocery bag and keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Thawing Instructions: Remove from the fridge a couple of hours before baking if using butter. Dough made from margarine or shortening won’t as long to thaw.

Can You Freeze Crescent Dough?

Homemade Crescent Dough is best when refrigerated. However, extended use is possible if freezing dough, no longer than 2 months. When yeast sits in the dough for a prolonged time in the freezer it can eventually lose its strength.

To Freeze Crescents: roll up sheets of dough on top of parchment paper. Place rolled-up sheets into a grocery bag and keep frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw completely before unrolling and using.

Can I substitute Margarine?

The original recipe for Crescent Roll Dough calls for margarine, however, we like butter. Semi-solid fats like margarine or shortening are ideal for refrigerated doughs as they are flexible after refrigeration. If you will be using solid fats like butter you will need to thaw the dough from the refrigerator before using.

Tips For Making Crescent Rolls:

  1. Use a bench scraper to cut and separate dough into triangles.
  2. If using butter for your crescents, thaw the dough for a few hours or until it’s flexible.
  3. This recipe is equivalent to 2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.
  4. This crescent dough is slightly sticky like the refrigerator Pillsbury dough. Use parchment paper to roll out the rectangle sheets and keep stored rolled up in parchment paper so it doesn’t stick.
  5. Lightly coat your rolling pin with flour if the dough gets too sticky when rolling.
  6. Place rolled-up crescent sheets into a grocery bag so they don’t dry out.
  7. If making a pizza crust from crescent dough pinch shut the seams and roll to the desired shape.

Tools Needed To Make Crescent Rolls:

 

How To Make Crescent Rolls Recipe:

Crescent Rolls (Pillsbury Copycat)

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Resting Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 16 triangles
Author: Alyona Demyanchuk
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls are the dough crescents sold in the refrigerator section of grocery stores. This Crescent roll recipe is the Copycat recipe for Pillsbury crescent rolls and is equivalent to two 8-count tubes of Pillsbury dough sheets. Learn how to make crescent rolls for quick and easy recipes using this convenient ready-to-use dough. 

Equipment

  • 1 mixing bowl
  • 2 sheets of parchment paper

Ingredients

Crescent Rolls:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 Tbsp dry active yeast
  • 11 Tbsp margarine or softened butter (2/3 cup)
  • 3/4 cup warm water

Instructions

How to Make Crescent Rolls:

  • In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the margarine and water and mix well. Let it rest for 30 minutes. (Dough will be slightly sticky.)
  • how to make crescent rolls like Pillsbury refrigerated cans
    Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll out each piece to a 12x8 rectangle over parchment paper. Using a bench scraper cut each rectangle into 4 then each piece in half diagonally to make 8 triangles.
  • This recipe makes 2 tubes of Crescents. Use it in any recipe calling for bought crescents.

Notes

This Recipe equals 2 (8 oz) tubes of store-bought crescent rolls. 
To Bake Dough: Preheat oven to 375°F. Separate and roll up each triangle starting at the widest part and ending at the tip. Place crescents on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.
**Baking times will vary depending on how you cut and fill crescents. Use your favorite Crescent Roll recipes as a baking guide. 

Nutrition per serving

Serving: 1crescentCalories: 144kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 237mgPotassium: 38mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 344IUCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg

 

 

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138 comments

    • Maryeileen

    I don’t use margarine. Can this recipe be made with butter?

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Hi, absolutely! I either use butter or palm fruit shortening for this recipe.

        • John

        Unsalted butter by chance?

          • Alyona Demyanchuk

          Hi, that would be unsalted butter.

    • Ella

    Recipe turned out great but a beginner chef might appreciate some tips! So glad to find a way to make this at home. I used a pastry cutter to cut in the room temperature margarine before I added the warm water. I covered the dough with plastic wrap in the bowl while it was resting for 30 min. I had serious trouble rolling the dough on parchment paper so I rolled it directly on a floured counter and then laid parchment paper on top (found out the parchment needs to be about 4 inches longer than the piece of dough). With the parchment right at the edge of the dough I rolled it up with the dough underneath. Once it had been refrigerated overnight it was a lot easier to handle and roll a little more.

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Hi Ella, thanks for the tips! I usually don’t use additional flour, but rather roll it out on a non-stick surface (like a solid rock countertop or a pastry mat) and use it up in my recipe. I know freezer parchment paper has a non-stick coating on one side perhaps that can help with the trouble you were experiencing. You want this dough to be sticky and tacky for the true copycat.

    • Joseph

    Thank you for this recipe it’s going to save me so much money. I went to buy two rolls of the Pillsbury’s Original Crescent Dough Sheets and they are now $4.45 EACH! crazy!

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Homemade crescent rolls are the best!

    • Sabrina

    Can you make the dough the day before and cook the next morning?

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Absolutely, this is a make-ahead dough recipe!

    • Midge

    Easiest dough I’ve ever made, and the fact it makes 2 portions is amazing. This is the second time I’ve made it. I definitely need to buy a rolling mat though, as I’m making do with my very basic baking tools, and I only have trouble with the dough’s stickiness. A little while in the fridge before using it helps. I only buy items when I really feel I need them and I think it’s time. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.

      • Alyona Demyanchuk

      Thatʻs wonderful! I also own a large pastry silicone mat and it’s a great investment for handling sticky dough and bread!

      • Stephanie Harvey

      Pampered chef has a great one! Check it out.

      • john

      I found if you put warm water or cold water on the rolling pin, it won’t stick.

        • Alyona Demyanchuk

        Thank you for the tip!

        • Maria fernanda

        I just made it 🫶🏻Can it be stored in the freezer once cooked? (For how long) I used it to make a churro cheesecake with sugar on top and I need to store it in the freezer 🙂

          • Alyona Demyanchuk

          Hi Maria, if it worked for freezing the store-bought dough (cooked) it should work with this one.

        • Midge

        Thank you all, I got my mat and making this yet again!

          • Alyona Demyanchuk

          Oh wonderful!

            • Midge

            They were delicious! Froze a batch too.

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