Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls
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Our recipe for Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls is next level. Crafted with homemade dough, each roll enfolds savory ham and melty mozzarella. This kid-favorite, big-batch recipe works well to make ahead and freeze, too.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Homemade Dough: The crescent roll dough is easy to make in the bread machine and is worth the time. Similar to our Panini Bread, this recipe yields a delicious, fluffy result.
- Sandwich Perfection: The ham and cheese are enfolded in a warm crescent roll. It’s pretty much a ham and cheese sandwich turned up to 11.
- Healthier Than Store-Bought: Not only is the dough delicious, but it’s made with simple, recognizable ingredients. There are no additives or preservatives in crescent rolls, unlike store-bought ones.
- Make Ahead: This kid-friendly freezer meal is a big-batch recipe. So that means you can eat some now and freeze a bunch for later. They are easy to reheat.
- On-the-Go: Ham and cheese crescent rolls make a great make-ahead breakfast, on-and-go snack, or lunch.
Ingredients
As you can see, the ingredients are very simple.
Ingredient Notes:
- Ham – We recommend using uncured ham that’s free from preservatives. Some brands we like are Boar’s Head and Applegate.
- Yeast – Use active dry yeast. While we do use quick-rise yeast in our Cinnamon Rolls and Bread Machine Dinner Rolls, I’ve found active dry yeast works best for this recipe since it doesn’t need to rise ahead of time.
Note: Find our full printable recipe with ingredient amounts and directions at the bottom of this post.
Tip: Shortcut Idea
One of our long-time readers and friend, Tanya, tested this recipe using 3 dough balls from a local pizzeria. She said it worked great and was a time-saver!
If you don’t have a bread machine, but still want to make your own dough, use our Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe.
How to Make Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls
Add Ingredients to Bread Machine
Carefully add the ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed. Select the dough cycle and let the bread machine work its magic.
My dough cycle runs for about 90 minutes. Some machines add in more rising time which is fine.
“What Bread Machine Do You Use?”
I don’t need a bread machine with a lot of bells and whistles. I need a quality, reliable bread machine. I’ve found this Oster brand to work great for the recipes I use.
Roll Out the Dough and Add Cheese
Once the dough cycle is completed, divide it into 3 equal parts. If you don’t do this, the circle will be way too big to roll up into little crescent rolls.
Roll out 1 part on a floured surface and add a layer of shredded cheese.
Add the Ham and Slice
Add a layer of ham on top of the cheese. The ham pieces will overlap in order to cover all of the dough.
Using a pizza cutter, slice the circle up into triangles… like a pizza!
Roll Up the Ingredients
Starting at the larger end of the cut, begin rolling the dough forward.
Don’t stress when a bit of the shredded cheese falls out. It’s inevitable.
Bake the Crescent Rolls
After shaping all of the rolls, brush them with a little butter and pop them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.
When they start to brown on top, you know they are done!
How to Freeze Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls
Testing Note: A reader and friend of ours, Tanya, tested freezing these two ways–1) fully baked as we directed and 2) before baking them (raw dough). She noted these results, “I also put a few in the freezer BEFORE baking them to test that process. I won’t do that again! Despite letting them thaw on the counter, the dough never rose again. They still had a good flavor, thanks to the other ingredients, but the dough was really lacking…Next time I’ll bake them and then freeze like Polly suggested!”
FAQs
Many machines allow you to specify how big of a loaf you are wanting to make. (1 lb., 1.5 lb., 2 lb., etc.) Since you are only using the dough cycle, specifying this won’t change how it is made in the machine so any size should work.
I have tested this recipe using the canned crescent dough and it works. Just keep in mind that you will need 3 cans to replicate the amount of dough that this recipe will yield.
You can also purchase 3 medium dough balls from a local pizzeria and get similar results. Or if you want to make your own dough, use our Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe.
Simply put, crescent rolls are a bit denser and more bread-like than croissants. Croissants have a shiny, flaky surface.
Because of the ham and cheese, they do need to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. You can store them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for a few months.
More Bread Machine Recipes
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Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls
This delicious combination of soft, buttery dough with deli ham and cheese makes this an irresistible meal. You’ll have a hard time putting any away in the freezer.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
Filling/Topping:
- 1 pound (16 ounces) deli ham
- 1 pound (16 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Prepare Dough: Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed. Run on the dough cycle. It should be around 90 minutes for reference.
- Divide and Roll Dough: After dough cycle is complete, flour your surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and roll into balls. Using a rolling pin, roll one dough ball into a circle that’s about 1/4-inch thick (about the size of a medium pizza).
- Add Toppings: Sprinkle 1/3 of the shredded cheese over the dough. Add a single layer of ham slices on top of the cheese.
- Cut and Roll: Using a pizza cutter, cut into about 10 pie-shaped pieces* by cutting straight lines through the dough. (Like you would cut a pizza.) Starting at the large end, roll up the dough. Place on greased baking sheet with the end side underneath the roll. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of each roll with a little bit of butter.
- Repeat: Repeat these steps for your second and third balls of dough.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly golden brown on top. They are best served warm.
*Depending on the size of each dough ball, you may get a little more or less than this. The recipe yields 30 crescent rolls in all.
Freeze For Later: Bake as stated in recipe. Let cool completely. Place in air-tight, freezer bag or container, squeeze out as much air as possible, and seal. Freeze for up to 2-3 months for best quality.
Prepare From Frozen: Let the Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls thaw at room temperature (for no more than 2 hours), in the refrigerator overnight, or using the defrost setting on the microwave. Warm up in the microwave before eating.
Notes/Tips
- There is no need to activate the yeast prior to adding it to the machine.
- It works best to add the cheese before the ham. That way you’ll lose less of the cheese when rolling them up.
- We recommend using an uncured ham to avoid preservatives. We like Applegate and Boar’s Head brands.
- Shortcut for Dough: Use 3 cans of store-bought crescent rolls or 3 dough balls from a local pizzeria in place of the homemade dough.
- If you don’t have a bread machine, but still want to make your own dough, use our Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe.
- Variations: Try other kinds of deli meat, like roast beef or turkey, and other kinds of cheese, such as shredded cheddar or Colby jack.
- Add-In Ideas: To kick up the flavor a little, try sprinkling some dried Italian seasoning and/or garlic powder on top of the cheese before layering with ham.
- We haven’t tested this with gluten-free flour, but let us know if you do.
- A reader tested freezing these before baking them and this method did NOT work. See note in the article above.
These kick a**. I feel like such a chef making them, and family and friends make sure they are around to snag a few. I brush on melted butter before and after the bake. So good! And they freeze and microwave really well. My family have deemed them kolaches
Love it! Glad you found a winning recipe that makes you feel like a chef Molly! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
My family is loving these. We do variations of mozzarella, pepperoni and sometime pizza sauce.
Has anyone tried making the dough and rolling them in the morning and then baking them a couple hours later for lunch? Or prepping them in the afternoon and ring and then baking at dinner time? We love them fresh out of the oven, but not as big of fans of them frozen, defrost and microwaved.
Great questions Cassie! I do not have experience with prepping them ahead. Hopefully another user will comment here if they have done it.
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Hi Debbie. This was super encouraging to read, and we love your idea. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. And thank you for sharing Thriving Home with others!! That’s the best compliment and best form of advertising. 🙂
I tried making this again after it being so sticky last time. I had even made cinnamon rolls and it was a sticky mess too. At first, I thought it was my bread machine going south, but it turns out it was the flour I was using. I had been using the cheaper, store brand, but once I bought the Pillsbury flour, I didn’t have any issues!
Oh wow, I wouldn’t have thought about that. Thank you for letting us and other readers know about your experience. So glad it is working for you now!
I have made this recipe many times before and the dough is usually so soft and wonderful to work with. I made this tonight and the dough was extremely wet and didn’t rise in the bread machine at all. It was a sticky mess. I added a ton of flour to it so it would be salvageable for dinner. I know I had all the ingredients correct. Was I supposed to heat the milk before adding it? I didn’t know if it could have been because I used flour from Aldi instead of the name brand. Any ideas of what could have gone wrong?
Hi Rachel. Since you’ve made this before with success, I’m wondering if perhaps your yeast is expired. That’s my best guess. So sorry to hear that–I always wasted work and ingredients!
Hi! It’s really weird because I actually just opened a new package of yeast. The more I thought about it, I was wondering if it turned out like that because I put the eggs in the dough pan without beating them. Do you think that could have caused it? My only other thought is that maybe my bread machine needs replaced. I’ve had it about 5 years, but it’s a Cuisinart and have never had issues with it. I made your cinnamon rolls with it just a day before and they rose really well.
Gosh, it’s just so hard to say. We haven’t made this particular recipe in a while. Sorry I’m not more help!
Thanks for all your amazing recipes! We love them!
You’re welcome!
Hey, such a great recipe! Thank you very much for sharing! Bread with ham and cheeese is not strange to me at all, but this new way to make it is extremely creative and wonderful. And it is not so hard to cook it, too. I bet its taste is yummy. Thanks again!
seriously Polly, if we can use flax seeds with wheat , it will be a wholesome food, great item for my daughter’s lunch box.
This recipe has been added to our weekly lunch rotation. I added a Tbsp of ground flax to give it a bit of a nutrition boost today. Next week I’ll try adding a bit more and see if they still turn out. I wonder if you’re supposed to let them rise before baking? I didn’t last week (and they were amazing!). Today I am trying it. (Just because it would be nice to have the rolls slightly bigger since we can’t see to get enough!) 🙂
Good idea on the flax seed. I tried them with a cup of wheat once and didn’t like them as much. These are seriously a go-to item for my kids lunch boxes. Glad you like them as well.
It is really interesting and I think my daughter will love it. It looks so delicious and amazing. I love it. I have added in my daughter’s menu, thanks
It’s my go-to lunch box item!
I am a few weeks ago from having my second child and am enjoying stocking up on your freezer meals before hand. Thanks for the great list! For this recipe, how long do you reheat them in the microwave / oven after they’re frozen? Do yo defrost in fridge overnight first? Thanks for any tips!
I usually let them defrost before I warm them up for 30-45 seconds.
I’ve found that my kids even eat them cold. I sometimes put a frozen one in my 3 year old’s lunch box for preschool and I think it’s the perfect temperature by lunch time.
I am also wondering if you have replaced any white flour for wheat in this one. I’m new to the whole wheat flour world, and i know it usually can’t just be replaced, without tweaking something else. Any advice in using wheat so it still can roll nicely?
I actually did test this recently. I subbed one cup of wheat flour for one cup of white. To be honest, nobody in my family liked the change. I was surprised because usually I don’t notice when I sub out white flour for wheat but I guess when it comes to a crescent roll, it does change the taste a bit.
Is there a way to make these without a bread machine, as I don’t have one.
I’m sure there is but I have never tackled it. A google search would probably give you a recipe. Good luck!
How many servings does this make
Probably 20-25 rolls depending on how big or small you cut them.
First of all, I am really enjoying your blog! With three kids under 4, including a 6-week old, the freezer meals have been super-helpful! Just wondering if you have you experimented with using whole wheat flour and/or other grains to add some nutrition to the dough?
I am trying this tonight when I get home! Thanks!