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Pastries and Cookies, Sweet Pastries

Cheesecake Crescent Rolls

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Golden yeast crescent rolls with a creamy cheesecake filling on a baking sheet

5.0 (1)out of 5, 1 rating

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Prep
10 min
Bake
22 min
Total
32 min
Makes
12 pieces

Today I have an easy homemade crescent roll recipe with a cheesecake filling for you. These yeast crescents are super easy to make and beginner friendly, because the filling, just like the dough, needs only a handful of ingredients. For the cheesecake part of the crescents I stirred together a cream cheese filling and flavored it with vanilla, which makes it really creamy and vanilla-y, just like Grandma's cheesecake. The shaping of the crescents was inspired by a dear colleague of mine. Years ago Duygu made poğaça and rolled up the potato filling in exactly this way. This crescent shape has stuck with me ever since, so I simply had to make it myself, only sweet, with a cheesecake filling.

Ingredients

Makes 12 pieces

Yeast dough

  • 4 cups500 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.
  • 3 to 4 tbspgranulated sugar
  • ½ cubefresh yeastDry yeast works too. 1 cube = 42 g, so ½ cube = 21 g. German recipes use either a 42 g cube of fresh yeast or a 7 g packet of dry yeast; one cube equals about two packets. In the US use active dry or instant yeast; one ¼ oz (7 g) envelope replaces half a cube of fresh yeast. In the UK use fast action dried yeast (7 g sachet per half cube), or fresh yeast from a supermarket bakery counter.
  • 1large eggroom temperature
  • 1 cup250 mlmilklukewarm
  • 3 ½ tbsp50 gunsalted butterSoftened. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter; European-style unsalted butter is closest. In the UK, unsalted butter.

Cheesecake filling

  • ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp200 gcream cheeseA soft, full-fat fresh cheese. In the US use full-fat cream cheese; in the UK, full-fat soft cheese.
  • 1 tbspcornstarchA fine starch, usually made from corn, used to thicken creams and lighten cakes. In the US use cornstarch; in the UK, cornflour.
  • ½large egg
  • 2 tspvanilla sugar1 packet = 2 tsp (8 g). Sugar flavored with vanillin (artificial vanilla), sold in small packets of about 8 g. In the US use 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar for each 8 g packet; in the UK, vanilla sugar sachets, or 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar per sachet.
  • 2 to 3 tbspgranulated sugar

Also

  • all-purpose flourfor rolling out
  • ½large egg, for brushing

Method

Yeast dough

  1. Make a well in the flour, crumble in the yeast, cover it with the sugar & warm milk and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients and knead everything for about 10 minutes into a smooth, elastic dough.

  3. Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm place for at least one hour.

  4. In the meantime, make the filling.

Filling

  1. Mix the cream cheese with the cornstarch, vanilla sugar & sugar, then add the egg.

  2. Keep the filling in the fridge until you need it.

Shaping

  1. On a floured work surface, divide the dough into 2 ¾ oz (80 g) portions, shape them into balls, cover and let them rest for 10 minutes.

  2. Roll out the balls into ovals with a rolling pin, put about one tablespoon of filling on each and fold the dough over it. Now cut the remaining strip of dough like a comb and roll up the crescent with it.

  3. Place the crescents on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover and let them rest again for about 30 minutes.

  4. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) convection (fan). Carefully brush the remaining egg over the crescents and bake until golden.