10 Deliciously Sweet Ways To Hack Your Crescent Roll

Crescent rolls are a popular holiday staple, thanks to their irresistible buttery goodness. As the American response to the croissant, these flaky, soft pieces of heaven are basically perfect. But did you know you can up the crescent roll game further by hacking them into a variety of dessert dishes? There are many ways to give your crescent rolls a new lease on life, and you'll want to include some of them on the menu of your next party or family get-together.

It would be simple enough to stuff some cream cheese or jam into a crescent roll and call it something new, but it's actually quite easy to get much more creative than that. From serving as the base for muffins or s'mores to stepping in to amplify a pie, crescent rolls are an often overlooked MVP of the dessert world. Unexpected? Yes. Delicious? Also yes. Especially during the holidays or special occasions like a birthday, crescent rolls give you the opportunity to think "outside of the cake pan," if you will. Everyone expects cake or cupcakes at a party, but serving amped-up baklava or flakey cronuts really levels up the dessert spread. Best of all, crescent roll hacks are simple — all you're doing is adding, removing, or substituting ingredients. In many cases, using a crescent roll in lieu of other baking items actually makes dessert creation quicker and easier. It's a win all around. 

A delicious crown of glutenous goodness, couronnes became familiar to American audiences when Paul Hollywood shared his apricot courrone with the world. According to The Great British Bakeoff website, a couronne is "a soft, rich dough, filled with fruit and nuts is rolled, split, and twisted." The name is French for "crown." It is similar in tradition to a King Cake, served during epiphany. Couronnes can be either savory or sweet, with the sweet ones being a popular choice with anyone that has a hankering for a fancy European dessert.

While the couronne usually follows the typical route of flour, sugar, etc., you can make it easier and just as delicious by skipping the dough recipe and just using crescent rolls instead. While there are plenty of recipes online to teach you how to follow couronne creation canon, when you're using crescent rolls you can keep it all a little looser. The steps are straightforward: Stretch out the dough, fill it with sweet stuff, and braid it up.

Another form of the couronne is called a Couronne Bordelaise, which according to Breadtopia involves plain bread dough rolled into balls and then arranged into a circle to bake. While the fruit-filled one is fancier and more dessert-appropriate, you can also ball up crescent roll dough and make the plainer version if you have party guests with picky palates. Whichever version you choose, crescent rolls can also solve a common couronne issue: uneven baking. Unlike dough made from scratch, crescent roll dough already comes shaped and portioned, which reduces the risk of thick and thin imbalanced areas in your completed bake. 

S'mores are a universally loved treat, but why do we like them so much? According to Monterey County Weekly, they serve as a comforting core memory while also being as strongly American as hot dogs or apple pie. A summer experience of sitting around the campfire with good friends that we can recollect year-round while we're stuck sitting in our desks at the office is a great mental escape from daily stress. But did you ever consider the fact you can bring the magic of s'mores into your own kitchen quickly and affordably with one simple hack? You guessed it — our good pal the crescent roll. 

You don't need a campfire or anything fancy to turn crescent rolls into summer magic. Simply stick some marshmallows into a crescent roll, bake it up, and drizzle with chocolate and graham cracker crumbles. Or, simply stick some chocolate candy in your crescent roll and heat it up until melted. While this would typically be done in the oven, you can also bring the magic of a campout into your own backyard. If you have a fire pit, start it up and create these s'mores crescent rolls over the campfire using a skillet or foil. Fair warning: It'll get messy. But you just can't beat the fun of open-fire dessert-making, no matter what the occasion. There are also flavored marshmallows available for purchase that go amazing with crescent rolls — strawberry is a popular choice. 

Cronuts hit the New York bakery scene years ago (via Insider), and they have since taken the world by storm. Upon first glance, a cronut resembles a donut. But take a closer look or make some on your own to discover that it is actually a deep-fried croissant. But making homemade croissants takes a lot of time, patience, and effort — and store-bought ones aren't usually high enough quality to deep fry into deliciousness. Enter the crescent roll. 

When you create a cronut with crescent rolls instead of traditional dough, the result is not only delicious but weirdly quick. According to the Happy Housewife, prep and cook time for cronuts is a total of eight minutes, making them a great choice when you need a sweet treat stat. Since crescent dough is sturdy enough to hold toppings while also flaky enough to resemble a true cronut, you can add various flavors like lemon curd, caramel, or cherry compote.

Let's get into some bite-sized dessert love with some adorable little baby pies you can eat on the go. French silk chocolate pie is delicious, but can also be a predicament if you don't have enough for a crowd. Hack a crescent roll can by transforming it into perfect one-serving portions of portable mini French silk crescent pies. The dough can be shaped and baked, and then filled with chocolate mousse and whipped cream to make a tinier version of the popular original pie. If you aren't a fan of chocolate silk pie, you can create mini pies out of pretty much any flavor. Over the holidays, try pumpkin, apple, or even mincemeat; during warmer months, try key lime, lemon, cherry, or blueberry. Whatever is seasonally appropriate or available will work. 

Craving some tiny pie but don't have any gatherings coming up? Crescent roll dough is advantageous for this situation — as long as you keep the dough refrigerated, there is no reason you should feel pressured into using it all at once. Slice off just what you need and properly store the rest in a sealable bag or plastic wrap. Not only are mini pies adorable, they also will help you to avoid food waste.

Have you ever had amazing baklava at a good Mediterranean place in town and wanted to try making it yourself at home? This Greek treat is traditionally made with phyllo dough or puff pastry. According to Great British Chefs, baklava has been with us as a dessert for quite some time — possibly as far back as the 15th century. The Ottoman Empire conquered a large area during this period of time, and though it's unclear where baklava specifically originated, it spread through the entire region. The recipe we use today that is closest to what is considered the "original" baklava was actually cooked up in palace kitchens in Istanbul, as it was a favorite dessert of the sultan. Baklava was reportedly handed out to soldiers during Ramadan, and it is still a traditional food for this holiday.

Now that you know that history, it's also good to know that by simply by busting out a can of crescent rolls you can bypass all of the hard work the sultan's chefs must've gone through. Yes, this Mediterranean treat that is highly revered in tradition can be hacked with this easy dough. When making authentic baklava from scratch, the trick to holding the flaky crust together well is to swoop melted butter over it. If you use a can of crescent rolls, however, then you don't need to worry about this step, as crescent rolls are already so buttery.