Cheesy Crescent Roll Leaves for your Thanksgiving Bread Basket

Add a basket of beautifully colorful Cheesy Crescent Roll Leaves to your Thanksgiving dinner table. These pretty fall leaves are simple to make but will surely wow your party guests.

These crescent roll leaves were inspired by the beautiful trees out my kitchen window and a bit of family tradition.

For many years my mom made Pillsbury Crescent Rolls for our family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Some years we actually got to eat them whole, while other times their blackened bottoms were cut off and we just ate the top, and a few times the poor rolls were forgotten, left to burn in the oven, and couldn’t be saved.

After several years of being served black bottom dinner rolls, I took charge of making the bread.

Fast forward, to my life now, where I’ve experienced the stress of stuffing an oven full of dishes that need to be cooked at different temperatures for varying amounts of time than trying to get everything onto the table hot, I can totally relate to my mom’s dinner roll dilemma.

My solution – bake the crescent rolls ahead of time and either serve them cold or heat them up just for a few minutes.

Once all the food has been removed from the oven, turn off the heat, set the tray of rolls in the oven. Be sure to set the timer for 4-5 minutes. That is enough time to get the other food on the table before grabbing the rolls and adding them to your breadbasket.

Of course, you know me, I can’t serve just plain old dinner rolls, I have the unstoppable urge to make things look festive, so I cut the store-bought dough using leaf-shaped cookie cutters and topped them with cheese and some colorful additions.

It took me less than ten minutes to create these pretty fall leaves and they will dress up my breadbasket nicely this Thanksgiving.

Cheesy Crescent Roll Leaves

You’ll need:

• 1 tube Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheets*
• flour to dust cutting board
• 1 tablespoon butter melted
• 4 ounces finely shredded cheddar cheese or use a variety of colored cheeses
• other toppings – paprika, Italian seasoning, parsley, or Parmesan bread dipping mix

*Notes about crescent roll dough:

• I used Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheets but if you can’t find them, just use the regular crescent rolls, pinch the seams together really well, and proceed with the recipe.
• You can also use puff pastry or your own homemade dough.

Cut leaves.

• Unroll Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheet onto a cutting board that has been lightly dusted with flour.
• Cut using leaf-shaped cookie cutters.

Set on a parchment paper-lined pan.

• Set your crescent roll leaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• You can press the dough scraps together to make more leaves if you want.
  • When you watch the video you can see how I create 4 more leaves using the scraps.
  • Do not squish the pieces together then roll out the dough. Simply stick them to each other and flatten.

Add toppings.

• Brush butter over each leaf-shaped crescent roll.
• Sprinkle cheese over each leaf.
• Sprinkle on some paprika and/or parsley or Italian seasoning to add some color to your leaves.
• In the video, I added some Parmesan Bread Dipping Mix. It’s Italian Seasoning with Parmesan Cheese blended together. It really added a wonderful flavor to these crescent roll leaves.

Bake.

• Bake for 6-8 minutes until the rolls are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

Serve.

• Once out of the oven, you can serve immediately, or allow them to cool, store them in an airtight container and re-heat just before serving.
• If the cheese has oozed out over the edge of the leaves, you can use kitchen shears to cut off any excess.
• Place in a warm oven and heat for 3-5 minutes, just until warm.

UPDATE:

Be sure to watch the video I’ve created showing how easy it is to make these simple Cheesy Crescent Roll Leaves. In this new version of this Thanksgiving recipe, I sprinkled on some Parmesan Dipping Seasoning and loved the added flavor.

Products used to create this project are available on Amazon.com. earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you use the affiliate links below.

Recipe

Print

Cheesy Crescent Roll Leaves for your Thanksgiving bread basket

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

6 mins

Total Time

21 mins

 

Colorful fall leaf crescent rolls topped with cheese and paprika.

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesy crescent roll, crescent roll, thanksgiving appetizers

Servings: 10

Calories: 106 kcal

Author: Beth Jackson Klosterboer

Ingredients

• 1 tube Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheets
• flour to dust cutting board
• 1 tablespoon butter melted
• 4 ounces finely shredded cheddar cheese or use a variety of colored cheeses
• Italian seasoning, paprika, parsley, or Parmesan bread dipping mix

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Unroll dough onto a flour-dusted cutting board.

3. Cut leaves using cookie cutters and set on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

4. Brush leaves with melted butter.
5. Sprinkle cheese over top.
6. Sprinkle on paprika and green toppings if using.
7. Bake for 6-8 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the crescents are golden brown.
8. If desired, cut the excess cheese off the leaves using the same cookie cutter or using kitchen shears.
9. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes

• If you can't find a tube of Pillsbury Crescent Creations Dough Sheet, just use a tube of crescent rolls, pinch the seams together really well, and proceed with the recipe.
• You can also use puff pastry or your own homemade dough.

Be sure to check out all of my amazing Thanksgiving Recipes

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