Ham and Cheese Rolls (Crescent)

Ham and Cheese Rolls with homemade crescent rolls are soft and fluffy and will win the day at your upcoming super bowl party. These homemade rolls are made from scratch and wrapped around black forest ham and Swiss cheese. I guarantee you’ll end up with an empty platter once you set them out for guests. The buttery go-to appetizers are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They’re also great to eat as a lunchtime “sandwich” or to sneak as a midnight snack. 

How to Make Ham and Cheese Rolls 

I have a post with “Step by Step Instructions for Making Bread Rolls.” Here’s a quick run-down of the recipe. You can grab the full instructions from the link above. 

Instructions for Making the Dough

Step #1 – Melt shortening and dissolve sugar and salt in boiling water. 

Step #2 – Combine sugar and yeast with warm-to-touch water (105-115‡F).

Step #3 – Let the yeast mixture sit for 10-15 minutes. The foam on top should rise and double in size. 

Step #4 – Combine the shortening mixture, the yeast mixture, and two beaten eggs together and stir in five cups of flour. Use your hands to mix and continue adding one cup of flour at a time. Mix until the dough is firm but still somewhat sticky.

Instructions for Making This Recipe

Kneading the Dough by Hand

Kneading the dough is one of the most important steps of the recipe but it does require some good old elbow grease. Gluten is the stretchy stringy bands of protein that give bread its structure and texture. Gluten is formed during the kneading process of the bread dough.

Over-kneading will cause the bread to be tough and chewy. Under-kneading gives more of a flat-looking loaf with a dense texture. Eight to ten minutes is a pretty good marker for how much time is needed.

How to knead: With the heels of your hands, push the dough down and flatten out the dough while pushing it away from you. Give the dough a quarter turn, fold over half of the dough and continue to push down and away.

Before kneading, the dough is sticky and messy. Sprinkle some flour on the work surface and begin the kneading process.  To prevent the dough from sticking to the surface or your hands, sprinkle with more flour as needed. 

How to know if the kneading is complete: There are a few different tests to see if the dough is ready to rest and rise.

• The Window Pane Test. Pull a small ball (about the size of a golfball) from the dough and hold it between your thumbs and fingers. Stretch it outward into a thin and translucent sheet. If it does not break, the gluten is well-developed and the kneading process is done. If it pulls apart, it needs some more kneading time.
• The Poke Test. Give the dough a firm poke with your finger then release. If the indentation bounces back right away, you’re good to go. If the dimple from the indentation does not fill back up, it’s time for a little more kneading. 
• The Smooth and Shiny Test. When kneading is finished, your ball of dough will have a firm texture with a smooth and shiny surface. 

Letting the Dough Rest and Rise

Another very important step in bread making is allowing time for the dough to rest and rise. This will happen two separate times. The first time, after you knead the dough, and the second after you shape the dough. 

Generously butter a mixing bowl and roll your newly kneaded dough around the bowl for the butter to cover the entire ball. This will help the dough to not dry out. Place a dishtowel over the bowl and set in a warm, moist area.

Where you place the bowl is crucial. Temperature and moisture are the keys. A wintery cold kitchen is not conducive to a nice rising dough. A good external temperature should be around 76°F What I’ve found to be the best solution is putting a bowl of water into the microwave and heating it until it’s slightly boiling. Carefully exchange the bowl of water for your bread dough bowl. 

Another good option is to turn your oven to 200°F for two minutes and then immediately turn it off. Place the bowl in the middle section of the oven. This makes the perfect temperature for the rising dough. 

How long should the dough rise? I’ve always timed mine for one hour which causes it to double in size. Some yeast bread recipes call for one to three hours of rising. But I’ve made this bread recipe for four decades and I’ve never had to let it rise for more than one hour when I followed the microwave placement step (above). 

Punching the Dough Down and Rolling It Out

This is where the fun begins and everything starts to take shape. 

Punch Down the Bread Dough. Punching down deflates the dough and releases the built-up air so that you can roll it out and form it into the desired shapes. Make a fist and push down in the center of the puffy dough then fold in and again push down the outer edges. Remove the ball from the bowl and place it onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it two or three times before rolling it out. Then form it into two separate balls.

Roll out the Dough. Place the round ball in the center of a lightly floured work surface and press down with your hand to flatten it out. With a rolling pin, begin in the center and roll outward in all directions. Continue until it is about 19 inches in diameter. It will shrink back to about 17-18 inches which is a good measurement in making these crescent ham and cheese rolls. 

Melted Butter and Seasoning 

This is where yumminess happens. Start with a stick of melted butter and brush it generously around the rolled-out dough. Whatever butter is left over will be used to brush the outside once you roll these up. Sprinkle a generous amount of dried Italian seasoning atop the brushed butter. 

Cut and Roll up these Crescent Rolls

A pizza cutter works great to cut the dough into pizza-sliced shapes. Cut the circle in half, then half again. Continue to cut each piece in half again until you end up with 16 slices of buttered dough.

Rolled with Ham and Cheese. Deli black forest ham is what I used for this Ham and Cheese Roll recipe. I had the deli counter slice the ham into “sandwich” thickness. I took one slice, folded it into thirds, and laid it lengthwise on a piece of dough. You can use whatever ham preference you choose. 

For the cheese, you want to choose a harder cheese otherwise it will all melt out of the roll. I went with a block of imported Swiss cheese because of course Swiss and Ham go perfectly together. I cut the chunks of cheese about 4 inches lengthwise and 1/2-3/4 inches widthwise (squared). 

Place on a Baking Sheet and Let Rise Again

Pull out the butter and throw it in the microwave to melt it again because it’s going to be slathered on the Ham and Cheese rolled-up dough. Sprinkle a little more Italian season on them. 

Place them on a baking sheet. Give the Ham and Cheese Rolls room between each other when you place them on the baking sheet. This gives them space to rise and not touch each other. Once you place them and they begin to rise, don’t touch or try to move them.

Let the Ham and Cheese Rolls rise again. Once you’ve placed them on the baking sheet cover them with a dish towel and put them in a warm place for the final rise. 

Baking the Ham and Cheese Rolls

Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown. Once they are out, it’s time again to melt more butter and brush it on these piping-hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven rolls. Because you never can have enough butter on bread, right?

Can you Make the Dough Ahead of Time?

Definitely. You will want to freeze it before the first rise. Once you knead the bread, place the dough on a parchment-covered baking sheet and freeze it for one hour. Remove it from the freezer, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and place it in a ziplock freezer bag. Return the dough to the freezer where it can be stored for up to one month. 

When ready to make the Ham and Cheese Rolls, pull the frozen dough out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Place the dough in a buttered bowl to rise for the first time. It will take extra time for the dough to double in size, probably twice as long. Punch it down, roll it out and shape the rolls then let it rise a second time. Continue following the recipe as above. 

Can You Freeze the Baked Ham and Cheese Rolls?

Absolutely. Bake as directed and let cool. Place the rolls on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer for one hour until frozen. Take them out and place them in ziplock freezer bags. The baked rolls will store in the freezer for up to three months. 

When ready to serve these golden delights, remove them from the freezer and thaw them in the refrigerator overnight. Microwave on high until the cheese begins to melt. Be careful to not microwave too long. It only takes 10-15 seconds.

These are literally melt-in-your-mouth Crescent Rolls with a salty, cheesy middle. Your taste buds are going to fall crazy in love with these little jewels. Don’t grab the dough from a can that you pop open when you can make these easy homemade rolls from scratch. And if you’re planning on taking them to a party, I guarantee, you’ll come home with an empty platter and people will be talking about them long after the get-together.

For other awesome party ideas, check these out:

Crispy Loaded Potato Skins

Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Baked Jalapeño Poppers

Cheesy Bacon Wrapped Breadsticks

Spinach and Feta Puff Pastries

Bourbon Candied Bacon

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