Easy cream cheese cranberry crescent rolls recipe! These 4-ingredient holiday crescent roll ups are the perfect quick and easy appetizer for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
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Happy holidays, Rhubarbarians!
Tis the season for all the holiday appetizers.... and a ton of extra cranberry sauce in your fridge. Right?
Use a bit of that big batch of sauce and make these easy, festive crescent rolls!
An easy holiday appetizer
There are only 4 ingredients in this one. And one of them is optional. Totally easy, huh?
They are special enough to be a big hit at any holiday gathering or holiday meal, but only take a few ingredients and a few minutes of prep. Oh yes.
So head to the store and grab yourself a pack of pre-made crescent roll dough, a can of cranberry sauce (unless you have homemade jellied cranberry sauce or whole berry cranberry sauce in the fridge), and a container of cream cheese. Super simple.
Got more leftover cranberry sauce? Try these ten delicious recipes with cranberry sauce!
Using the right dough
The dough that works for these crescent roll ups is the store bought pre-made crescent roll dough. Not to be confused with puff pastry or store bought biscuits.
You'll find this dough in the refrigerated section of your grocery store (I usually see it by the cookie dough) in a tube. I usually buy the Trader Joe's version (I'm a TJ's addict), but Pillsbury is the most common brand that I see.
These are those tubes of dough that POP open and scare the living daylights out of you. Know what I'm talking about? LOL!
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How to make them
- First, preheat your oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (optional for easy cleanup).
- Open the tube of dough and cut along the dotted lines. Spread the triangular shaped dough spaced evenly on your baking sheet.
- Layer a dollop of cream cheese and a dollop of cranberry sauce into the center of the largest end of the triangle. Sprinkle on a bit of thyme if using.
- Roll them, large end to small so that they look like a loose crescent roll. Since these have quite a bit of filling, they won't be as tightly rolled as unfilled crescent rolls.
- Bake.
- Enjoy.
Try a different cheese!
Looking to get fancy or a little more flavorful with these holiday crescent rolls? Try a different cheese or add some zest!
- Use brie instead of cream cheese: Cranberry sauce and brie go so well together! If you want to make this just a bit more fancy, go for brie rather than cream cheese.
- Use goat cheese instead of cream cheese: goat cheese will give these crescent rolls a bit of a savory flavor to them. Which could be great if you are serving them with other sweet appetizers.
- Add a sprinkle of orange zest: This will brighten up the flavor and give it that extra something special.
More recipes for your holiday party:
- Holiday orange cranberry mimosas
- Homemade gingerbread with fresh ginger
- Vegetarian stuffing muffins with apples and cherries
Cream cheese cranberry crescent rolls recipe
Recipe
Cream cheese cranberry crescent rolls
Ingredients
- 1 8 roll package pre made crescent roll dough (like Pillsbury)
- 8 tablespoon cream cheese
- 8 heaping tsp cranberry sauce
- 8 small pinches fresh thyme leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (optional for easy clean up).
- Unroll the dough and separate into 8 triangles evenly on the baking sheet.
- Add 1 tablespoon of cream cheese on the widest end of the triangle as shown in the picture above. Top with 1 heaping teaspoon of cranberry sauce and a small pinch of thyme. Repeat for the remaining rolls.
- Roll each roll up into a crescent, starting with the widest end. These won't be as tight as plain crescent rolls due to the filling. You want the filling to stay in the roll. See photos for help.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool slightly and serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge and reheated in the oven for up to 3 days, but are best freshly baked.
Nutrition
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Happy Holidays!
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Laura Pepin
Could I assemble these a day before, then bake them on the dinner day?
Trish Bozeman
Sure! Just make sure they are refrigerated. The dough may rise quite a bit.