Cinnamon Crescent Rolls

The words "crescent roll" are like death to me. I know how incredibly bad they are for you and yet (of course) P loves them. I promise you, God allowed it for him to love EVERYTHING I have crossed from my vocabulary due to the level of unhealthiness. They slowly are becoming back into my vocabulary because my sweet husband will have a craving or express his love for them...What can I say? I like to please my P!
I never thought of making a crescent roll that I would be okay with him eating more than one morning in a row. That is until I got my handy dandy "Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day " book. They have a fun recipe that is made with whole grains and I tweaked it even more to incorporate coconut oil instead of butter and agave instead of sugar! Making these somewhat decent for a breakfast. Throw in a piece of fruit and your good to go! Now don't expect this recipe to produce the buttery layers and flakiness of a store bought crescent roll, but as a healthier replacement, they definitely work!

Cinnamon Crescent Rolls (no knead version)

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbs granulated yeast
2 tbs vital wheat gluten
2/3 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs
1/4 c + 2tbs agave
1/4 cup + 2tbs coconut oil (or mild flavor oil/melted butter)
Egg wash
for filling:
1/2 c brown sugar (i used a bit of agave to replace some)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs coconut oil

Directions:
1. Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, vital wheat gluten in a bowl.
2. Combine the liquid ingredients and mix all that with the dry ingredients without kneading.
3. The dough will be loose, but it will firm up when chilled. Do not try to use it without chilling for at least 2 hours. You may notice lumps in the dough, but they will disappear in your finished product.
4. Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temp. until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.
5. Refrigerate the dough and use within 5 days.
6. When ready to bake, grease cookie sheet. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and quickly shape into a ball.
7. Combine the filling ingredients.
8. With rolling pin roll out the dough until i is a 1/8 inch thick rectangle. As you roll out the dough, use enough flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface but not so much as to make it dry.
9. Spread he filling mixture evenly over the rolled out dough. With a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 smaller rectangles. This is done by making 3 evenly spaced cuts along the length of the dough and then cutting the dough in half along the short end.
10. Gently stretch the triangles nearly 50 percent longer and wider than their original length. Lay each piece of dough down and roll it, starting at the thicker end until the point is tucked under the bottom. Curve the ends to create a crescent shape.
11. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest about 40 minutes.
12. Pre-heat your oven about 10 minutes before dough is ready to 350 degrees F.
13. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf's top with egg wash.
14. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

*I topped mine with leftover royal icing but feel free to sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or something else fun!

While making these, I thought of my mom when she was a Pampered Chef "guru" and used a bunch of those Pillsbury croissant rolls to make different recipes. You could make a plain version of these to substitute!
They would also be a cute addition to a catered brunch or party. Fill them with fruit or even breakfast sausage! I must say they present themselves very well!