Recipe Background
Fruit Delight Crescents blend creamy and fruity in a speedy, simple bake.
Back when I first moved to Paris for a whirlwind exchange semester, everything seemed a little larger than life. Navigating endless boulangeries became a daily adventure, though the elegant indulgence of pastry crusts and delicate fillings seemed daunting to recreate in my tiny dorm kitchen. It was a rainy afternoon, holed up in my dorm, when the inspiration struck. I'd been thumbing through an old notebook when a clipped recipe for crescent rolls fell out, previously jotted down during a family dinner where store-bought crescents were jazzed up with whatever we could find. Determined to inject a bit of Parisian flair into this childhood staple, I set out with the humble purchase of crescent rolls and a can of fruit pie filling, ripe with daring ambition.
The real secret to these crescents was discovering how beautifully a softened brick of cream cheese could marry with just a touch of powdered sugar and vanilla essence. I remember feeling like a food alchemist, concocting this creamy blend that would so perfectly counterbalance the tartness of my chosen cherry filling. One key trick I picked up was how necessary it is to trim the dough into perfect triangles. This little touch ensures that the filling wraps neatly inside without bursting, a lesson I'd learned the hard way when my first batch emerged from the oven looking like modern art. A sprinkle of optional granulated sugar was just the final Parisian touch. As these golden crescents emerged from the oven and filled my tiny dorm with warmth, I realized that with a bit of creativity and some nimble fingers, comfort never had to be more than a quick bake away.
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
- 1 (20-22-ounce) can prepared fruit pie filling flavor of your choice
- granulated sugar optional, to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, the powdered sugar, and the vanilla and use an electric handheld mixer to beat until combined. Set the cream cheese mixture aside.
- Open the crescent rolls, unroll, and separate into the respective perforated triangles.
- Using a knife or a pizza cutter, trim the widest part at the bottom of each triangle so they become perfect triangles. This makes the filling and rolling processing much easier. You can reserve the resulting dough scraps for a separate use.
- On the widest part of each of the dough triangles, spread about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture, spreading it to the edges of the sides and the bottom and about halfway up.
- Add about 1 teaspoon of the pie filling to each of the triangles, about 1/2-inch from the edge of the bottom of the dough. Do not spread it to the edges.
- Carefully tease the wide bottom edge of each triangle up and roll the dough upwards to encase the pie filling and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Repeat the filling and rolling processes with the remaining cream cheese mixture and the remaining pie filling.
- Lightly sprinkle the crescents with the granulated sugar.
- Bake until the crescents are slightly golden-brown, about 10 minutes.
- Serve.
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