By Christmas week. Ham in the smoker, the same ritual. Christmas doesn't negotiate with bronchitis. Travis and Jolene brought Earl Thomas, eight months, in a Santa hat he kept throwing on the floor. Amber and James came together, their first Christmas engaged. James brought chin chin — Nigerian fried dough, crunchy and sweet — and I ate six pieces before dinner.
Clay brought the pie. Apple, his first ever, the crust uneven and overbaked on one side and the filling too sweet. I ate two pieces and said it's good, son. He said Dad, it's not good. I said it's your first pie and it's good. He said you're lying. I said I'm encouraging. He said same thing. The pie was not good. The pie was a miracle — a man who was in a garage with a rifle four years ago standing in a kitchen making apple pie for his family at Christmas.
Clay’s pie wasn’t going to win any ribbons — but it didn’t have to. It just had to exist, and it did, and that was everything. In that spirit, this recipe is for anyone who wants to put something warm and homemade on the table without the pressure of a perfect crust: crescent rolls filled with cherry pie filling, golden and a little sticky and done in twenty-five minutes. Some Christmases call for the smoker and a six-hour ham. Some call for something simple that just says I showed up. Both are enough.
Crescent Rolls with Cherry Pie Filling
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 13 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 can (8 oz) refrigerated crescent roll dough (8 triangles)
- 1 cup cherry pie filling
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, for dusting
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Cooking spray or parchment paper, for the baking sheet
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or give it a light coat of cooking spray.
- Separate the dough. Unroll the crescent dough and separate along the perforations into 8 triangles. Lay them flat on your work surface.
- Fill. Spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoons of cherry pie filling onto the wide end of each triangle. Don’t overfill — a little goes a long way once you start rolling.
- Roll. Starting from the wide end, roll each triangle up toward the point, tucking the sides in slightly as you go to keep the filling from spilling out. Place them point-side down on the prepared baking sheet, spaced about an inch apart.
- Egg wash. Brush each roll with the beaten egg. This gives them that deep golden color when they bake.
- Bake. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the filling is just beginning to bubble at the edges. Watch them — ovens vary and crescent dough goes from golden to overdone fast.
- Cool and dust. Let them rest on the pan for 5 minutes. Mix the powdered sugar and cinnamon together and dust lightly over the top before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 175 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 0.5g | Sodium: 285mg