Chocolate Croissants & Pigs-In-A-Blanket! Recipe For a Versatile Dough

In sticking with my opinion that January is a great month for non-traditional baking,  I present to you this recipe.  If you are looking for a versatile roll dough, look no further!  I use this dough to make chocolate croissants and pigs-in-a-blanket.  I also use this dough to make the always humble, but never disappointing, dinner roll.  

This recipe is adapted from a recipe for "Overnight Rolls" from the pages of the the good ol' "Joy of Cooking" cookbook.  The dough can be made without a bread machine, I don't think they had those things around when Joy of Cooking was published, but if you happen to have one I would definitely use it to mix the dough instead of doing the kneading by hand.  I've done it both ways and the quality of my rolls have always come out better if I use a bread machine to mix and rise the dough. You can substitute butter for lard if you desire but do be forewarned that the dough will have less of that "melt-in-your-mouth" texture and will not be as airy or fluffy.

Ingredients:

-4.5 cups of flour
-3 eggs, beaten
-1 cup milk
-5 tbsp. lard  (you can substitute butter for lard but rolls will not turn out as fluffy)
-7 tbsp. sugar + 2 tsp. sugar  (If making chocolate croissants, use 10-12 tbsp. sugar)
-1 tsp. salt
-2 tbsp. very warm (105 degrees) water
-1 package yeast
-Melted butter to coat
-Filling desired such as chocolate or hot dogs

Directions:

• Combine yeast, 2tsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. of water. Let sit for about 5 minutes until starts to foam and bubble.
• Scald the milk, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn, and them immediately remove from heat and add in lard.
• In new large bowl, add the 7 tbsp. of sugar, beaten eggs, and salt and mix well.
• If you are using a bread machine, add the egg, milk, and yeast mixture, and then add the flour. Put machine on dough cycle and let it do its thing.
• If you are not using a bread machine, add the milk and yeast mixture to the egg mixture and then add in the flour mixture.  Knead for about 10 minutes and let dough rise for at least 1 hour in a covered and greased bowl.  
• If you are making chocolate croissants, knead dough for 5 minutes and then place dough in fridge for at least 3 hours and overnight is even better.
• After dough has rested for 1 hour, or been in fridge for 3 hours, place dough onto a floured surface and knead  into a large circle about 9'' in diameter. 
• Use a pizza cutter to divide circle into about 16 wedges.  
• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees (425 for the cold chocolate croissant dough)
• Place desired filling (chocolate, hot dogs, nuts, etc.) in center of wedge and then roll up to form a croissant shape.
• Brush rolls with an generous amount of melted butter.
• Bake rolls about 10 minutes, being careful to check on them as their tops can burn easily.
• When done, remove from oven and let cool.  
• If you are making chocolate croissants, dip the ends of the roll into melted chocolate and sprinkle tops with chocolate shavings and powdered sugar.

Enjoy!!