Crescent Rolls

In a small mixing bowl mix the yeast, flour and water until combined. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and preferably let sit overnight in the fridge to allow the yeast to slowly work its magic. Remove from the fridge and allow the starter to come to room temperature. If there are time constraints, make the starter with warmed water (110 degrees – no, I do not really stick a thermometer in it – think bath water for a baby) and cover, letting it rise for at least 30 minutes.

Dice your butter into 1/4 inch cubes and place in the freezer.

Peel and cut your russet potato. Place in a small pot with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain but KEEP the potato water (it makes the dough even softer). Allow to cool and rice your potato.

Add the starches, Metamucil, xanthan gum, salt, sugar and baking powder in bowl of your food processor. Pulse quickly 5 times to mix. Add in your riced potato, pulse to mix. Add in your butter chunks and pulse again for 8 times. You are NOT looking to evenly distribute the butter so that it resembles cornmeal. You want the chunks in there.

Combine the rice milk and potato water to a liquid measuring cup or something that is easy to pour from. Set aside. Add the starter to the bowl of the food processor. Pulse. With the top on, gradually pour in your rice milk combo while pulsing. It is going to look like a wet clumpy mess, do not worry.

Let the dough sit for 10 minutes so that the liquids get absorbed by the starches. Turn the food processor on for about 5 to 6 seconds. Again, it does not look pretty yet. There should still be visible butter chunks.

Add a decent amount (2 tablespoons) wheat starch to your work area. With a rubber spatula, gather the dough from the mixer bowl and place on top of the starched area. Sprinkle the top with more wheat starch. Gently knead the dough a few turns, incorporating the remaining starch. You should have a cohesive but somewhat sticky dough with some remaining butter chunks.

Gently roll the dough out to a 10 x 12 inch rectangle.

Fold the rectangle into thirds to form a long rectangle (like a business letter).

Starting from the narrow ends, fold the rectangle into thirds again, to form a square. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins. Repeat steps 8-10 one more time, placing it back in the fridge for 30 minutes afterwards.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Divide the dough in half. Roll out each half to a 10 x 12 rectangle. Cut in quarters and then each quarter into two triangles (a pizza cutter or bench scraper works great for this).

Starting at the wider end, roll each triangle to the tip. Place on your prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining half of the dough.

Bake for 20 minutes. Brush the rolls with the melted butter to help the browning. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the pan. Once completely cool, freeze the rolls you are not eating today.

To reheat, thaw if you can on the counter in a plastic bag a few hours before dinner and then pop in a low oven (around 300, but flexibility here if sharing the oven with other dishes) for about 5 minutes. If completely frozen, heat at low temperature for about 10 to 12 minutes.