About the author: Amy Reiter is a writer and editor based in New York. Her work has appeared in publications including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as Salon, where she was a longtime editor and senior writer. In addition to contributing to FN Dish, she blogs for Food Network’s Healthy Eats.
We all have our favorite dishes our mom has always made and served at Thanksgiving. Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce (a.k.a. the older brother of Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Taylor Swift beau Travis Kelce) recently cited his mother Donna’s “dinner rolls” as the thing he most looked forward to seeing on the holiday table.
“Every Thanksgiving, there was always … a different meat medley and sides,” he recently told the YouTube channel Mythical Kitchen. “The one constant that my mom always has to make is the Mama Kelce Dinner Rolls.”
The NFL star recalled that his mom made the rolls “one year and we loved [them] so much,” he recalled. And even to this day, at Thanksgiving, “this is the only thing I want,” he said.
So what are the rolls that, should a certain mega-famous musician happen to find herself seated at the Kelce holiday table this year, she’d surely be offered alongside her turkey, stuffing, green-bean casserole and cranberry sauce (or whatever medley they’re serving this year)?
It turns out everyone’s favorite pro-football mom’s go-to dinner rolls are actually based on a Pillsbury Bake-Off winning recipe from 1969. Like Mama Kelce’s rolls, Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs, as the long-ago-prize-winning crescent rolls are officially known, feature marshmallows, cinnamon and sugar.
Pillsbury touts them as “an irresistible blend of cinnamon-sugar and a flaky crescent crust guaranteed to vanish from your table as quickly as they’re made.” The brand also says they are “as fun to make as they are to eat.”
Naturally, I was curious, so I whipped up a batch of Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs myself, following the original Pillsbury recipe. First, I dipped marshmallows in melted butter, then coated them in a cinnamon-sugar-flour mixture and rolled them into crescent roll dough.
I dutifully pinched together the ends to make sure the marshmallow was completely covered and sealed in the dough. Complete marshmallow coverage, I learned the hard way, is key to a perfect puff. Then, I gave the unbaked rolls one more half dip in melted butter to prevent them from sticking to the pan, put them in muffin tins, baked them and, after letting them cool just a bit, drizzled them with a vanilla sugar glaze.
Finally, I tossed on some chopped pecans and walnuts, which frankly didn’t stick, but looked cool as a garnish on the serving board, and took a bite.
And? They were incredible: Warm and sweet and sticky. The “magic” factor is that the marshmallow disappears as it bakes, leaving the inside of the golden-brown crescent roll dough (I made mine into the shape of a ball) hollow and coated with cinnamon, sugar, butter and sticky deliciousness.
Because the nuts didn’t stick to the top of ours, I tucked some nuts into the hollow center of the roll as I ate them and it was — chef’s kiss.
I would definitely make these again — they kind of are “as fun to make as they are to eat,” what with all that rolling marshmallows up in dough and pinching the rolls into cute little balls. They may even make for an entertaining family activity.
However, with all due respect to the super-lovable-and-surprisingly-relatable Kelce family, because the rolls are so sweet, we’re not sure we’d serve them as a dinner-table side — even at Thanksgiving, when marshmallows are doing their sweet thing on sweet potatoes and we’re all down with sides that could be savory, but taste like candy instead.
(Maybe Mama Kelce leaves off the icing and nuts?)
I would, though, readily make them as a sweet side at breakfast or brunch, or alongside coffee. I could also see enjoying them as a late-night snack or serving them as dessert. In those contexts, these little puffy balls of sticky sweetness would be perfect and this recipe a total score.
