We Tried 8 Different Canned Crescent Rolls and There Was One Option We'd Definitely Buy Again

Growing up, I knew it was a special occasion when a can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls showed up in the fridge. The store-bought rolls were a special treat for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and the occasional celebratory dinner. When I was a kid, the slim can that opened with a satisfying (or sometimes unnerving) pop meant that I could help my mom bake, one of my favorite things to do. Is opening a can really baking? When you're 8 years old, I'd say that the answer is yes.

I loved rolling up the triangles of dough and bending them into the crescent shape. I'd keep an eye on them as they puffed up in the oven and then I'd line a basket or bowl with a kitchen towel and nestle the rolls inside. For me, it was the epitome of 1980s sophistication.

Fast forward, ahem, a few years, and I still love to bake and have made food my career, so canned dough is no longer the gold standard. That said, I still have a soft spot for canned crescent rolls. Heading into Thanksgiving (which was prime canned crescent roll time for my family) I wondered how the current crop of store-bought crescent rolls would stack up to my buttery, flaky, pastry-filled memories.

There was only one way to find out: I grabbed all of the canned crescent rolls I could find near me and did a blind taste test. I convinced my husband, Matt, and our 10-year-old son, Gus, to help me in this mission and at the end of the test we were able to crown a winner. Read on for our list of 8 canned crescent rolls, ranked worst to best.

Related: I Tried 12 Canned Biscuits and the Winner Won by a Landslide

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How We Tested the Canned Crescent Rolls

The first order of business was to find our contenders. To do that, Matt and I drove within an hour radius of our house to see what we could find. We picked up cans at Walmart, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe's, Aldi, Whole Foods and Dave's Market, which is a small grocery chain here in Rhode Island. All of the brands we picked up are available nationwide.

We found eight different brands, which is approximately seven more options than I had growing up, so I was extra curious to find out how each brand differed from the other. For the test, I numbered each can and formed and shaped two rolls from each package.

Seven of the eight brands called for the same baking temperature (375°) and similar baking times (the average time was 12 minutes), so I arranged those contenders on two parchment-lined baking sheets and baked them at the same time, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking time to help them bake evenly. To keep the tasting blind, I wrote the number that corresponded to each brand on the parchment.

One brand, the Great Value Big & Buttery Crescent Rolls called for a lower baking temperature (350°) and a slightly longer baking time (12-15 minutes). I baked that option in a separate smaller oven so all of the rolls would be ready at about the same time.

Once the rolls were baked, I sliced each one into pieces and the three of us tasted one at a time. We took turns sharing our thoughts and each of us ranked the rolls on a scale of 1 to 10. We judged the rolls on flavor, texture and appearance—because a special occasion roll should ideally look the part. Cost and ease of preparation also factored into the final ranking.

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8 Popular Canned Crescent Rolls, Ranked Worst to Best

After rolling, shaping, baking and debating we landed on a ranking that reflected all of our testers' thoughts. Here's how things shook out.

8. Jus-Roll Soft and Fluffy Crescents

This was a new-to-me brand that my husband spied at Dave's Market, a smaller grocery chain here in Rhode Island. Dave's sometimes carries lesser-known brands, so I wondered about the generally availalbity of this option. When I checked the Jus-Roll store finder I saw that the brand seems to be sold around the country.

I was really excited to give this one a try because it was brand new to me and I loved the idea of being able to unroll the dough instead of struggling to wrestle it out of a can. When I opened the package, it really was as easy as promised. The dough was firm and easy to work with and I loved that the dough is packaged on a piece of parchment paper that you could use to line your baking sheet. I did notice that the dough was the lightest of all, but I wasn't concerned going into the tasting.

My concerns grew when I pulled the pan out of the oven. These crescent rolls were very light on top, but deep golden on the bottom. They seemed to be fully baked, though they looked underdone. When we tried them, the flavor and texture were also off.

"They're dry, but also moist and sticky," said Gus. Very curious indeed. "Dry and stogy," added Matt, who happens to be a Great British Baking Show fan (IYKYK). "It seems to be pulling all of the moisture out of my mouth," Matt added. "If we had these at Thanskgiving, I would eat the one I had but no more."

When I tried the roll I had a similar experience. They were dry but also sticky and had an odd chalky flavor that reminded me of saltine crackers.

Related: The Canned Crescent Roll Trick We Wish We'd Known About Sooner

7. Great Value Big & Buttery Crescent Rolls

We found this option from Walmart was also a bit confusing. The dough was very yellow (I assume that's the "buttery" part) and extremely sticky. So sticky, in fact, that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to find two triangles of dough that I could roll into crescents. I did manage that, but it was a messy process.

Once it was baked it looked better, but it browned unevenly, though I did turn and rotate the pan halfway through baking and this was the option that was baked in our smaller electric oven, which I've found bakes more evenly than our gas oven.

Unfortunely, none of us were big fans of the flavor of this one. Gus enjoyed the crunch of the end pieces but he was getting a bitter flavor. He found it "sweet but not good sweet." Matt added that it "didn't look burnt but tasted burnt." He also found it too crumbly rather than flaky.

I thought it had an overwhelmingly fake butter flavor and a biscuit-like texture that I didn't care for. I found that it got really sticky while I was eating it and it was very browned but still had a pasty, raw taste. Sadly, this was another pass for us.

6. Great Value Original Crescent Rolls

The second Walmart option we tried fared a bit better, but still wasn't our favorite. "It's not crunchy at all. It tastes like raw flour. I don't like it," said Gus. Matt also noticed that the roll didn't have much crispiness on the outside, but he did like the fluffy interior. He noted that it had no butter flavor at all.

When I tried my piece of the roll I thought it had an odd tough texture and I was getting the cracker-like flavor again. I will say that this roll baked up nicely, with an even golden color, so the visuals were there. This one wasn't the worst one we tried, but we did find quite a few that were better.

5. Bake House Crescent Rolls

Aldi's crescent rolls ended up in the middle-ish of the pack. Matt enjoyed the hit of butter flavor and found the outside of the roll to be flavorful, but he thought the inside was spongy. I was a fan of this one until the end, when I got an odd aftertaste and noticed that the roll left a film in my mouth and seemed a little greasy. I did like the caramelized flavor of the end bits, though.

Gus wasn't a big fan of this one either. "It's buttery, but not in a good way," he said. "It's not flaky and I think it needs salt." We've learned that Gus often thinks something needs salt, so that wasn't a huge concern, though it was an amusing and on-brand note.

On the plus side, this roll browned very evenly and kept its shape as it baked. A can of these costs around $2, which is also a point in the plus side. I bet these would be a good choice for making something like pigs in a blanket for a quick and easy holiday appetizer.

4. Original Pillsbury Crescents

Things steadily improved starting with this option. This was the can I grew up with, so once I was curious to see how it would stack up to the rest of the rolls. Gus didn't mind this one, saying "It's less doughy than some of the others and has a nice crunch. Pretty good." Did he also say it could use some salt? You know he did.

Matt found this roll a little sweeter than he'd like (he prefers his crescent rolls more buttery than sweet) but thought the texture was pretty good. For my part, I thought this option was a little bit bland and not particularly buttery but totally acceptable. I think this would also be a good option for holiday appetizer making, particularly if you're looking for a dough that has a bit of sweetness. I picked up this can at Walmart, but Pillsbury is widely available, of course.

Related: The Clever Recipe That Has Us Rushing to the Store to Buy Canned Crescent Rolls

3. Butter Flake Pillsbury Crescents

This was the first crescent roll we tasted, which is always a tricky spot in these taste tests. You're starting with a fresh palate, so it's hard to know if you really liked something or if it just got higher marks because it went first.

To correct for that, we did a second round of testing with our initial top three picks, which included this Pillsbury option, to make sure we were still on board. In the second round, Gus placed this one a bit higher than Matt and I did, but it still ended up in the top three.

Gus thought the roll had a nice texture and was light and fluffy (shockingly, he didn't say anything about the salt level). Matt thought it was a bit doughy on the inside, but that's nothing another minute or so in the oven couldn't fix. He liked that it was crispy and flaky on the outside.

I also liked the flaky exterior of this roll and the buttery-ish flavor. It baked up nicely and some of the end pieces got a little extra browned, which make for a nice contrast in texture and flavor. All in all, this is a solid option. It's also less expensive than either of the top two picks, so if you're shopping on a budget, this might be the right pick for you.

2. Immaculate Organic Crescent Rolls

Going into the taste test I wondered how this brand would fare. There was an Immaculate option in the canned biscuit tasting that I did earlier this year and none of us were a fan. It's also the most expensive option of the bunch. Matt paid about $6 for a can of eight rolls at Whole Foods.

This time, I think I could make the case for this investment (unless you have a Trader Joe's near you). Matt and I liked the buttery flavor of this roll. It had a bit of sweetness, but it wasn't overwhelming. Gus liked the crunch on the outside (but yes, he said it needed salt). He did deem it "pretty good," which is pretty high praise for him.

This one was also a winner in the looks department. The top browned nicely, with the ends and the center being a little more browned than the lower spots, which gave it a more appealing look than the rolls that were uniformly brown. (Am I nit picking? Yes. Is that what I get paid to do. Also yes.) The top of this roll also had a nice ever so slightly blistered texture, which spoke to the flakiness and also made it look more appealing.

1. Trader Joe's Organic Crescent Rolls

Trader Joe's happened to be the last roll we tasted, but it still stood out from the pack. That's quite a feat considering we had tried seven other options before digging into this one. In my pre-bake research, I learned that this is a TJ's fan favorite, and after trying it I can see why.

Matt said that texture-wise this one was the best of the bunch. He wished it were a little more buttery, but he was still a fan. I agreed with Matt. I thought the roll was flaky and light with a mild flavor. I also wasn't getting an artificial aftertaste, as I did with some of the other rolls. This one also baked up really nicely, with slightly browner ends, a good puff and a slightly blistered top. It will definitely look good in your bread basket.

But did it pass the Gus test? "I like it," said Gus. "I like that the crust is crunchy and it was buttery and salty." (It seems that Gus and TJ's are on the same page when it comes to salt level.) "If I had this at a Thanksgiving party, I would eat it and grab seconds," he said.

It's a Thanksgiving miracle.

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