Pour the milk into a small saucepan and place it over medium-high heat. Watch the pan carefully. As soon as the milk comes to a full boil, add the herbs, push them under the surface with a spoon, and immediately remove the pan from the heat. Cover and let herbs steep for 30 minutes. Remove the herbs, squeezing them to extract all the milk.

Add butter and sugar to pan and reheat until butter is mostly melted and mixture is warm (about 110°). Whisk to dissolve and blend in sugar. Beat eggs lightly in medium bowl; whisk in about one-third of warm milk mixture. When eggs are warm, add remaining milk mixture, whisking to combine.

In the bowl of stand­ing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine flour, yeast, and salt; mix on lowest speed just to blend. With mixer running, add milk mixture in steady stream; mix on low speed until loose, shiny dough forms (you may also see satiny webs as dough moves in bowl), about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat 6–7 minutes, until strong webs form. (Dough will remain loose rather than forming a neat, cohesive mass.)

Transfer dough to large bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and place in warm, draft-free spot until dough doubles in bulk and surface feels tacky, about 3 hours.

Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Sprinkle dough lightly with flour to prevent sticking, and punch down. Turn dough onto floured work surface and form into rough rectangle shape. Transfer rectangle to lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Turn dough rectangle onto lightly floured work surface and, roll dough to a 20" x 28" rectangle. Use pizza wheel to cut dough into four 20" x 7" strips, then cut each strip into eight triangles. For each triangle, stretch to elongate an additional 2"–3" in length; starting at wide end, gently roll up dough, ending with pointed tip on bottom. Arrange crescents on two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets; cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise 2 hours.

Place rimmed baking sheet on lowest rack, adjust second rack to lower-middle position, and heat oven to 425°. With pastry brush, lightly dab risen crescent rolls with egg wash. Transfer baking sheet with rolls to lower-middle rack and, working quickly, pour 1 cup hot tap water into hot baking sheet on lowest rack. Close door immediately and bake 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue baking until tops and bottoms of rolls are a deep golden brown, 10 to 14 minutes longer. Transfer rolls to wire rack and cool.

Advance prep: After forming the rolls, the baking sheets may immediately be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerated anywhere from a couple of hours to three days. When ready to proceed, remove from fridge, loosen wrap and let rise.

If baking a few hours ahead of serving, bake just until rolls are a medium golden brown, cool, and store in brown paper bag. Just before serving, return to oven for 5–7 minutes until heated through and a tad more brown.