High Altitude Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
Soft and fluffy sweet potato dinner rolls, with a hint of cinnamon, allspice and cardamom, and a touch of sweetness from pure maple syrup. The perfect Thanksgiving dinner roll!
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook
- 9x13 Baking Dish
- Saucepan and Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato (or two medium sweet potatoes)
- 5 cups bread flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) instant or rapid-rise yeast
- 1 ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, very soft
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tbsp pure maple syrup, honey or granulated sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sweet potato water, between 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit
- softened butter, for greasing the pan and for serving with the rolls
- ¼ tsp flaky finishing salt
Instructions
Make the Sweet Potato Puree.
- Peel the sweet potato, and give it a rough chop. Place the chopped sweet potatoes in a saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer the potatoes over medium heat until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the sweet potato water to use in the dough. Use a food processor to puree the sweet potatoes until perfectly smooth, and measure out 1 cup of the puree to use. If you have leftover puree, you can freeze it and save it for another recipe.
- Set the pureed sweet potatoes aside to cool for several minutes until no longer piping hot. Let the sweet potato water cool to between 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Note: You can also use canned/cooked sweet potatoes, or even canned pumpkin. In this case, simply use plain water instead of the sweet potato water.
Make the Dough.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, yeast, salt, spices, butter (6 tbsp), eggs, maple syrup/sugar, vanilla and sweet potato puree (1 cup). Add the warm sweet potato water, and stir into a shaggy dough.
- With the dough hook attachment, knead the dough on medium low speed for 10 minutes. The dough will be much smoother now, but will still be soft, sticky and loose, and will not form a firm dough ball.
- Scrape the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. If your oven has a "bread proof" setting, you can use that to let your dough rise. This should take anywhere from 45-90 minutes, depending on the brand and freshness of your yeast, your altitude, and the temperature of your kitchen. At 5280 feet, and using my oven bread proof setting, my dough is nearly always doubled in about 40-45 minutes.
Shape the Rolls.
- Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, sprinkle the top of the dough with a little more flour, and gently press the air out of the dough.
- Use a bench scraper or sharp chef's knife to cut the dough into 12 equal sections.
- Shape each section of dough into a ball by pinching the dough together on one side, so that the dough cupped against your hand is smooth and taut.
- Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with butter, and arrange the rolls smooth side up in the dish. Set aside in a warm place for about 20-30 minutes, until the rolls are puffy, filling the dish, and starting to puff above the pan.
Bake the Rolls.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the rolls for about 30-40 minutes, until golden brown on top, and a digital instant read thermometer inserted into the center reads between 190-195 degrees Fahrenheit.
- For a pretty shine, brush the tops of the hot rolls with a little more butter, then sprinkle with flaky salt. Let them cool for about 15 minutes, then pull the rolls apart and serve warm.
- Let the rolls cool completely before storing in an airtight container or freezer bag at room temperature for up to 3-5 days.
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