Sweet potato dinner rolls; amazingly soft and fluffy dinner rolls.
Oh dearest! These sweet potato dinner rolls are truly soft, fluffy, chewy, AH-mazing.
Unfortunately,there is a setback. It requires time and patience. Patience in kneading, letting it rise, getting all those gluten to form, rising again and then the baking. But the best part is, it is rewarding.
However, Tessa suggests you can make it ahead by keeping the dough in a container wrapped with plastic in the refrigerator and letting it rise overnight in the refrigerator. Once you are ready to continue, remove the dough from the fridge. Punch it down and allow it to rest and warm up to room temperature before shaping into balls, about thirty minutes to an hour, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. The final rise may take a bit longer since the dough might still be cool.
We start making these beautiful babies by cooking and mashing our sweet potatoes till there are no lumps. Then we will add yeast, honey, eggs, salt, melted butter or margarine and mashed sweet potatoes together. We add in bread flour, a little at a time.It will look messy, add the remaining flour till everything is incorporated.
This is followed by kneading. Knead, knead, knead till it is elastic or stretchy. I do it by hand, girl got muscles. After, we grease a large bowl, place the dough in there. Cover with a plastic wrap and place on the fridge top. At least that is only the place I know it won’t be bothered. Leave it to rise for forty minutes to an hour, then punch it down. This is the fun aspect of making bread to me. Divide into fifteen balls, arrange on a greased pan, let it rise again, then bake.
Now let’s make sweet potato dinner rolls!
- 250g sweet potato
- 1cup/ 240ml buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons butter/ margarine melted and cooled
- 2 whole eggs lightly beaten
- 1/4cup/ 60ml honey
- 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 3/4cups- 5 cups (600g- 625g) bread flour
- to finish egg wash
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Rinse sweet potato very well and cook by boiling in water till soft. Or prick the sweet potato all over with a fork. Place on a microwave-safe plate and microwave at least four minutes, turning halfway through, until a knife cuts easily through the center. Cut in half and let cool before scooping out the flesh and discarding the skin. Mash the potato till there are no lumps or puree the potato in a food processor or blender.
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Combine the buttermilk, margarine or butter, eggs, honey, yeast, and sweet potato in a large bowl if kneading by hand or the bowl of a stand mixer if kneading by the mixer. Add the salt and about two cups of the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. It will look rough and shaggy.
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IF KNEADING BY HAND: Add in the remaining bread flour, kneading until a dough begins to forms. Continue kneading seven to nine minutes until a soft, smooth ball of dough is formed. The dough should feel elastic and slightly tacky. If the dough is unbearably sticky, add more flour about one tablespoon at a time. (I do about 600 grams bread flour that is about 4 3/4 cups bread flour and add more if needed)
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IF KNEADING WITH MIXER: Attach the dough hook to the mixer, turn to medium-low speed, and gradually add in the remaining bread flour, kneading until a dough begins to forms. Continue kneading on medium-high speed for 4 to 5 minutes until a soft, smooth ball of dough is formed. The dough should feel elastic and slightly tacky. If the dough is unbearably sticky, add more about one tablespoon of bread flour at a time.
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Lightly grease a large clean bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise for about forty-five minutes to an hour room temperature or until the dough is doubled in size.
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After the rising time is up, grease a 13×9-inch baking pan and set aside. Deflate the dough and divide the dough into 15 equal pieces using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Shape each piece into a ball and place in the prepared pan. Brush the rolls all over with the egg wash. Lightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for thirty minutes or more, or until about doubled in size.
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C or 375°F. Bake the rolls for twenty to twenty-five minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. Store leftovers in a plastic bag for up to 3 days.
Since the quality of bread flour varies, start with 4 3/4 cups of bread flour and add more as needed. The dough should be slightly sticky but not unbearably sticky to work with. To make your own buttermilk, add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to whole milk. Stir and let it rest for about three to five minutes. Use everything including the bits in the recipe.
Adapted from Tessa (Handle the heat)
