Hello Floyd,
Those rolls look wonderful. Is your sweet potato what we call here kumara - has it got bright pumpkin-coloured flesh and yellow/grey skin? M

 Floyd ~

  Hmmmm - yummy looking rolls ~ get the skillet hot and grill them with alittle brown sugar and cimmamon.... a cup of coffee and call it breakfast.

 Or roll the bulk dough out and and spread butter over it - give it a book-fold then two three folds and let it rest about 30 minutes and roll out and make cinnamon bunns.

 Either way awsome rolls ~

 Slide_Out

The gold just leaps off the screen, gorgeous.

Definitely making these for thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

When in doubt trust your stomach!

What a lovely color, I never thought of using sweet potato in a potato-type bread, what a good idea!  May just add that to my t-day menu :)

Floyd, Thank you for the info re kumara which was extremely interesting. M

Those rolls look and sound so good - beautiful color!  What are your thoughts about keeping quality? 

I'm in kind of an odd spot because my sister wants me to bring rolls for our TD there on Friday after having been gone all day on Thursday at my in-laws house.  The latest I could bake them would be Wednesday night.  

Should I bake, cool and freeze?  Or would they be ok to last for 2 days in a plastic bag? 

(PS...Floyd, I can't click on the stars anymore because they just jump around. Is it just me?)

I love this site.  I'm a little embarassed to admit that sometimes when I see some of these pictures - like those gorgeous golden rolls - I get a little teary.  So beautiful!

I did get these made but I must have lost count of the flour as I was adding it; ok I DID lose count of the flour while adding it.  So I ended up with much lighter colored rolls than your beautiful orange ones.  Still they were lovely and I snipped some little points into the tops and they really looked festive.

Everyone loved them especially a couple people that insisted on taking any that were left - I'd made a double batch.  I loved the flavor and would definately make them again only I would keep track of the amount of flour.  (hehe) 

Floyd, I imagine your dough was much more sticky than I let mine be.  I didn't have time to let them rise the morning I mixed them up so I put them in the fridge to retard all day.  They had only risen a teensy half inch many hours later.  When I removed them from the fridge I realized that they were rising SO slowly I would be up the entire night so I went to bed around 1:00 am.  I woke up at 6:30 am to find they had gone over double about a half inch but I was fine with that as I thought they were never going to raise at all.  Is that because I obviously dumped in way too much flour for the yeast amount?

Anyway, whatever I did I made them slow and I was not sure if you intended they needed to double in bulk.  I think my confusion caused me much extra time and work but that's a newbie mistake.  At any rate they were really nice rolls and I hope the next time I make them I can make them the color of yours. 

I didn't get around to these before Turkey Day so I thought a rainy cold Monday would be a good excuse for fresh rolls with the soup on the stove, simmering the essence out of the turkey carcase. I won't bother with the pictures, they look exactly like Floyd's.

I happened to have a ruby red sweet potato which are very brightly colored and sweet compared to others. I think these would be good with canned pumpkin as well and as Floyd mentioned you don't really taste the sweet potato. I did make one minor change in the direction of enhancing the flavor. I used dark brown sugar in place of what I took to be white sugar in the recipe. I always use dark brown in pumpkin pies also and it adds a depth of flavor to the sweetness that I like.

In the end I used nearly 4 Cups of flour to get the consistency that just barely let me shape the rolls on a floured counter into mini boules. I know the recipe calls for using wet hands but I had better luck with a dry process. I've been learning to handle wet dough with hands in my rye and WW breads but small round shapes would be a stretch for me.

The only advice I have if you are considering this recipe is, make a double batch!

Thanks Floyd this is a keeper!

Eric

I made these as well a few days ago for my parents, and like eric, i used brown instead of white sugar, and I think it was a great substitution. They turned out really well. My dad, ever the adventurous one, suggested putting a date in the middle of the rolls before baking them, so i tried it with one. I'm usually a little hesitant to take my dad's suggestions because they're generally a bit far out, but the date in the center melted a little bit and was a great addition without making it too sweet. I'm tempted to try and use dates, chopped up, to sweeten a bread in the future.

Cyrus 

The brown sugar sounds great and the date is a super idea, too!  I even think making this bread in a tiny loaf pan would be nice and then you could slice a nice "roll size" piece.  That might be another good way to use the dates.  Or you could roll it out like sweet rolls and make your own date filling using muscavado sugar and it would mimic sticky toffee pudding; as in sticky toffee pudding bread.  YUM!

I'm envious because I did use a more colorful sweet potato although I didn't pay attention to the name if they noted it.  I was doing something kinda risky using two odd measuring cups because I had the other ones dirty from having just made pumpkin ice cream so I was trying to keep count with odd numbers.  My mind must have wandered.  Naw, ya think!  (hehe)  Anyway, I am sure going to make them again maybe even this weekend to take to my parents because my mother hasn't quit talking about how good they were and my father had wanted to snatch some of the leftovers but was beaten by the others.  I can't stop until I make it properly.

Oh, I wanted to ask Eric and umbreadman, did you notice a long time for the dough to rise?

I remember you discussing that yeast on a thread a while back.  Good to know it works for sweet doughs.  I only have the SAF regular instant and didn't realize the gold could make such a difference.  Still, it is good to hear that others were able to bake these rolls without having to rise to double.  I have to put in another order with KA so maybe I'll give the gold a try.  Thanks!

Those look great! I will have to give them a try. I love sweet potatos! We even put them in our whole grain pancakes (just a mix) with a little bit of pumpkin pie spice, my kids can't get enough.

Amy in Alaska

                Ruth Redburn

 Absolutely wonderful!  I made these after Thanksgiving with just a small sweet potato.  What size did most of you use?  I will definitely make these for Christmas making a double recipe since there will be many of us.  My husband loved them also.  I plan to share this recipe with a friend who is as mad as I am for this healthy, delicious vegie. 

I cooked the S potaoto  in the microwave,and put the potaoto, sugar, milk  in the food processor! then I added the flour and it developed the gluten very nicely, a quick knead and it shaped and rose nicely.

Much better flavor than plain rolls. Next time I plan to add an egg, or a bit of oil to make the dough more supple. Is the lack of oil deliberate?

Hi, I'm new here.  Pretty new to baking breads as well.  This is probably a stupid question.  I'm going to try these sweet potato rolls tomorrow, and I was wondering, after I bake the potato, do I peel it?  Or do I just put it in the food processor, skin and all?

 Thanks so much for any help!

Thank you both.  I think I'll pass on the skins; its not something we're accustomed to eating anyway.  I'll post tomorrow & let everyone know how they turned out.

 Thanks again.

I made these last year for Turkey Day and they were a big hit. Great flavor that's a little unusual.

Eric 

The sweet potato in the dough gives the rolls a nice soft texture, and the currants give a bit of sweetness to the rolls.Don't let the yeast scare you. These rolls are really quite easy to make, even if your not that comfortable making yeast doughs.

--------------------------

john edwin

I made these rolls yesterday and they are awesome! Thanks for sharing the recipe.  Next time I want to use yams, they will make a beautiful coloured roll!

Great recipe! Pure and simple...   The look great and taste even better! I'm definately making a giant batch for Christmas dinner! Thanks!

I think they were purple sweet potato buns.  Very colorful.  They looked more steamed than baked. 

I wonder what they would look like if an outside layer of yellow sweet potato bun dough was wrapped around a purple centered dough.  Could be interesting.  Or even two different colored batches of yellow sweet potato buns, marbled or rolled up together.  hmmm

Mini O

edit... I just found purple sweet potato flour.... in my local asian market.

The Rolls you have posted I will try to make for Sunday dinner. I am new to this site and have baked a couple of loaves with some sucess.  I have a question for you Floyd the yeast can I use Quick Rise and  do I activiate it with what temp water before i put it in the mix.

I've made 3 breads off this site and so far, this recipe is the most delicious and satisfying one.  I ate almost the entire batch.  Thank you.

Great-looking rolls, Floyd.  Tell me, did the sweet potato keep the bread soft for 2-3 days?  They say using potatoes softens bread up until the 3rd or 4th day.

Here's a shorter way (and I think more economical way) to cook the sweet potato using the microwave:

Dip a sheet of paper towel in water to use for wrapping the sweet potato. Next, wrap this tightly with microwaveable cling wrap. Wrap a second time with cling wrap. Place in your microwave and choose the pad for potato.  If your microwave is not pre-set for specific cooking times, microwave for about 5 minutes and check doneness with toothpick. Microwave some more if not yet cooked.

Done this way, your sweet potato will stay moist and get really cooked without drowning in water.

These rolls look great! I would like to make them with a portion of whole wheat flour. How much whole wheat flour could I substitute for white without making the rolls bland? Also, what other changes would I have to make to the recipe if I do use whole wheat flour. Thank you!

i've try to do this before, but with different cooking method.i steam it.

Floyd, I am very new at baking but thought your rolls looked fabulous so I am going to try them out on Thanksgiving day.  I did not get a feel for the size of the potato and/or if that even matters.  Also, did you pack your brown sugar or measure it out loosely?   Thanks,  Nancy

Hi Floyd, I have just stumbled into this forum and this recipe sounds interesting. I would like to try making these rolls but am not sure about the weight of the sweet potato required.  Please help. Thanks in advance.

I used up some leftover pumpkin squash (from the can) for a similar recipe and they've turned out just as good.

Orange of course.     

(the buns at the top are Wild Yeast's hamburger buns - good as ever too!)

I'm sitting here at work drooling on the keyboard.  I shouldn't be Fresh Loafing on the job!

Must

Try

Cinnamon

Sweet Potato

Rolls.

AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Followed recipe precisely, except substituted 1/4 cup regular honey and t tbsp buckwheat honey for the sugar. Love the edge that the spices give. Will be making these for Thanksgiving. Thanks, Floydm. I think you are the king of rolls.

I'd like to make these for Thanksgiving, but I seem to be missing some information. I searched the thread and did't see the answers to the following.

I'm pretty new at breads, so please pardon me this is common sort of knowlegge to the group. 

1. How hot an oven did you bake these in?
2. Approximately how long did you bake them for
3. with or without steam

Thanks!!

Scott

I finaly got a chance to try these =-) Used what I had on hand:  I med Yam, 3T butter, brown sugar, 1 egg, as for the spice I used pumpkin spice[1/2 ts]  and very little cinnamon [less than 1/4ts avail :-( ] along w/1 C white wheat flour+2.5 C AP. Convection setting  was being used, so they were baked at 355F for 12 minutes. Def a keeper, [will try the sweet potato next!] thanks for posting!

You are right! I fell into the crowd's opinion and whole foods tag: 'Garnet Yam' when in reality they are Sweet potatoes LOL

BTW, just ate one w/cream cheese this morning, still tender, and so good!

   The color is wonderful. Had planned on my Parkerhouse, but after seeing these I am adding them to the lineup. Enjoy your Holidays!

   Audra

I made a triple batch of 54 rolls (55-60 g each) to take to work for a thanksgiving potluck.  I used small sweet potatos, coated in oil before baking for 30 min.  They weren't too leathery this way; cut them, squeezed out the insides and finely minced the skins to include since there is a lot of nutrition in the skin, they barely affected the taste.

I used 100 g brown sugar and they were a little sweeter than desired, when I make them for thanksgiving with the family, I think I'll cut that down a bit.

I ended up adding very little extra flour beyond the 3 C initial because the dough felt like the right density even though it was pretty sticky.  With wet hands it was fine to handle.

Bulk rise at room temp was more than 2 hours and it was less than 1.5X, I even warmed up the milk to room and the potatoes were still slightly warm from the oven.  The yeast was SAF red, only a few months old and kept in the freezer.  At that point I had to go to bed so I stuck the dough in the fridge overnight.  By morning it was more than 3X of original!  After warming to room for 90 min they were tricky to shape being so sticky, but I managed to palm roll them without having to add much flour.  Egg wash gave them a nice shine.

Final rise was less than an hour and wasn't visably impressive.  They sprung a bit in the oven and were OK, but not as fluffy as I had hoped.  Great flavor though!  I figure I need to let them proof longer or use more yeast?  I've been meaning to order some SAF gold to try for things like this.

If I cut the dough into 12 equal pieces, will it be too much dough for baking the rolls in a muffin pan?

Floyd your sweet potato rolls are WORLD CLASS.   I relize this recipe has been hanging about for a long time.  However I've made them for various functions and they brought rave reviews above and beyond the prime dish of the affair.  GREAT ROLLS AND THANKYOU FOR POSTING THE RECIPE.

I made a test batch of these before Thanksgiving as I was looking for something new to take as my contribution to Thanksgiving at my friends.  These rolls are AWESOME!  I have been using 4+ cups of flour, but I think that is because the only sweet potatoes I could find were enormous.  The first batch was a little dense, but the flavor was A+.  I used dark brown sugar.  Well that first batch barely saw light of day they were so good.  I gave the batch for today a longer second rise and they are definitely lighter in texture.  I had to have one this morning for breakfast to make sure it was a good baking didn't I?

We made these yesterday for our Thanksgiving dinner ...Yum!  I baked the yam (a "red yam") for an hour since it wasn't done at 45 minutes, then I ran it through my KA fruit and vegetable strainer.  We used white sugar in our since my experience is that white sugar produces lighter result.  I have another roll recipe that rises overnight and has you boil the white sugar in water for 5 minutes before using it (with the water of course) in the recipe, then the rolls get an overnight rise.

You can bake the yam (or sweet potato) the day before if you're going to have a crowded schedule in the kitchen like we usually do.  And for whatever reason, our try with this recipe rose slower than predicted ...but rise it did.  1-3/4 hours on the first rise, then 2-1/4 hours for the second, then 23 minutes at 375 in our oven did the trick.  The resulting rolls were just like in the picture ...light and airy for a bread that has a pile of sweet potatos in it.  Everyone loved them!

Brian

Some of the homeless citizens of Howard County in Maryland, where I live, had these tonght as part of their dinner.  Truly a success.

A partnership with a local homeless shelter, some of the local churches and the Howard County government was formed several years ago to house the additional homeless people seeking shelter as the weather become colder.  Several of the area churches volunteer to provide food and shelter for the overflow of homeless that the homeless shelter does not have room for in their facility.  This week my church is hosting.  I prepared dinner for tonight, Farmer's Casserole (black forest ham, hash brown potatoes, eggs, milk, cheese and onion), broccoli, dump cake and a double batch of sweet potato rolls.  I was told repeatedly that I was welcome to provide those rolls every night this week and that I should pass the recipe on to the next church.  That reaction makes my aching back, knees and feet seem like a blessing.

I downsized the sugars (1/8 cup honey) and upped the salt about a half teaspoon, tastes not tending toward the sweet in my household. Stuck with 3-1/2 cups of flour and fought with the wet dough, but it was worth it. My sister-in-law asked for the recipe, which is the best compliment of all.

The leftovers worked really well with some habanero jelly.

I love this site. Novice baker here, getting ready to try my hand at these delectable-looking rolls soon. After reading the recipe and all the comments, especially those regarding slow first rise, my decidedly uneducated opinion is that the slowness of the first rise may be due to the temperature of the potato/sugar/milk paste to which the  flour/yeast/spices are added.  Shall I try out my theory on everyone?

An old Pillsbury Bake-off booklet notes that when yeast is mixed with dry ingredients, to which the liquid is then added, the liquid should be 120 F (not the 105-115 range suitable when yeast is mixed directly with liquid).  Thus, it appears to me that the buffering of dry ingredients alone reduces the heat of warm liquid the yeast needs to do its thing best.  

As written, this recipe has two such bufferings where needed heat can be lost: the warm liquid is absorbed into the paste (buffer 1); the yeast is in the dry ingredients (buffer 2). I'm thinking that not only do you need to zap the milk as Floyd suggests in one comment, but need to make sure the whole potato/sugar/milk paste is warm enough to make the yeast real happy when it goes in.  I doubt you'd want the whole paste to be 120F because the potato would hold heat longer than just milk would, and might keep dough too warm. (?)  But at least be sure the temp of the paste is warm. 

Alternatively, slightly change the order in which ingredients are combined.  Stir up the potato (which is at least room temp) with the sugar and set aside. Warm the milk to 120F and add it to the first 2 cups of dry ingredients containing the yeast, so the yeast gets first shot at that lovely warmth.  Then stir in the potato/sugar paste. Then start working in more flour. Would that work, or just make a glommy mess?

Obviously, this is all "head stuff" -- I'm really really new at baking.  But it stands to reason to me that if the yeast needs a certain degree of warmth, and the milk is mixed with the potato & sugar, then all of that needs to be warm when mixed in with the yeast. If you baked the potato immediately before and it hasn't cooled to cold, your paste is going to be warmer than if you baked the potato the night before and threw it in the fridge for continuing recipe next day. I'm just thinking.:-)

Total theory and I could be full o' beans! LOL. Did I mention how much of a novice baker I am?  If anyone can tell me why my rationale is off-base, or why  slightly changing how ingredients get mixed wouldn't work, I'd appreciate it.  Otherwise, I think I'll try changing how the ingredients come together -- to try to assure the yeast gets a nice warm milk bath. Then see what happens with the first rise. (and hope I don't screw up what is already a successful recipe)

The rolls have clearly turned out well regardless, so it's merely the first rise which might be amenable to some hastening with more upfront warmth. Given enough time, the yeast seems to have done its thing for everyone.  Looking forward to making these, but even more to eating them. Thanks for the recipe, Floyd.