In our opinion, a holiday table isn't complete without a big basket of fluffy dinner rolls. How else are you going to sop up the last bits of gravy? These soft and airy sweet potato rolls are perfect for the job. They're also very nearly fool-proof, making them one less thing to worry about when planning the meal.
These rolls get a very mild sweetness from the mashed sweet potatoes. We think they go perfectly with all the sweet and savory foods on a holiday buffet table, plus they're pretty great slathered with jam for breakfast the next morning! You can also substitute regular potatoes, yams, or pumpkin for the sweet potatoes.
When it comes to large dinner parties and holiday buffets, we appreciate no-knead recipes more than ever. The dough can be made the day ahead, refrigerated, and made into rolls the next morning. You can also make them ahead of time and freeze the baked rolls. Warmed in the oven, no one will be able to tell they weren't baked fresh!
Makes 2 dozen rolls
3/4 cup (6 ounces) warm water
1 scant tablespoon (1 package) active-dry yeast
1 cup (9 ounces) mashed sweet potatoes (see note below)
1 cup (8.5 ounces) milk - whole or 2% preferably
1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter - melted
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 cups (20 ounces) all-purpose flour
Combine the water and yeast in a large mixing bowl and let stand until the yeast is dissolved. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, the milk, the melted butter, the brown sugar, and the salt. Stir until all ingredients are evenly combined. Add the flour, stirring until a shaggy dough is formed and no more dry flour is visible. This dough will be very sticky.
Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let stand until doubled in bulk, at least 2 hours or as long as 5 hours. The dough can be used immediately, but it's easier to work with if you can refrigerate it for at least 2 hours. The dough can also be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
When ready to shape the rolls, sprinkle your work surface with a little flour and turn the dough out on top. Sprinkle a little more flour on top and press the dough into a thick disk. Use a bench scraper or knife to divide the dough into 24 pieces. Shape into balls and place about 5 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise until the rolls are roughly doubled in size, about 45 minutes in a warm kitchen.
About 20 minutes before the rolls are finished rising, preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
Remove the cover and bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes, until they are puffed and toasted brown. Serve warm or room temperature. Rolls are best the first day, but will stay fresh for several days after if stored in an airtight container.
Notes:
• To make the mashed sweet potatoes, roast a medium-sized (roughly 9 ounce) sweet potato in a 400° oven until completely soft. Strip off the skin and mash.
• For extra richness, brush the tops with melted butter or egg yolk before baking. So good!
• These rolls can also be frozen if you're making them ahead of time. Allow the baked rolls to cool completely, wrap them in aluminum foil, and freeze them. To re-heat, let them thaw on the counter and then warm them in a 300° oven for 15 minutes.
Related: Recipe: Herbed Olive Oil Fantail Rolls
(Images: Emma Christensen)
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
TW Salt Mill by Wil...
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Great idea! I also think that squash scones would make a good choice.
These look so good!
these look great...add them to my no-knead pumpkin sweet rolls - which I've made three times since you posted the recipe!
I just made an eggless challah with sweet potatoes...turned out great and plan to use the recipe for rolls for kid's class Thanksgiving. Recipe here looks good!
what about using bread flour or whole wheat?
can I bake this in a loaf pan, I wonder? As a loaf bread, not a roll?
i made these this weekend - they were very delicious, so much in fact, they made it onto my thanksgiving menu! my only caveat (and this is for amateurs like myself who don't always read the recipe as closely as they might) - they take some time. the rising, the refrigerating, the 2nd rising (all important steps)...i barely got them onto the table. still, they were worth it.
Do I punch the dough down before letting it rest in the fridge?
@susrith - You can definitely sub bread flour for all or some of the AP - your rolls will turn out chewier and with more structure to them (probably less fluffy). If you want to add some whole wheat, I'd suggest doing some ratio of whole wheat and AP (50:50 at most) so you still have some gluten in there for structure.
@burp - Yes, you can totally make this into a loaf! Here's a tutorial: http://bit.ly/gDAzsf
@sarah - So glad to hear it! Yes, they do require some planning ahead - but so worth it!
@Oven Mitzie - I don't usually punch the dough down before putting it in the fridge. This leaves all the air pockets intact. If you do punch the dough down, the baked rolls will tend to have a more uniform and finely-textured interior. Some people really like this, so go with whichever you prefer!
I am actually EXCITED to make these. A little scared, as I am She Who Does Not Bake, but excited.
Also.. this sounds ridiculous, but I question every step as I bake: Is it just as fine to cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave? Yours in Baking Ignorance, LKP
Excited to make these, but last time I checked, a cup of milk is 8 oz, not 8.5!
@Lkpheartsfood - yes, you can microwave the sweet potatoes!
@sarabakescakes - That weight measurement on the milk is correct, as least by my scale and using 2% milk. Milk tends to be a bit heavier than water, and also the standard "1 cup = 8 ounces" ratio is based on fluid ounces (a volume measurement) and not ounces (a weight measurement). There isn't really a consistent ratio between cups and ounces by weight.
Well, boo. I'm a pretty experienced baker, and these were a total flop for me. In the interest of honesty: I attempted to veganize these with soy milk instead of the dairy. That usually works fine, but these failed hard. I made them T'giving morning and couldn't even serve them-- they were that bad.
Warning, warning: do not attempt to make vegan. Epic fail.
well, boo, also, as that is what I was going to do, "Midwife" !! Now what ????
Awesome! I had leftover roasted butternut squash, and it made some gorgeous, delicious rolls. Perfect warm with honey.
sounds AMAZING. Absolutely amazing.
I'm wondering if I can re-create these with gluten free flour. You say the dough is sticky/shaggy, which sounds like GF dough for most recipes, but it's hard to get a good rise out of GF flour, and I don't want sweet potato hockey pucks!
Thoughts? Do you think they'll be too heavy?
I veganized the recipe and had no problems. It came out great. I substituted soy milk and earth balance margarine. I also used white whole wheat flour. I made the recipe twice with no problems. This recipe can be veganized,
I made these for Thanksgiving and they were fantastic. The color and flavor were really nice, especially with the seasonal Thanksgiving meal. I need having a hard time shaping them into proper rolls since the no knead bread dough is so moist, so they were more like sweet potato disks. No one complained though, they tasted great. Oh, and by the way, the melted butter is a must.
Made these tonight and they were hit with the whole family. My sweet potato-hating husband ate at a few, and my sweet potato-loving toddler ate nothing but these rolls for dinner. I did have a hard time with them burning on the bottom, but that is probably because my oven runs hot. Also, I used leftover roasted sweet potatoes and mashed them with a fork. Next time, I would run them quickly through the mini food processor to get a smoother purée. My rolls had visible sweet potato chunks and were not as appetizing looking as the photo.