~ Sweet & Savory Herbed Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls ~

I love potato bread and any type of slightly-sweet and pillowy soft potato rolls in general. Unless I am specifically looking for a crusty, semi-firm roll for a specific reason, rolls of the 'tater-type are my all-purpose sandwich roll of choice -- that includes hamburger and hot dog rolls too.   That said, I like the sweet potato even more than I like the red, Russet or gold potato.  As long as I can find sweet potatoes in the grocery store, which is about nine months out of the year, I keep them on hand always, as, for me, a humble, baked sweet potato slathered with butter is a meal.

Imagine my glee when I successfully turned my brioche in the bread machine recipe into a delightful recipe for sweet potato dinner rolls.

1/2  cup buttermilk

3  tablespoons salted butter, cut into pieces, preferably at room temperature

1/2  cup mashed sweet potato, from 1 small sweet potato that has been microwave-baked (I use a slightly-generous half cup)

1  extra-large egg, lightly-beaten 

3  tablespoons sugar

2  1/4  cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon each:  dried herbes de Provence, sea salt and coarse-grind black pepper

1  packet Fleischmann's granulated yeast, not rapid-rise yeast granules

no-stick cooking spray, for preparing pans

1-2  tablespoons additional butter, melted, for brushing over tops of finished rolls

~Step 1.  In a 1-cup measuring container, in the microwave, heat the buttermilk to steaming, 30-45 seconds.  Add the butter.  Using a fork, stir until the butter is melted into the buttermilk.  Add the sweet potatoes.  Stir until nicely incorporated. Whisk the egg.  Using the fork, whisk the egg into the mixture.  Add and stir in the sugar.

~Step 2.  Add the liquid mixture to bread pan of bread machine.  In a medium bowl, place the flour, herbs de Provence, salt and pepper, then give the dry ingredients a gentle stir.  Scoop dry ingredients atop wet ingredients.  DO NOT STIR.  Using your index finger, make a shallow well in the top of the flour mixture and pour the yeast granules into the well.

~ Step 3.  Insert the bread pan into the bread machine.  Select the "dough" cycle for a 1-pound loaf, then press "start".  In less than 1 1/2 hours you will have a light, manageable dough that has  proofed twice.

~Step 4.  Spray 2, 8" round cake pans with no-stick cooking sparay.  When the bread machine signals that the dough has proofed, lightly oil your fingertips with a bit of the no-stick spray from one of the pans and transfer the dough to a plate that has been place on a kitchen scale.  You will have 1 1/2 pounds of dough.  Using the kitchen scale as a measure, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces that weigh 2 ounces each.  Between the palms of your hands, roll each piece into a ball and arrange six balls of dough in the bottom of each prepared pan.  Cover the pan with a lint-free cotton flour-sack-type towel and allow to rise a third time, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

~Step 5.  Bake rolls on center rack of preheated 350º oven, until golden brown, and, when tapped with the knuckle of your index finger, they sound hollow, about 18-20 minutes.  Mine baked for 18 minutes today.  Do not over bake these rolls.

With a light touch, paint tops with melted butter...

... & delight in every soft, sweet & savory bite:

Sweet & Savory Herbed Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls:  Recipe yields 12 dinner/slider-sized rolls.

Special Equipment List:  bread machine; 1-cup measuring container; fork; bread machine; kitchen scale; 2, 8"-round cake pans w/straight sides; wire cooling rack; pastry brush

Cook's Note: My three boys grew up calling these "Mom's Pull-Aparts", but this recipe for classic ~ Buttery & Easy-to-Make Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls ~ is not mine. Back in the 1980's (before home computers, the information super-highway or Food TV), we moms often mailed a box top or two, and sometimes $1.00, to receive a booklet of recipes from a particular company.  I did that a lot back then.  This dinner roll recipe is courtesy of either Fleischmann's yeast or Land O Lakes.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2018)

Comments

[TERESA GOTTIER]

Thanks Mel! It sure is rewarding and fun to cook with the fruits of our labor, literally. :)

[KitchenEncounters]

Teresa -- WOW!!! Thank-you for the testament to my recipes (which flatters the h*** out of me), but, what a testament to you, Mike and your commitment to urban farming -- your persistence is paying off in well-deserved rewards (and a full larder). Priceless. Eat, drink & be merry!

[TERESA GOTTIER]

Hey Mel! I made these wonderful rolls yesterday from my homegrown sweet potatoes to have with garden fresh parsnip-adorned bison stew. I used your vegetable stock, that was leftover when I made your roasted tomato soup earlier this week, to add to the pressure cooked bison bone broth, and it made quick work of the stew. I had a gallon bag of tomatoes left in the freezer, after canning so many this summer, and needed to free up some space. I shared some of your tomato soup with the neighbor friends, and they loved it. I garnished it with my preserved basil oil. The bison stew was so special with your recipes and locally raised bison. Tonight we are having the leftover sweet potato rolls with European-style hand tied maple ham. Doesn't that sound like a divine combination?! I made your quick onion dip to have with chips, the sandwiches and homegrown salad greens harvested from under covers. I sure love the time I have now to cook after the growing season, with all of my saved and preserved produce, and playing with your recipes. :)