Yeast Breads: Southern Sweet Potato Rolls

The sweet potato in this hearty recipe makes for a sweet and exciting roll. For a little more flavor, try adding a little cinnamon to the dough. Maybe even a little nutmeg.


I bake an actual sweet potato for this recipe. You can, if you wish, use canned sweet potato.


Ingredients


1 sweet potato
1¼ tsp quick rise or bread machine yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
¼ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 large egg


Preparation


You first need to bake the sweet potato, so heat your oven to 400°F. Prick the skin of the sweet potato several times with a fork, then wrap it in aluminum foil. Place the wrapped sweet potato in a baking dish. If you don't, you'll end up with a mess on the bottom of the oven no matter how well you wrap the sweet potato.


Bake the sweet potato for 60 to 90 minutes, until you can pierce the sweet potato easily with a fork or knife. Allow sweet potato to cool for 20 minutes, then peel off the skin. If the sweet potato is well cooked, it should come off easily. Discard skin and place your cooked sweet potato in a small bowl. Mash well and allow to cool completely.


Place sweet potato mash in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix until you have a loose dough. Turn this dough out onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic. This won't take long, so you'll knead for 5 minutes or less. Don't overwork this dough or it won't rise very well.


Place the kneaded dough in a bowl that has been lightly oiled and cover it with a damp tea towel. You'll need to let it rise in a warm location until doubled in size. This will take a while due to the addition of sweet potato to the dough. Allow up to 90 minutes for this dough to rise.


Punch down the dough to remove the air bubbles. Divide the dough into 18 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball. Place these balls on a prepared baking sheet. Use 2 sheets if you don't have a sheet large enough for 18 rolls. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in size. This will take about an hour.


Heat oven to 375°F. Uncover rolls and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until rolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Remove immediately from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.


These rolls will keep for up to 5 days if stored in an airtight container.