How to Make Easy Sweet Potato Buns or Rolls Recipe
Sweet potato buns are a deliciously fantastic alternative to the classic dinner roll. If you haven’t considered using sweet potatoes when baking bread yet, that is about to change with this amazingly simple recipe! Prepare to impress your family with these light, fluffy, and slightly sweet rolls.
Why make sweet potato buns?
Adding a sweet potato to this recipe adds a pop of fall color and more nutrition, which takes an ordinary roll to a new level. These rolls are the perfect bread to have with your Thanksgiving dinner! So, if you love yeast breads like me, then why not add an ingredient that perhaps will help you feel less guilty about consuming those carbs!
A bit of history
Sweet potatoes have been used in culinary dishes for centuries around the world. In many American cookery books from the 18th and early 19th centuries, when a recipe referred to a potato it was referring to a sweet potato, as its cultivation preceded that of the white (Irish) potato.
Christopher Columbus is credited with introducing Spain to the sweet potato by bringing it back from his fourth voyage to the West Indies. The popularity of this tasty tuber spread throughout Europe. England brought the sweet potato to the colonies where it became a staple crop by the 1700’s.
With the ease that sweet potatoes grew in the American colonies, especially the colonies with hot and humid weather, it is not surprising to find many historical recipes using this versatile spud.
Sweet Potato Buns.
– Mary Randolph, 1824
Boil and mash a potato, rub into it as much flour as will make it like bread- add spice and sugar to your taste, with a spoonful of yeast; when it has risen well, work in a piece of butter, bake it in small rolls, to be eaten hot with butter, either for breakfast or tea.
Mise en place
Ingredients & recipe prep
- Ingredients: one large sweet potato, all purpose flour, sea salt, sugar, Rapid Rise yeast packet, and melted butter.
- Boil & Mash: In a pot of water, boil the sweet potato till fork tender. Once cool enough to handle, the skin will easily peel off. In a large bowl, mash the sweet potato or use a food processor if you would like more of a sweet potato puree texture.
- Yeast Mixture: in a small bowl, activate the yeast (if using Active Dry yeast packet) in warm water according to package directions. Rapid Rise yeast does not require activation and can just be added to the recipe.
- Melt: in a microwave-safe bowl or sauce pan, melt the butter.
Tools you’ll need
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How to make easy sweet potato buns
Combine: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, add the remaining ingredients of melted butter, salt, sugar, and yeast mixture or packet to the mashed sweet potato. Make sure the sweet potato is below 120 degrees to keep the yeast alive. Next, add a 1/2 cup of flour at a time until the dough starts to come together and does not stick to the sides.
Knead: I like to knead right in the bowl or you can knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. Apply flour to your hands as you pull and fold the dough over itself. Knead the dough until a smooth texture for about 5 to 10 minutes. Lightly sprinkle flour on the dough if it becomes sticky while kneading.
Rise: I leave the dough in a lightly oiled bowl (olive oil) to rise. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and keep in a warm area to rise. You could use a dehydrator or a proofing box to maintain a consistent temperature, if your is house cool.
Shape: Once the dough has doubled in size (time will depend on the warmth of of your proofing space; about 2 to 4 hours), pull a small fist size piece from the dough. I sometimes shape the dough in my hands by folding it over itself tucking the fold over until it is a smooth ball. On a clean surface, I will again pull the dough ball (seam side down) in a clockwise motion to finish and firm the shape of the roll.
Bake: Next, place the dough balls next to each other in a buttered pan. I tend to use a cake pan, cast iron pie plate, or small rectangular pan. Let the rolls rest (covered) for about 5 to 10 minutes before baking. Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees and bake for about 40 minutes. After 30 minutes, check the rolls and if they are golden brown, cover with foil for the remaining cook time.
Alternative:
These sweet potato rolls make the most amazing hamburger buns! Prepare the buns the same as the rolls. However, make the buns larger than the rolls and use a rectangular pan or rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The recipe usually yields six hamburger buns. Before baking, apply an egg wash to the tops of the buns and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional). Oven temperature and bake time is the same as for rolls.
Sweet potato buns/rolls: tips & substitutions
Leftover Tip: If you serve these rolls with Thanksgiving dinner and happen to have some leftover, they make excellent bread for turkey cranberry sliders. Just slice one open, add a slather of cream cheese, a dollop of cranberry sauce, and a slice of turkey. I prefer them cold, but you could heat the turkey before assembling the sandwich.
Substitution: For a sweet bun or roll, substitute brown sugar for the cane sugar. Next add 1/4 cup currants or raisins with a 1 tsp of cinnamon to the sweet potato/butter mixture before adding the flour. Continue to follow the buns/rolls recipe as directed above. Finally, create a simple milk and powder sugar icing to drizzle over the buns, after they have cooled for 5 or 8 minutes.
Sweet potato buns: FAQ’s
Sweet potato buns are yeast rolls with mashed sweet potatoes as one of the main ingredients. The round buns are light and airy and are considered a type of dinner roll. They can be used as a side for a meal, bread for a sandwich slider, or as a fun twist as hamburger buns.
You can store sweet potato buns in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Although, I feel keeping them in the refrigerator is better for short term storage. For longer term storage, the rolls can be kept in the freezer. Flash freeze the rolls for an hour and then wrap each one with plastic wrap before putting them in a container.
In the 18th century, a regular orange sweet potato variety would have been used. However, today you have more options that could make for some visually spectacular bread. Imagine how vibrant your rolls would be if you used the Okinawan purple sweet potato!
Check out:
More sweet potato posts
One Last Tip: The final amount of flour used may vary due to the size of your sweet potato. You may need more or less than two cups. If you would like a standard measure, I would use one cup of mashed sweet potato with two cups of flour in the recipe. But, what fun would standard measures be when following Mary Randolph’s 19th century recipe!
Recipe for easy sweet potato buns
Easy Sweet Potato Buns or Rolls
These are a deliciously easy alternative to the classic dinner roll. They are light, fluffy, and slightly sweet.
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato (boiled & mashed)
- 2-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter (melted)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or salt of your liking
- 1 Rapid Rise yeast packet
- olive oil (see instructions)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large mixing bowl add the melted butter, salt, sugar, and yeast packet to the mashed sweet potato. Stir to combine.
- Add a 1/2 cup of flour at a time to the mixture until the dough starts to come together and does not stick to the sides.
- Knead the dough right in the bowl or knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. Apply flour to your hands as you pull and fold the dough over itself. Knead until smooth.
- Leave the dough in a lightly oiled bowl (olive oil) to rise. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and keep in a warm area to double in size (about 2 to 4 hours).
- Shape the dough by folding it over itself tucking the fold over until it is a smooth. On a clean surface, pull the dough ball (seam side down) in a clockwise motion to finish and firm the shape of the ball.
- Place the dough balls next to each other in a buttered pan. Let the rolls rest (covered) for about 5 to 10 minutes before baking.
- Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees and bake for about 40 minutes. After 30 minutes, check the rolls and if they are golden brown, cover with foil for the remaining cook time.
Notes
- Make sure the sweet potato and melted butter are below 120 degrees before adding the yeast to the recipe.
- The dough may use more or less of the listed flour.
