This post may contain references to products from one or more of our advertisers. Oh Sweet Basil may receive compensation when you click on links to such products.
These Sweet Potato Rolls are so easy to make and can be prepared in advance and baked off later. Perfect for the holidays!
Sweet Dinner Rolls From Scratch
I am not a trained chef or baker. I haven’t had years of culinary school or been presented with major awards, but I still make some pretty awesome food and sometimes it turns out so good I feel like it must have been luck. In fact, I tested this one again and ate so very slowly just to think about the flavor and texture perfectly to assure it really was as awesome as I thought.
And you know what? These homemade sweet potato rolls are more than awesome, they may be my new favorite.
We’ve always been HUGE roll snobs at our house. For a long time we would only eat classic potato rolls, which even our readers and friends agree are the best ever. But after months of testing, we finally fell in love with this homemade roll recipe that is soft and delicious. And that’s it! We would only make those two recipes. Which is a good thing, because if you want to know the secret to bread or roll making, well secrets, it’s two things…
First, scalded milk. Always scald your milk. It allows for a fluffier rise and dough. And number two? Well that’s easy, practice makes perfect. And I don’t just mean looks. Practicing bread making only gets you better and better at making the stuff. But these rolls? You really don’t “knead” to do much at all. Ha! I’m so funny.
But really, I don’t knead them at all and they are so light and airy and the flavor is just fantastic. Plus they look beautiful, which is always a crowd pleaser. K, now that I’ve rambled enough, pin this sucker and those other recipes and get baking. I expect lots of good comments about how much you love these!
What’s Needed for Sweet Potato Rolls?
To make these easy dinner rolls, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Milk
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Dry active yeast
- Bread flour
- Kosher salt
- Vital wheat gluten
- Baked and mashed sweet potato
- Egg
How to Make Sweet Potato Rolls
These are yeast dinner rolls, which means they require a couple hours to rise. I’ve given detailed instructions in the recipe card below on how to make this recipe, but here’s an overview of the steps:
- Make the dough. I used a standing mixer, but you can use a wooden spoon and some upper body strength.
- Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours.
- Once risen, turn the dough onto a floured surface. Roll out and cut into 2-inch pieces.
- Gently roll the pieces into balls, then place on a greased cookie sheet.
- Let the rolls rise a second time.
- Bake until done.
How to Shape Dinner Rolls
In case you want to learn a fool proof way to shape your rolls, just watch this video.
[faq]
Can Dinner Roll Dough Be Frozen?
Yes, the best way to freeze bread or roll dough is to let it rise, shape the dough into loaves or rolls, and freeze. Place the shaped dough on a cookie sheet, (make sure to leave space between the rolls or loaves) and freeze.
Once frozen, transfer to freezer bags and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat Dinner Rolls
These sweet dinner rolls can be reheated in the oven.
- Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F.
- Place rolls in a baking dish and brush with melted butter, cover with foil and bake until warm.
The slow cooker is also a brilliant way to reheat rolls.
- Put a kitchen towel in the slow cooker, and place the rolls inside.
- Cover and cook for about 30 minutes.
You can also reheat rolls in the microwave.
- Arrange rolls on a microwave-safe plate.
- Cover the rolls with a slightly damp, clean kitchen towel.
- Wrap the entire plate in a dry towel.
- Microwave until just warmed through, 30 to 45 seconds.
Can I Prep Dinner Rolls in Advance?
- You can make the dough, wrap in plastic wrap in the bowl, and let sit in the fridge overnight. Then, allow to come back to room temperature for an hour or two and proceed as normal.
- You can also make the dough, roll out into rolls on the pan, and cover with plastic wrap in the fridge. Then, let rest at room temp for an hour or two in a warm place and bake as normal.
- Or you can bake them completely the day before, leave them on the pan and cover with foil once cool, and then reheat with the foil over them in a 350F oven until warm. 🙂
[/faq]
Tips for Making Sweet Potato Rolls
- If you’ve never used vital wheat gluten before, it’s generally in the baking aisle by the yeast. Most specialty stores like Good Earth or Whole Foods tend to carry it as well.
- If you don’t have cooked sweet potato on hand, you could substitute pure pumpkin puree in this recipe.
- If you don’t have bread flour, all-purpose may be substituted. Just be sure to sift the flour first to keep these rolls ultra light and fluffy.
More EASY BREAD Recipes You’ll Love:
- Homemade Baguette
- Garlic Parmesan Focaccia
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Skillet Cornbread
- Homemade Naan
- Best Potato Rolls
- Feta Muffins
- Easy No Knead Artisan Bread
- One Hour Rolls
- 7-Up Biscuits
- Whole Wheat Potato Rolls
- Herbed Focaccia Bread
- Cheesy Ranch Rolls
- All our BREAD RECIPES here!
Homemade Sweet Potato Rolls
Ingredients
- 2/3 Cup Milk
- 5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, diced
- 3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Dry Active Yeast
- 2 3/4 Cup Bread Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt, (or 3/4 teaspoon sea salt)
- 1 teaspoon Vital Wheat Gluten, (keep away from the salt when dumping in)
- 1 Cup Sweet Potato, baked and mashed with skins removed (about 1 large sweet potato)
- 1 Large Egg with 1/2 Tablespoon Egg White Removed
- Butter , for tops after baking
Instructions
- In a glass measuring cup, microwave the milk for 90 seconds, but do not allow to boil.2/3 Cup Milk
- Remove from microwave and add the butter to the milk.5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- Stir to combine and allow the butter to completely melt.
- Once it is warm but not hot, add the sugar and yeast and set aside.3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar, 1 teaspoon Dry Active Yeast
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the flour, salt, vital wheat gluten on the opposite side of the bowl as the salt, and mix with a paddle attachment or stir by hand.2 3/4 Cup Bread Flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Vital Wheat Gluten
- Add the yeast mixture, sweet potato and egg.1 Cup Sweet Potato, 1 Large Egg with 1/2 Tablespoon Egg White Removed
- Mix again just until the dough comes together and then switch to the dough hook and mix for 90 seconds.
- Drape a light towel or saran wrap over the bowl and allow to rise for 1-2 hours.
- Sprinkle the counter lightly with flour and turn the very soft dough out.
- Sprinkle the top with a little more flour and roll out to about 1/4-inch thick rectangle.
- Starting at the end closest to you, pinch the dough closed and tightly roll into a log.
- Cut about 2-inch pieces and using the palm of your hand, gently roll the dough into balls. (Watch the video in the post for additional help.)
- Place on a greased cookie sheet and cover with another towel or saran wrap.
- Allow to rise for 1-2 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 18-20 minutes, then quickly brush the tops with more butter and serve.Butter
Recipe Notes
- You can make the dough, wrap in plastic wrap in the bowl, and let sit in the fridge overnight, then allow to come back to room temperature for an hour or two and proceed as normal.
- You can also make the dough, roll out into rolls on the pan and cover with plastic wrap in the fridge, then let rest at room temp for an hour or two in a warm place and bake as normal.
- Or you can bake them completely the day before, leave them on the pan and cover with foil once cool and then reheat with the foil over them in a 350F oven until warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh my, these look wonderful, and if they tastes half as great, it will be sure winner.
Thanks so much!
Thanks for an entertaining easy to follow recipe!
I made it once and brushed on melted butter on and then they sat for an hour and got soggy as we waited for the guests. So I made a second batch and instead of heavily brushing them with melted butter I took a solid stick of butter and just lightly brushed it over the tops of the rolls and they were delightful! Thanks and I hope your family had a great Thanksgiving! 🙂
Thanks Tamara,
We like to use a stick of butter as well. Not sure why it makes a difference but it does seem to!
Did you really get 30 rolls out of this recipe or did I miss something?
Just depends on how big you make them.
How big did you make them? Last recipe I rolled about 12 rolls that were about 1/2 the size of my fist.
Dana, that’s about how big I made them, however I let them rise quite a bit so the dough is bigger and I get more. I’ll adjust the amount just in case anyone has your same results just to be safe. 🙂
Is it sweet potato or yam?
It’s a sweet potato
These look so yummy! I’ve added them to my Thanksgiving Menu. Can you tell me if I have this right? If I were to make the dough the night before, would I let the dough rise, shape them, place them on a baking sheet and lightly cover with saran wrap and put them in the fridge? Then when I am ready to bake them the next day, I would take them out of fridge, let them rise on counter for 1-2 hrs and then bake them? Am I missing any steps? Thanks so much for your recipe and your help 🙂
That’s right!!
Hi! These look amazing. I already read in the comments that I can skip the active wheat gluten so I will probably try it that way, but I am wondering how you prepped the sweet potato. Wrap it in foil and bake at 350 till it’s soft? And is that something that can be done ahead of time? Like have you tried baking several and then freezing them in 1-cup quantities to be thawed for use in these rolls.
Planning to buy a few sweet potatoes so I can try these rolls this weekend. =)
Hi Lindsey,
I just pricked it and baked it on the foil without actually wrapping them. You can do it a few days ahead of time, however I’ve never tried freezing them as sometimes too much texture and water is lost in freezing. 🙂
Sweet Basil where do I buy wheat gluten?
Hi Sandy,
All of our stores here in Utah carry it in the baking section under brands like, Hodgson Mill, Bob’s Red Mill etc. Outside of Utah you’ll have to check around. Health food or more natural stores sell it or amazon.com.
i made these but I didn’t get much of a rise before and after shaping them into balls. When I baked them they were small. Any suggestions?
Hi Melissa,
A few things could have happened so stick with me here,
Was your house at all chilly? Rolls love a warm home so I tend to heat the oven to 200 then leave it on for 15 minutes. Turn it off and open the door then put the rolls next to it on the counter.
Was your yeast good and did it proof well?
Did the yeast come in contact with salt directly?
Are you meaning yam instead of sweet potato? The color of the rolls look more like yam color. Just wanted to make sure I buy the right kind!
Hi Chanel,
It’s an orange sweet potato. You can buy yams, orange sweet potatoes and white sweet potatoes at the store so it gets a little confusing but it’s definitely an orange sweet potato 🙂
looks wonderful. Would I be able to give these as a gift without cooking them? Could they be refrigerated after they rise? For how long? Thanks!
Hi Patty,
You could freeze the dough and give them frozen with instructions for letting them rise on the counter, shaping, rising again and baking. They can rise and then be shaped and refrigerated for a day if lightly wrapped in saran wrap