Sweet Potato Rolls

Ingredients:

for the rolls:
4 cups flour
1 cup mashed roasted sweet potato
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 oz dry yeast
2 eggs, at room temperature

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast on the water. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook combine the yeast, butter, water, sugar, egg and sweet potato. Add the flour and mix on low until smooth. The mixture should become a sticky dough at this time but it shouldn't feel damp or look wet. If it does, mix in a small amount of flour. Knead on a floured surface or in a stand mixer until smooth but still slightly sticky. Place the ball of dough in a buttered bowl. Cover with a tea towel or loose plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 minutes or until it doubles in size.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove dough from bowl and break into 10 even pieces. Roll each into a ball. Place in two 9 inch round cake pans that have been lightly sprayed with nonstick baking spray, forming a circle with one roll in the middle. Allow to rise for 20 minutes.

Bake for 15 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove to a wire rack to cool for a minute then invert and pull apart to serve.

My thoughts:

Oh my, these were good. I am honestly not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, they are just too, well, sweet for me to eat at a regular meal. Too dessert-y. However, everyone else I know likes them so I am always trying to find a new way to use them that everyone (including me!) can enjoy. These completely fit the bill. They were a lovely light orange color and tasted like sweet potatoes but were still firmly a savory dinner roll. They were great spread with butter along side dinner but I am imagining leftovers transformed into rolls for sandwiches. They were wonderfully light and fluffy but substantial enough to hold some serious filling.


Note: This is a really forgiving recipe. Letting it rise for longer than the times listed here is perfectly fine.

Pumpkin Five Spice Sweet Rolls

Ingredients:

for the rolls:
4 cups flour
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 oz dry yeast
2 eggs, at room temperature

for the filling:
4 to 5 tablespoons butter, creamed
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons Chinese 5 spice powder*

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast on the water. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook combine the yeast, butter, sugar, egg and pumpkin. Add the flour and mix on low until smooth. The mixture should become a sticky dough at this time but it shouldn't feel damp or look wet. If it does, mix in a small amount of flour. Knead on a floured surface or in a stand mixer until smooth (but still slightly sticky).

Place the ball of dough in a buttered bowl. Cover with a tea towel or loose plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 minutes or until it doubles in size. It is okay if it rises longer or higher than that.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove dough from bowl and place on a clean, floured surface.



Roll the dough out in a large, 1/3 inch thick rectangle.



Spread the creamed butter over dough in a thin layer reaching all of the edges.





In small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and 5 spice powder. Sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough.



Roll dough into a tight log. Cut into 1 inch thick slices.




Discard the end slices if they are very small. Gently reshape each roll so they are round again.



Place in three 9 inch round cake pans that have been lightly sprayed with nonstick baking spray, forming a circle with one roll in the middle.




Allow to rise about 1/2 hour until they are about level to the top of the cake pan.




Bake for 15 minutes, then check to see if they are done. Pay careful attention to the creases where the rolls touch each other, you don't want any pockets of raw dough! Return to oven to fully cook as needed. Remove to a wire rack to cool for a minute then invert and ice.

Excellent with cream cheese sweet roll icing.

*I bought my bottle at H Mart (a Korean grocery store with lots of pan-Asian ingredients) but even McCormick makes a version now, so it is easily found at most grocery stores.


Yield: about 14 rolls

My thoughts:

This recipe took sort of a circuitous route into existence. I try to only post seasonal recipes and this time of year my most popular and favorite recipes to make always involve pumpkin, so I wanted to come up with a new way of using pumpkin.

I had been thinking about making pumpkin 5 spice ice cream until I decided that the flavor (five spice powder is a mixture of cinnamon, star anise, cloves, ginger and Sichuan peppercorn) might be better suited to a twist on the traditional cinnamon roll.

I really liked the idea of the five spice-pumpkin ice cream but wasn't confident that it would be good enough to post. I know that ice cream made with a ground spice often ends up with an unappetizing grainy texture so I had planned to break down the powder into the specific ingredients and use whole cloves, star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, cinnamon sticks and ginger and strain them out. However, I was worried that the flavor of so many whole spices might overpower the pumpkin. Five spice ice cream still sounds great (and I can't wait to make it) but for this recipe I really wanted the pumpkin flavor to be present and distinct. So I decided against it but was still in love with the idea of the five spice-pumpkin combination; five spice is similar to the traditional pumpkin pie spices but a little fresher and more dynamic.

I think I couldn't have come up with a better recipe incorporating five spice powder and pumpkin than these rolls. The fresh, pumpkin flavor is distinct but contained in the dough and is a great contrast to the distinctive flavor provided by the five spice powder in the sugar mixture. They are wonderfully addictive. We couldn't even wait for the them to cool before we devoured several. Really, they are better than any cinnamon roll I've ever had.

The dough is very soft and easy to work with; it rolls out like a dream. And while, yes, this recipe isn't exactly healthy, unlike a lot of sweet roll recipes, it only calls for 4 tablespoons of butter in the dough (unlike the 1/2 to 1 cup I've seen in cinnamon bun recipes) and I was able to get by with only 4 tablespoons in the filling. Not bad for a sweet roll that tastes so decadent.

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnamon Buns)

Ingredients:
DOUGH:

4 cups flour
1/2 oz yeast
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt

FILLING:
1/2 cup butter, creamed
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve 2 packages of yeast in 1/2 cup of very warm (not more than about 100F) water and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let sit. In a small saucepan, warm butter and milk to about 100F. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook combine dissolved yeast and the butter mixture on low. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar, then the egg. Add salt and 2 cups of flour on low, mix until smooth. Slowly mix in the remaining 2 cups of flour. The mixture should become a sticky dough at this time. Scrape out the dough onto floured counter top. Knead dough until it doesn't stick to your hands, adding small amounts of flour (up to 1/2 cup) as needed.
Place in a greased bowl. Cover with damp cloth and let rise for about 45 minutes or until it doubles in size. Preheat oven to 350. Remove dough from bowl and place on a floured counter. Roll out in a 12 by 24 inch rectangle. The dough should be about an inch thick. Using your fingers or a spatula, spread 1/2 cup of the very soft, creamed butter over dough. In small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling. Sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough. Roll dough into a tight log. Cut into 1 inch thick slices. Place in 2 ungreased, 9 inch round cake pans, forming a circle with one roll in the middle. Allow to rise about 1/2 hour until they are about level to the top of the cake pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, then test for doneness. Pay careful attention to the creases where the rolls touch each other. Return to oven 5-10 additional minutes as needed. Remove to a wire rack or invert on a plate and ice.


Excellent with cream cheese icing.


My thoughts:
A homemade version of my favorite Amish market treat. I have been trying hard to develop a recipe that comes close and I think this one does. My sweet husband made them for me as a special holiday treat.