Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

These Sweet Potato Rolls take dinner rolls to a whole new level! They’re soft, pillowy, ever-so-slightly sweet and feature a salty, herby topping. Serve sweet potato dinner rolls with a slather of butter for Thanksgiving or enjoy them as buns for chicken sandwiches, burgers, pulled pork and more.

Sweet Potato Rolls

These sweet potato rolls are a definite show-stopper. Oftentimes dinner rolls are relegated to being the “filler,” or the side dish you always have but think little about. Not these—these sweet potato rolls have so much going for them. They’re soft, tender, slightly sweet, salty and herby. Schmear a warm roll with soft butter and you’ll be in heaven!

And because they’re baked on a sheet pan as individual rolls (not packed together in a baking dish) these rolls can be enjoyed in a variety of ways—as a side dish for Thanksgiving, as burger buns or pulled pork buns, to make a sandwich, and more.

Curious how I came up with this recipe? I joined the Bake from Scratch team for their Bread Box project with Red Star Yeast. This recipe is a variation of their Everything Bagel Potato Buns.

Sweet Potato Dinner Roll Ingredients

Flour

Both all-purpose flour and white whole-wheat flour are used in these rolls. For one, we love baking with whole-wheat flour here at ZK, and two, it adds a nice nutty flavor to the rolls which pairs wonderfully with the sweet potato. 

Sugar

Sugar is important for adding sweetness (not surprisingly) and feeding the yeast.

Yeast

Platinum Yeast is THE key to taking the intimidation out of baking with yeast. It’s also the key to getting great results every time. Red Star Platinum Yeast strengthens the dough and creates more “spring” in these sweet potato rolls.

Platinum Yeast may be substituted 1:1 for Active Dry or Instant Yeast. Instant yeast has a faster rate of action than active dry yeast; therefore, your dough MAY rise faster. Simply monitor your dough while it is rising and adjust the time as needed.

Sweet Potato

For this recipe we’re using mashed sweet potatoes. But one thing to note: it’s important to use mashed sweet potatoes that have been roasted. Boiled sweet potatoes will add too much additional liquid to the dough (and dilute the sweet potato flavor). Follow the baking instructions in this recipe. If you don’t want to dirty a food processor, you can skip the puréeing step in favor of your hands or a potato masher.

Seasoning  

Za’atar Seasoning is such a delicious spice blend for these sweet potato rolls! This spice blend features toasted sesame seeds, dried thyme and oregano, ground sumac and salt. It’s herby, slightly tart (thanks to the sumac) and toasty, all of which pair wonderfully with sweet potato!

How to Make Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

Yeasted dinner rolls are far easier than you may think. Here is the simple process for how to make sweet potato dinner rolls.

1. Make the Sweet Potato Purée



For the best texture and flavor, we recommend using sweet potato purée made from roasted sweet potatoes.

Prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Roast in a 425ºF oven until skins are wrinkly and potatoes are very tender, 50–60 minutes. Let cool slightly, then peel off skins; purée as directed.

2. Mix the Dough Ingredients Together

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine some of the all-purpose flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Mix this just to combine. Combine the water, milk and butter in a saucepan and heat just until it registers 120–130°F (49–54°C). Add this milk mixture to the mixer with the dry ingredients and beat together until combined.



Beat in the egg and mashed sweet potato then beat in the remaining flour. Mix until a shaggy dough forms then switch to the dough hook attachment and knead until the dough is soft, elastic and slightly tacky. If dough is too sticky, you can add more flour (by tablespoon) as needed.



3. Proof the Dough



Form dough into a large smooth ball and place in a greased bowl (flip the dough a couple times to coat it in oil). Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or loosely lay a piece of plastic wrap over top. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size in a warm draft-free area of your kitchen—this should take about 50 minutes.



Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it dough then let it rest for about 10 minutes.



4. Form the Dough Into Dinner Rolls



Divide the dough into 12 portions then shape each portion into a smooth dough ball (keep the dough balls covered while you work to keep them from drying out and forming a skin on the dough). Pat each ball into a 3-inch disk then place on baking sheets and allow them to rise once more (covered) until puffed—this will take about 30 minutes.

5. Bake the Rolls



Brush the dough balls with egg wash then sprinkle seasoning over top. Bake the rolls until they are golden brown. You can also bake by internal temperature, these rolls are done baking when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 200ºF.

Make Ahead Tips

Any kind of make-ahead or prep-ahead tips for baking is important. But especially for holiday baking recipes. There are a few ways you can prep or make these rolls in advance.

The first prep-ahead method is letting the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator.

This first rise (post kneading) usually takes about 40 minutes at room temperature. Skip that room temp rise and instead cover the bowl with the dough with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. When you’re ready to proceed with the recipe, punch down the dough and allow the dough to rest and come to room temperature, covered, for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Form the dough balls and continue with the final rise before baking. Keep in mind, the final rise may take a bit longer due to the dough being slightly chilled.

The second prep-ahead method is letting the shaped dough balls rise overnight in the refrigerator.

Once the dough balls are shaped, place them on baking sheets (or in a dish—though you’ll need to move them to a baking sheet for baking) and cover tightly with a piece of plastic wrap coated with nonstick cooking spray. Allow the dough balls to come to room temperature (about 30 minutes to 1 hour) prior to baking.

You can also make these ahead of time, here’s how to store or freeze them.

Fresh bread and rolls are best enjoyed the same day they’re baked. But even as major bread-fans, our two-person household can’t get through a full batch of 12 rolls in a day. 

These sweet potato rolls can be stored at room temperature for three days. If you don’t anticipate getting through them in three days, you can freeze them. To freeze these sweet potato dinner rolls, wrap them in plastic wrap followed by foil and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost the rolls at to room temperature then reheat in a 300°F (149ºC) oven until warmed through.

FAQs

Variations on These Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

• Swap the za’atar for dried rosemary. 
• Mix dried oregano, thyme and/or rosemary into the dough.
• Skip the za’atar and brush the tops of the baked rolls with warm honey right before serving.
• Keep it simple by skipping the za’atar and instead brush the warm rolls with melted butter right before serving.

More Bread Recipes to Love

Baking

Japanese Milk Buns

Sides

Garlic Naan Bread with Garlic Browned Butter

Healthy Baking

Healthy Skillet Cornbread

Baking

Kaiser Rolls

Pin This Recipe

Love this recipe and want to save it? Pin this recipe!

Pin This Recipe

This recipe and article was created in partnership with Bake From Scratch Magazine and Red Star Platinum Yeast. This recipe was adapted from their Everything Bagel Potato Buns. As always the thoughts, opinions, photos and content are all my own.

This recipe article was originally published on August 31, 2021.