Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: The sweet potato and honey give these rolls just a hint of sweetness.
Texture: The best part! These rolls are golden brown and slightly chewy on the outside, with an amazingly soft and fluffy inside.
Ease: Totally doable!! Promise.
Pros: Amazing dinner roll recipe everyone will adore.
Cons: Requires some patience.
Would I make this again? 100000% yes.
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Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls belong on your Thanksgiving table this year.
These rolls turned out WAY better than I ever imagined. A friend actually said they were possibly the best dinner rolls he’s ever eaten. I’d say that’s a pretty incredible review!
These rolls are perfectly light and fluffy, with a golden brown, slightly crisp crust, a hint of chewiness throughout, and a subtle sweet potato flavor.
No need to be intimidated by yeast baking, I promise. This recipe is super simple!
These Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls pair beautifully with both sweet and savory, so they’re absolutely perfect for Thanksgiving! I hope you’ll give them a try!
Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls Recipe Tips
Do I Have to Use Bread Flour?
Bread flour contains a higher percentage of protein, which helps the dough to develop stronger strands of gluten, meaning it helps to form rolls with a nice tall structure and slightly chewy texture. If you don’t have bread flour, you can use the same amount of all-purpose – but your rolls may just be slightly shorter and less chewy, and may take longer to knead and rise.
The Sweet Potato
For this Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls recipe, I simply used one medium-large sweet potato and microwaved it until tender. The trick to ultra-light and fluffy rolls is to mash the potato until it’s completely lump-free. I think this is best done using a potato ricer (which also makes the BEST mashed potatoes) or even with a blender or food processor. Just don’t over-process. If you have to mash by hand, just keep going until no lumps remain.
The Yeast
I always use instant yeast (also called rapid-rise or quick-rise) because it’s so incredibly easy as it doesn’t require any proofing (aka the step where you combine the yeast with warm liquid for 5 minutes). You can just throw it in with the rest of the ingredients! If you don’t have instant yeast, you can always use regular active dry yeast. You’ll need to combine the active dry yeast with the warm water for 5 minutes, or until frothy, before you can add proceed with the recipe.
The Honey
There are two tablespoons of honey in this recipe to enhance the sweet potato flavor without making the rolls super sweet. However, if you like sweeter rolls, feel free to double that amount (1/4 cup honey) and add in about another 2 tablespoons flour to compensate for the extra moisture.
The Buttermilk
This not only acts as a tenderizer, but also gives a very slight tang to the rolls to balance out the flavor profile beautifully. If you can’t find buttermilk, simply use full-fat whole milk instead. Learn more about buttermilk and why I don’t recommend substitutions here.
Eggs & Butter
The eggs and the melted butter called for in this Potato Dinner Rolls recipe help to add flavor, richness, and a soft and tender texture. An egg wash is also brushed onto the unbaked rolls to encourage browning and a beautiful shiny crust. I also love to sprinkle the unbaked rolls with flaky sea salt to further enhance the flavor.
Can I Add More Flour if my Sweet Potato Dinner Roll Dough is Sticky?
I develop my recipes in Phoenix, Arizona, where it’s extremely dry. If you live in a humid climate, you’ll likely need to add more flour to the dough. Start by adding just a tablespoon at a time until the dough isn’t unbearably sticky – but be cautious not to add too much. It’s better to have a slightly sticky dough because adding too much extra flour can cause the rolls to become dense instead of light and fluffy.
Also, be sure to measure your flour correctly. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale for accuracy, but if you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method to ensure you’re not accidentally compacting too much flour in your measuring cups.
How to Make Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls Ahead of Time
For these sweet potato dinner rolls, here’s my recommended make-ahead method:
- Make the dough all the way through to rising once and shaping into rolls.
- Once the rolls are shaped, cover the pan well with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, bring to room temperature as the oven preheats before baking as the recipe directs.
- If the rolls haven’t doubled in size yet, allow to sit at room temperature until they do. The time this takes will depend on your kitchen temperature, humidity level, and how much the rolls have already risen, so be patient.
- The rolls are best served the day they’re baked, but you can reheat the rolls briefly in the oven or toaster oven at 300°F until warmed through to refresh before serving.
How to Store Make Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
Store rolls inside an airtight container or inside a ziptop freezer bag at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost to room temperature then reheat in a 300°F oven until warmed through before serving.
More Dinner Roll Recipes:
If baking bread from scratch intimidates you, be sure to Download my FREE Bread Baking Guide here!
Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 (250 grams) medium-large sweet potato
- 1 cup (240 ml) room temperature buttermilk or whole milk
- 4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
- 4 3/4 cups (600 grams) bread flour
For baking:
- 1 large egg
- Coarse salt
Instructions
- Prick the sweet potato all over with a fork. Place on a microwave-safe plate and microwave at least 4 minutes, turning halfway through, until a knife glides easily through the tender center. Cut in half and let cool before scooping out the flesh and discarding the skin.
- Press the flesh through a potato ricer for the best texture. You can also puree in a blender or food processor. Or, mash very well until no lumps are remaining. You should have about 230 grams of sweet potato after removing the skin.
- Combine the buttermilk, butter, eggs, honey, yeast, and sweet potato in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the salt and 2 cups of the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a rough, shaggy mass.
- Attach the dough hook to the mixer, turn to medium-low speed, and gradually add in the remaining flour, kneading until a mass of dough begins to form. Continue kneading on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes or until a soft, smooth ball of dough is formed. The dough should feel elastic and slightly tacky to the touch. If the dough is unbearably sticky, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Lightly spray a large clean bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature or until the dough is puffy and about doubled in size.
Bake the rolls:
- Spray a 13×9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Gently deflate the dough. Use a bench scraper, knife, or pizza wheel to divide the dough into 15 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place in the prepared pan. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the rolls all over with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt. Lightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for 30 minutes, or until about doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Bake the rolls for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container or ziptop bag for up to 3 days.
This post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated with new photos, and additional baking tips. Photos by Patty Kraikittikun-Phuong.
I love your recipe,in fact made 3 times already ,my kids and friends love it too.
I used purple sweet potato to give nicer colour,and I make the sweet potato a bit chunky for the texture,it came out really good..thanks for sharing your recipe.
Oh how fun! So glad everyone enjoyed these rolls 🙂
Your comments for active dry yeast say to combine with “the” warm water. The recipe never references warm water, and only includes a tablespoon for making the egg wash.
The warm water is only for if you are using the active dry yeast instead of instant yeast! There should be directions for how much water to use on the packet itself.
If we add water to activate the yeast, then do we need to reduce the liquid in the recipe by that amount?
Hi Beth! Yes, I’d recommend blooming your yeast in a couple Tablespoons of water (100-110°F) water, with a pinch of sugar, to give it a jump start – but then reduce the milk/buttermilk by a couple Tablespoons, too, to account for the extra liquid. This time of year, it likely won’t matter because of the dryness, but overly-wet doughs will take longer to proof and rise (especially in humid conditions), so it’s best to reduce the liquid just to be safe. Learn more about yeast types and how to substitute them here! Let us know what you think of these rolls once you’ve given them a try! 🙂
I am not a baker, however, I found this recipe right up my alley! I am going to post a picture later!
Hooray!
These are one of my new favorite rolls. I have made them three times. They are extremely moist and because of this they are really great as leftovers, even a few days after making them. I mashed by sweet potatoes by hand the first time but then purchased a ricer (I also use it for mashed potatoes and apple sauce) which has made it easier.
So glad you tried these rolls out!
Absolutely love these, has anyone worked out the calories
First off, these tasted amazing! Due to COVID, we had to forgo our large family celebration as many families had to do this year. So I needed to find a recipe for sweet potato rolls and wanted to do something a little different than the usual ones my aunt makes. These were fluffy and delicious and my nephew declared them his favorite part of the meal! When I baked them, they didn’t seem to want to bake where they joined each other in the pan and I ended up keeping them in the oven for longer than the recipe called for. I also ended up flipping them out of the pan and baking them upside down on foil to get the bottoms brown. It seems like they were a bit doughy. What did I do wrong? Any suggestions?
I made these yesterday for Thanksgiving, they were perfect! So delicious and soft. I didn’t measure/weigh my sweet potato but just held back on adding all the flour, I ended up needing less than the recipe called for so I assume my sweet potato was a bit too small. It worked out great though! Thanks for this recipe!
Hooray! So glad you tried these rolls out for Thanksgiving.
Hi Tessa,
I love your recipe and would love to make it for thanksgiving this year, which is an adventure since I haven’t made dinner rolls before
I don’t have a stand mixer, how do I make it by hand ?
Advice sincerely appreciated!
Many thanks
Hey Luci, check out my post on How to Knead Dough without an electric mixer! Good luck with your rolls!
Wonderful chewy bread rolls!!! Huge success
Yay! So glad to hear that.
These are delicious and love how well they came together! My entire family loves them!
Hi, can I use sugar instead of honey? And how much sugar? Thank you.
These rolls are wonderful! They were great with Peruvian corn chowder for a Saturday night supper and also grandkid-tested and approved on Thanksgiving in a vegan version.