Pillowy Soft Potato Bread Dinner Rolls
I love a good dinner roll! They’re the best part of any meal, in my opinion. Especially if they are warm from the oven!
This recipe for Potato Bread Dinner Rolls comes from my cookbook, The Prairie Kitchen Cookbook, and it adapted from the recipe for the Potato Sandwich Bread. Did you know that you can easily turn most any bread recipe into a dinner roll recipe? All you have to do is shape the dough into little rolls and bake them in a pan! These dinner rolls are perfectly pillowy soft and the perfect accompaniment to your winter meals.
What is potato bread?
Have you ever had potato bread before? I had not heard of this bread until I moved to Iowa. It is a mainly sold at the local Amish stores near where I live, and I instantly fell in love with the delicious flavor and the fluffy structure of the bread.
Potato bread can be made with either potato flour or actual potatoes. The starch from the potatoes adds some delicious flavor to bread, and it creates a beautifully white crumb, which was ideal for bread making in centuries past. Potato bread is an old-fashioned bread from various countries including Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Chile, Brazil, Poland, and Hungary.
Tips for making potato bread:
To make this particular recipe, you will be using very watery mashed potatoes. The potatoes are boiled in water and then mashed, until you have an extremely liquefied version of mashed potatoes.
Potato bread is extremely moist and sticky, which can make it difficult to knead by hand. If possible, make your bread in a mixer with a dough hook. If you do not have an electric mixer, use flour sparingly to help prevent the dough from sticking to you and the counter. You can also rub a pit of oil onto the palms of your hands to help with the stickiness.
Use white baking potatoes. Really, any potatoes will work! You can even use sweet potatoes. However, more watery potato varieties like Yukon Gold potatoes can add too much moisture to the recipe and result in a crumb that is very loose and falls apart due to the short bulk fermentation.
final thoughts:
If you love making bread, then you are going to love this recipe! This is a great recipe for a beginner bread baker and gives incredible results every single time. In less than 3 hours, you can have delicious soft bread to eat at your next meal. If you would like to make this bread into a sandwich loaf, simply leave the dough whole and shape it for a standard loaf pan.
xoxo Kayla
Pillowy Soft Potato Bread Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 small baking potato (about 1/2 cup), peeled and cubed
- 3/4 cups (180 ml) water
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tbsp (23 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp (29 g) salted butter
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3 1/2 cups (455 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp (12 g) active dry yeast
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan with a lid, combine the water and potato. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat until the water is at a simmer. Cover the pan, and cook the potato for about 12 minutes, or until it is easily pierced with a fork. Mash the potato in the water with a potato masher, fork, or handheld electric mixer. Do not drain the water. Measure out 1 3/4 cups (420 ml) of the potato liquid, which will look like soupy mashed potatoes. If there is not enough potato liquid, add more water to the measuring cup to accommodate. If there is still liquid in the pan, discard it.
- Transfer the potato liquid from the measuring cup to the pan, then add the buttermilk, sugar, butter, and salt to the saucepan. On an instant-read thermometer, measure the temperature of the mixture. If it’s above 120°F (50°C), let it cool until it reaches that temperature; if it’s below 120°F (50°C), heat it to that temperature.
- In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add 2 cups (250 g) of the flour and the yeast. Add the potato mixture to the dry ingredients, and beat until it’s combined. Slowly begin to incorporate the remaining flour, 1⁄2 cup (64 g) at a time, until a firm, elastic dough forms. Knead the dough until it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes. It is better for the dough to be a bit on the wet side than too dry.
- Alternately, you can make this bread by hand. Mix the ingredients in a similar fashion in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. When a shaggy dough has formed, begin kneading in flour by hand, turning the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until the dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 20 minutes.
- Grease a large bowl lightly with oil or cooking spray. With wet hands and on a lightly floured surface, begin to pull the corners of the dough over itself, stretching and folding, until it creates a smooth ball. Place the dough ball into the bowl, turning it over so both sides are coated in oil, and cover the dough with plastic wrap or a clean, damp towel. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it’s doubled in size.
- Deflate the dough by gently pressing down on the center of the dome with your hands. Then, with a bench scraper or serrated knife, divide the dough into 12 equal sized pieces. If you want to ensure that the dough is equally divided, weigh the dough on a kitchen scale.
- With each piece of dough, stretch out the corners and pinch them towards the center, shaping the dough into little balls. In a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch (20 x 30-cm) baking dish, arrange the rolls. It is okay if they are touching. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Let the rolls puff until almost doubled, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- While the rolls puff, preheat the oven to 350° F (177° C). When the rolls are ready for the oven, bake them for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown on top and baked through the center. Serve the rolls warm with homemade butter!
