Best Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

The Best Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls are soft and fluffy, flavorful and rife for the buttering. There is little more satisfying than setting a big tray of piping hot homemade sweet potato dinner rolls down on the table. My family wolfed these things down, let me tell you. There’s just something about the addition of a single mashed sweet potato to a standard dinner roll recipe that really adds that extra special something to the finished rolls. They’re magical – the things of dreams. They’re definitely the best I’ve ever made. Read on for a little more about how to make the best sweet potato dinner rolls you’ll ever try, or just jump ahead to the recipe.

What is a Sweet Potato Dinner Roll?

Sure, you can head to the supermarket and grab a packet of frozen dinner rolls, give them a thaw and then re-heat them. I do that all the time. In fact, my family has been thawing-heating-serving the ole’ Sister Schubert’s Parker House Style Rolls since I was little.

But I have to urge you to give the homemade kind a try. This Best Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls recipe costs pennies to make, takes little effort and-or hands-on time, and the satisfaction you get when you serve them simply cannot be beat.

Thought you’d never ask! Sweet potato rolls are simply regular rolls – “dinner rolls” is a nice catch-all term I’ve slapped on this particular recipe – that include the addition of mashed sweet potato in the dough itself. Potato bread and potato rolls are a popular item throughout much of Europe, particularly in Ireland, and I think the subtle pink-orange glow that the sweet potato adds to the rolls is just lovely.

As you might infer, the addition of the sweet potato to the dough gives it a bit more heft – more body and a greater density – so it’s somehow a hearty roll that also manages to be impossibly soft, fluffy, and texturally just really, really great.

Suggestions for Serving these Homemade Sweet Potato Rolls

They’re rolls. So, you probably don’t need much in the way of serving ideas, suggestions, and whatnot. However I do think that these rolls – because of the sweet potatoes – do really complement the autumnal/cozy foods that tend to grace our dinner tables this time of year.

So, purely for inspiration’s sake, here are a few things you could do to dress these babies up right.

1. Butter. Just slather them with some creamy, soft butter – they practically beg for it the second they exit the oven. Call it a day.
2. Apple butter or pumpkin butter. You could take these rolls in a decidedly sweeter direction by slathering them with a great apple butter or pumpkin butter. Incidentally, I share the very BEST apple butter recipe in my cookbook, which you can snag a copy of here. It’s like stepping into a big fall-inspired dream – that was basically my inspiration for the book.
3. Sliders: This is maybe my favorite (besides eating them with butter). You can swap these sweet potato rolls in for the Hawaiian Rolls called for in my Saucy Meatball Sliders with Peppers and Onions and really dial up the wow factor.

What Ingredients Do You Need to Make the Best Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls?

Most potato-based rolls require the same standard list of ingredients: a flour (typically bread flour or all-purpose), mashed potatoes (today, we’re using sweet), a leavener (yeast!), salt for flavoring, eggs, sugar or a sweetener to feed the yeast (today, maple syrup), and often a liquid aspect (buttermilk in these rolls).

This roll recipe, as opposed to my Honey Cream Dinner Rolls, uses a fast-acting instant yeast. You can get to the land o’ dinner rolls very nicely with either type of yeast, but I wanted to share both ways on this site, just to demonstrate their differences. We don’t need to warm any liquid in this recipe, or “bloom” the yeast at all. Its a very quick, one-bowl bread dough. We LOVE this.

Here are the ingredients for these best sweet potato dinner rolls:

Sweet potato: The hero ingredient in today’s recipe. Sweet potatoes lend their natural sweetness to a simple enriched bread dough and make the whole thing just so much more than basic. They also give a fetching rosy hue to things, which helps with the final look … like it’s a fashion show or something … the table’s their runway! Ha. Okay, sorry).

Buttermilk: This offers moisture and wonderful flavor to the rolls. You could absolutely use regular milk here, if you like. Or even half and half or cream (you little devil).

Unsalted butter: This is an enriched dough, as opposed to a lean dough. The difference between a lean dough and an enriched dough all lies in the “extras.” I’m talking about the extra fun ingredients you add to build up the dough. Butter, oil, eggs, cream cheese or other types of cheese, for example.

Eggs: For this recipe, two eggs will go into the enriched dough itself. The third egg will be beaten with a little bit of water. This creates what’s called an “egg wash” which will coat the tops of our rolls, helping them get nice and brown with a fetching, glossy sheen.

Maple syrup: This is the sugar that will serve to both feed our yeast and lend a touch of sweetness to the rolls. You won’t be able to detect the maple flavor in the finished rolls, but the maple syrup and its distinct smoky, burnt ember sweetness is the perfect complement to a sweet potato roll dough.

Instant Yeast: Not to be confused with active dry yeast. We’re using instant or “fast acting” today, so we can jump right over and past the blooming stage.

Salt: Too much and you’ll kill the yeast. Not enough and your rolls will be very bland. So, 2 teaspoons is what I’ve found the tipping point to be in this recipe, and it’s perfect.

Bread flour: There’s more protein/gluten going on in this dough than would be the case were we to use AP flour. This lends us a sturdier, fluffier, altogether stronger dough in the end. Bread flour is just wonderful in dinner rolls, and I always use it in mine.

Crunchy sea salt: The perfect finishing touch for any and all manner of dinner roll, I think. I use Maldon, but any variety or brand you like will work just fine. If you want to get a little fancy with things, maybe try a flavored sea salt as the crowning glory. A smoked sea salt? Yes ma’am. A chili-orange salt maybe? I’m screaming over here. Flavored salts are the greatest, and finishing fresh rolls with them is a perfect way to show them off.

How to Make The Best Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls From Scratch:

1. Prick the sweet potato all over with a fork, creating openings for the steam to escape. Microwave the potato for at least 4 minutes, or until very tender; a knife/fork should cut through easily. Cut the potato in half, lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out all of the flesh. Put the sweet potato flesh into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
2. Alternatively, you could mash with a fork or potato masher until no lumps remain. 
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, combine the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, maple syrup, yeast, and mashed sweet potato. Add the salt and 2 cups of the flour; mix on low to med-low until a shaggy dough has formed. 
4. Gradually add in the remaining flour and mix (on med-low to medium speed now) until a ball of dough has formed. Keep kneading for about 4 to 5 minutes, until the ball has smoothed out and is well mixed. It should be elastic and should bounce back when pressed. If it’s too sticky to handle, you can add 1 TBSP of additional flour at a time, kneading in between each addition, until the dough is smooth and tacky. 
5. Coat a large mixing bowl with olive oil or non-stick spray and place the dough inside. Cover with a kitchen towel or some plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for about an hour or until poofy and close to doubled in size. 
6. To bake the rolls: Spray or grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Punch the dough down in the bowl, deflating it some. Using a knife, divide it into 12 equal portions and roll each into a ball. Place them in the dish. Mix the remaining egg together with 1 TBSP water and brush some of this egg wash over the tops of the rolls (you wont use it all). Sprinkle with some sea salt. Cover again with a kitchen towel or some plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes. 
7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake until golden brown on top and cooked through in the centers; about 20 to 22 minutes. Serve warm.

If you like the looks of these Best Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls, you might want to try:

Soft and Buttery Homemade Garlic Knots

Honey Cream Dinner Rolls

Giant Salted Maple Butter Parker House Rolls

The Best Homemade Naan

Need some fresh sweet potato recipes? I’ve got you covered there, too.

Curried Turkey and Sweet Potato Soup

Egyptian Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Pomegranate

Sweet Potato Gratin with Pineapple

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