Sweet Potato Yeast Rolls

I've been wanting to give sweet potato yeast rolls a whirl.  I have this unending sweet potato craving in progress.  The dough is quite sticky so it's a bit of a pain to knead it before the first rise, but the slight annoyance is worth it.  The rolls turned out quite lovely, crusty on the outside and tender on the inside.  I think they would be perfect with a little honey or butter...I'm leaning towards honey.  ;)


Sweet Potato Yeast Rolls

1 package active dry yeast
2 cups spelt flour
3 to 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potato*
3 tbls vital wheat gluten
1 cup skim milk
2 tbls oil
1 tbls raw honey
1/4 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water...warm water from the tap works just fine. Heat milk in the microwave until warm and add to the yeast. Stir in the oil, honey, and salt. Mix in the spelt flour and vital wheat gluten. Mix in the mashed, sweet potato.  Gradually mix in the flour until the dough gets too difficult to work in the bowl. Turn out onto your work surface and continue to knead in flour.  The dough is going to be quite sticky to work with.  Knead the dough for several minutes. Place in a clean bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for an hour. Dough should be doubled in size.

Grease two cookie sheets. Turn dough back out onto floured work surface. Using a knife, cut off a small bun sized portions of dough. Work it in your hand to give it a nice round shape. Generally I rotate the dough in one hand and turn the edges under with the other, adding flour as needed....this gives you a pretty little round.  Place your roll on the cookie sheet and repeat the shaping process with the remainder of the dough. Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Makes about 18 rolls.

*I peeled, sliced, and boiled my sweet potatoes on the stove before mashing.


A couple more pics of the rolls...
The sweet potato gave these rolls such a pretty gold color.  They just cry out to be nibbled on.  The spelt flour is not a must of course...if you prefer wheat or all white flour that would work out fine as well.  Mmmm...some ground oatmeal would probably taste heavenly with the sweet potato actually. 

A little insider view....lookit that pretty crust!  Rawrrr.  Ahem.  ;)