Sweet Potato Rolls with Maple and Thyme
Sweet potato rolls are super soft and fluffy with gorgeous orange color and the cozy Fall flavors of maple and thyme. They only take about 10 minutes of active time across a lazy couple of hours and they freeze like champions, making them perfect candidates for Thanksgiving Rolls and Breads.
| Taste | Texture | ||
| Savory, lightly sweet | Super soft, fluffy |
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 10 minutes | 2 hours 40 minutes | 12 rolls | Easy |
Sweet Potato Rolls Are:
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Rolls
- Roasted sweet potato
- Milk
- Butter
- Maple syrup
- Fresh thyme
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Salt
Equipment
- Bench scraper or knife
- Springform pan or 2 round cake pans
- Stand mixer
Can I Use Leftover Sweet Potato Casserole for Sweet Potato Rolls?
Nope, not for this recipe. The sweet potatoes in sweet potato casserole are far too moist from everything you add to them. Additionally, everybody makes their sweet potatoes a little differently, so it’s impossible to know exactly how much moisture you’re starting with. While I could eyeball a dough on my own experience for my own sweet potatoes, there’s not a standard I can give you to help you do the same.
Plain roasted sweet potato will make for a more reliably good dough every time.
How to Make Sweet Potato Rolls
- Roast the Sweet Potato: Wash a sweet potato and poke it all over with a fork. Roast it in a 375 F oven (a toaster oven is ideal!) for 35-45 minutes until a knife can slip easily in and out of the potato without any resistance. Cool the potato. You can roast the sweet potato up to 3 days ahead of time, storing the potato, unpeeled in the refrigerator.
- Mash the Sweet Potato: Cut the sweet potato in half and scoop out or squeeze out the flesh into a small bowl. Save the second half for another use. Use a fork to mash the potato into a smooth paste.
- Make the Dough: Melt the butter in a small pan along with the milk, maple syrup, and thyme. When the butter is fully melted, add in the eggs, sweet potato, and the yeast, whisking to dissolve the yeast. Add all the wet ingredients to a mixer bowl along with the flours and salt. Knead the dough with a dough hook until smooth and elastic–about 4-5 minutes on low speed (Kitchen Aid 2). Cover the dough for 1 hour until it has doubled in bulk.
- Shape the Rolls: Butter a springform pan or 2 small cake pans. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and then divide the dough into 12 pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place it in the pan, leaving space between the rolls. Cover the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
- Bake: Towards the end of the 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until they are beginning to brown around the top edges and are set. Brush the rolls immediately with melted butter and sprinkle with a little coarse salt and more chopped thyme. Cool the rolls for about 5 minutes before releasing the ring on the Springform pan.
More Thanksgiving Rolls
Sweet Potato Rolls with Maple and Thyme
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 rolls 1x
Description
These no-fuss ultra soft rolls with bright orange color and deep Fall flavors are perfect for dunking in your turkey gravy or slathering with butter.
Ingredients
Scale
Sweet Potato Roll Dough
- 1 sweet potato (about 8 ounces)
- 1/3 cup whole milk (79 mL)
- 4 Tablespoons butter (57 g)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (60 mL)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 g)
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (65 g)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Finishing the Rolls
- 1 Tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Instructions
Roast the Sweet Potato
- Wash a sweet potato and poke it all over with a fork.
- Roast it in a 375 F oven (a toaster oven is ideal!) for 35-45 minutes until a knife can slip easily in and out of the potato without any resistance.
- Cool the potato. You can roast the sweet potato up to 3 days ahead of time, storing the potato, unpeeled in the refrigerator.
Mash the Sweet Potato
- Cut the sweet potato in half and scoop out or squeeze out the flesh into a small bowl. Save the second half for another use.
- Use a fork to mash the potato into a smooth paste.
Make the Dough
- Melt the butter in a small pan along with the milk, maple syrup, and thyme. When the butter is fully melted, add in the eggs, sweet potato, and the yeast, whisking to dissolve the yeast. Add all the wet ingredients to a mixer bowl along with the flours and salt. Knead the dough with a dough hook until smooth and elastic–about 4-5 minutes on low speed (Kitchen Aid 2). Cover the dough for 1 hour until it has doubled in bulk.
- Add all the wet ingredients to a mixer bowl along with the flours and salt. Knead the dough with a dough hook until smooth and elastic–about 4-5 minutes on low speed (Kitchen Aid 2). Cover the dough for 1 hour until it has doubled in bulk.
Shape the Rolls
- Butter a springform pan or 2 small cake pans.
- Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and then divide the dough into 12 pieces.
- Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place it in the pan, leaving space between the rolls.
- Cover the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
Bake
- Towards the end of the 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until they are beginning to brown around the top edges and are set. Brush the rolls immediately with melted butter and sprinkle with a little coarse salt and more chopped thyme.
- Cool the rolls for about 5 minutes before releasing the ring on the Springform pan. Wrap the rolls in a clean kitchen towel or cloth napkin in a bowl to keep them warm for serving.
Storing Sweet Potato Rolls
- Rolls are best eaten the day that they’re made, but they can be kept covered wrapped in a kitchen towel for up to 2 more days beyond that.
Notes
Make ahead: cool the rolls down and then package them either in foil pans covered in foil or flat in large plastic bags. Freeze up to 2 months ahead.
Reheating:
- Oven: Place the rolls on a sheet tray and reheat in a 350 F oven for 7-10 minutes.
- Slow cooker : Wrap the rolls completely in a lightly damp kitchen towel (you may need 2 towels) and place in the slow cooker on LOW for about 30 minutes. Definitely use the slow cooker if you’re short on oven space.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breads
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
