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Aug 19, 2019

Potato Dinner Rolls

These potato dinner rolls are so light, fluffy, and moist, and they stay dinner table soft and fresh for at least a couple of days, although they'll probably disappear sooner than that.

Potato Dinner Rolls

The recipe for these potato dinner rolls is super flexible. You make and bake these rolls in just under three hours (mostly hands off). You can also let the rolls rise in the refrigerator for 8 to 16 hours before baking. This delayed rise will develop more flavor, and allow you to bake the rolls at your convenience.

When I have people over for dinner, I'd much rather spend time with my guests than have to spend time in the kitchen. If you're like me, you'll love these potato dinner rolls.

I made the dough and shaped these potato dinner rolls in the evening before a dinner with great friends, and placed them in the fridge overnight. I baked them in the morning and they were still soft and fresh for dinner without reheating, and they were a huge hit.

Note: If you don't like the look of the bubbly top of these rolls (I personally love it), then skip the overnight refrigerator rise and let them rise at room temperature and bake them immediately.

I served them with this tomato and fennel salad, make-ahead mashed potatoes (I reduced the recipe by a third), this Cap'N Crunch Ice Cream Pie, and some melt-in-your-mouth make-ahead short ribs from Jet Tila's new book, 101 Epic Dishes: Recipes that Recipes that Teach You How to Make the Classics Even More Delicious.

It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy time with our friends while reheating the ribs on the stove and the potatoes in the oven. The salad and the bread were also ready to go.

Potato Dinner Rolls close up


What kind of potatoes are in these potato dinner rolls?


For these potato dinner rolls, use russet potatoes because they are the highest in starch. Evidently, the starch in potatoes absorbs a lot of water, which keeps these rolls moist, fresh, and light. 

In addition, the potassium in potatoes, according to America's Test Kitchen, helps yeast rise more rapidly. How cool is that? 

Potato Dinner Rolls on a sheet pan

How to make these potato dinner rolls:


First, you peel, cube, and boil a large russet potato. Be sure to reserve the water in which you boiled the potato to use in the dough. This will capture any potassium that is leached from the potatoes while they are boiling. 

Next, you mash the potatoes with a small amount of butter and let them cool. 

Next you knead the rest of the ingredients together (be sure to use bread flour), including some of the reserved potato water, in a stand mixer until you have a smooth but sticky dough. Let the dough rise for 30 to 60 minutes, until doubled. 

At this point, divide and shape the rolls, cover them with oiled plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let them rise at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes, or immediately place them in the refrigerator to rise for 8 to 16 hours. 

Potato Dinner Rolls shaped dough

Finally, once the shaped rolls rise, brush them with an egg wash and bake them in the upper third of a preheated oven. 

You can serve these rolls warm or at room temperature. They are also excellent for sliders and breakfast sandwiches.

Potato Dinner Roll Variations:


You can add about 1/2 up of Parmesan or cheddar cheese to the dough and then sprinkle the tops with more cheese. You can also add some roasted garlic to the mashed potatoes before mixing the dough. 


Potato Dinner Rolls in a basket

Happy National Potato Day! 


Thank you to Valentina from The Baking Fairy for organizing this event! Check out all of the delicious potato recipes we made for the occasion:



Potato Dinner Rolls stacked up


Potato Dinner Rolls


Yield: 12 Rolls
Author:
These potato dinner rolls are so light, fluffy, and moist, and they stay dinner table soft and fresh for at least a couple of days, although they'll probably disappear sooner than that.

ingredients:

  • 1 10-ounce russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 5-6 tablespoons of the potato water
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 12 1/3 ounces (2 1/4 cups) bread flour, preferably King Arthur Flour
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten with a a tablespoon of water and a pinch of salt for the egg wash

instructions:

How to cook Potato Dinner Rolls

  1. Place the cut potatoes into a 3 quart saucepan, cover with unsalted water 1 inch above the potatoes, and bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat to medium low to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. 
  2. Transfer 3/4 cups of the potato cooking water to a heat proof bowl, and then drain the potatoes. 
  3. Return the pan with the potatoes to the burner and cook for another 30 seconds to boil off any excess water. 
  4. Mash the potatoes well with a masher and measure 1 cup of the potatoes and transfer them to a bowl. Add the butter, mix, and let the mixture cool.
  5. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, yeast, and salt. 
  6. Add an egg and the sugar to the potato water and whisk to combine and dissolve the sugar. 
  7. Add the potatoes to the flour mixture and mix with your hands in the bowl to create a lumpy mixture. 
  8. Switch to the dough hook and mix on low while slowly adding the potato water mixture. Mix for two minutes. 
  9. Scrape down the bowl, increase the speed to medium-low, and mix for an additional 8 minutes. The dough should be smooth but sticky. 
  10. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and knead by hand for about 30 seconds. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
  11. Let the dough rise until doubled, 30 to 60 minutes. 
  12. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Deflate the dough and cut it into 12 equal pieces. 
  13. Form each piece into a ball by stretching the dough surface to form a ball with a seam at the bottom. Cup the dough in your hand and move it in a circular motion to create surface tension. Place the ball, seam side down, on the parchment lined baking sheet and cover with oiled plastic wrap. 
  14. Repeat with the rest of the dough, placing the balls about 1 1/2 inches apart under the plastic wrap. 
  15. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F with a rack in the upper third of the oven. 
  16. Let the rolls rise for 30 to 60 minutes, until nearly doubled. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. 
  17. Alternatively, once the dough is shaped, cover and refrigerate immediately for 8 to 16 hours. Remove from the refrigerator for one hour before baking. 
bread, rolls, buns, potato rolls
Bread
American
Created using The Recipes Generator


This recipe was adapted from America's Test Kitchen. You can also find it in the book Bread Illustrated, which is a compilation of many of their bread recipes.

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Would you like to comment?

  1. A gorgeous bread recipe as usual, Karen! These potato rolls look picture-perfect. I love the idea of adding some garlic or cheese to the dough, too!

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  2. Oh Karen these look perfect! I love potato bread and would so love these rolls!

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  3. I think the next time I make mashed potatoes I will make extra so I can make these rolls the next day. Thanks Karen.

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  4. Your house must smell amazing all of the time! These rolls look incredible.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I love the smell of baking bread.

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  5. Your bread making prowess is simultaneously enviable and intimidating! I love your breads. Maybe one of these days I'll be brave enough to tackle some of your recipes.

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    Replies
    1. No need to be intimidated! Especially you with all of your cooking talents!

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  6. Hi Karen, I use metric measurements. Do you have them available for this recipe? Thanks

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    Replies
    1. If you Google "ounces to metric" the first thing you will see is a conversion formula.

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    2. Thank you. It still is a lot of trouble, in particular distinguishing between fluids and volumes.
      Nowadays, a lot of American websites have a button as part of the recipe that switches everything from US measurements to metric. So easy and very helpful.

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    3. I wish there was something available like that for my platform = ) I try to do metric as much as possible because I prefer it too. I then get chided by Americans, lol!

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  7. Oh my gosh, these potato rolls look and sound DIVINE! Thanks for sharing, Karen!

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  8. The tops on these potato rolls are just perfect- they look delicious!

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  9. Just printed this recipe! My husband is going to love these

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  10. Is it 10 ounce of potatoes or 110 ounce of potatoes?

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  11. Oh my. You've done it again. These look incredible! So tender and delicious. I am definitely trying these rolls soon.

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  12. Thanks so much for linking this to First Monday Favorites. I need to try my hand at these, may just be time to invite friends over for dinner so I can have an excuse to make them. Maybe, or I can just eat them all, hmmmm...

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