Amish Potato Rolls

As we gear up for Thanksgiving next week, I’m pretty sure this is truth for anyone dining with kids  younger than 15:

But if we’re being completely honest, the rolls are my favorite part, too. And the gravy. If I could have a Thanksgiving dinner made of just rolls and gravy, I’d be a happy girl, plus it would save me a ton of work.

We have a lot of roll recipes here on the blog. These World’s Best Dinner Rolls are kind of the holy grail of rolls. And then we have these One-Hour Dinner Rolls. And these Multi-Grain Rolls will make a believer out of anyone who doesn’t think they like bread with “the roots and everything” as my brother used to call it when we were kids. But I’ve always been intrigued by potato rolls, which are rolls where the dough is enriched by mashed potatoes (this recipe, which calls for actual mashed potatoes instead of just flakes, comes from King Arthur Flour).

The result is actually very similar to our World’s Best Dinner Rolls, but a few key differences are that this recipe yields fewer rolls, so if you’re not in a place where you want to make 2 pans, this will make just one. It also is very make-ahead friendly–these rolls stay fresh for several days, so you can bake these ahead of time and free up some of your oven real estate. Plus, it’s kind of fun to throw in some (unseasoned) mashed potatoes–just save about a cup after you add butter and milk, but before you add salt, pepper, or garlic. Also, this dough is fantastic for making doughnuts.

For these rolls, you’ll need 2 eggs, some sugar, kosher salt, softened butter, unseasoned mashed potatoes, active dry yeast, lukewarm water (preferably from the mashed potatoes, if possible), and some all-purpose flour.

One of the things I love about this recipe is that you just kind of throw it all together–no yeast proofing or anything like that. It does mean it takes a little for everything to rise, so keep that in mind, but this is a very forgiving dough that can be refrigerated and frozen in various places along the way.

Anyway. To make the dough, combine all the ingredients in a a heavy duty mixer or a bread machine set to the dough cycle. Mix until it comes together in a smooth, soft dough.

Spray a bowl with nonstick cooking spray and add the dough.

Cover

and allow to rise for 90 minutes or until it’s doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough and then divide and shape the dough as desired.

This is a versatile dough that will work well in different shapes–I made 15 pull-apart rolls in a 9×13″ pan with a little dough left over, but these would do really well if you divided the dough into two portions and rolled them each into circles. Use a pizza wheel to cut 8 wedges and then roll them from the wide end in to make crescent rolls. You could also make buns on a large baking sheet where the rolls don’t touch and the roll is browned on all sides. Whatever method you use, be sure to lightly grease the baking dish or line the pan with parchment before baking.

After shaping the rolls, cover the pan(s) with a clean cloth and allow to rise 45-60 minutes or until they’re puffy. While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

After baking, brush the tops with melted butter. These rolls will last for several days at room temperature.