Potato Rolls

I hosted my family's Thanksgiving dinner this year and it turned out to be a big event.  To make things a little easier on myself, I opted for rolls that could be prepared ahead of time. I thought about making brown and serve rolls or refrigerator rolls the day before, but there's not much room in my refrigerator the day before because the turkey has to brine for 12 to 24 hours.  I needed to find a different option.

Well, I found just the ticket - Potato Rolls!  These rolls can be made up to a month in advance and frozen until ready to serve.  When you're ready to serve them, all you have to do is thaw the rolls completely, and reheat them in foil until warm. I have an extra freezer so this turned out to be the better option. Making the rolls a few days ahead of time freed me up to do other things Thanksgiving morning and freed up space in my refrigerator.  That's what I call a win-win! 

These rolls were such a big help and a big hit that I decided to share them with you.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.  I'll definitely be making them again.

Potato Rolls
Recipe from Cooking Light
Makes: 24 Rolls

 

 

Directions:

Place potato in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Mash potatoes with a fork. Cool reserved cooking liquid to 105° to 115°. Stir in 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast. Let stand 5 minutes.


You could use leftover mashed potatoes for this recipe, but then you wouldn't have the reserved potato water.


Lightly spoon 4 1/4 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine mashed potato, yeast mixture, 1 tablespoon sugar, 4 cups flour, butter, salt, and egg in a large bowl, stirring until well blended.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add up to 1/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).  Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top.

Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half; divide each half into 12 equal portions.

Working with 1 portion at a time (cover remaining dough to keep from drying), shape portion into a 2-inch-long oval on a floured surface.

Roll up tightly, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal.

Place roll, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Repeat procedure with remaining dough portions, placing 12 rolls on each of 2 baking sheets.  Sift 2 tablespoons flour over rolls to lightly coat.

Cover rolls and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake at 350° for 10 minutes with 1 baking sheet on the bottom rack and 1 baking sheet on the second rack from the top.

Rotate baking sheets; bake an additional 10 minutes or until rolls are browned on bottom, lightly browned on top, and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pan; cool on wire racks.

 

Then, the day you want to eat them, just reheat them and enjoy.

You might also enjoy using the leftover rolls to make miniature sandwiches with any leftover turkey.  That's what we did and the sandwiches were really delicious!


Thanks for visiting The Bread Experience Bread-Baking Blog.

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Pumpkin Crescent Rolls

It’s always fun to make festive breads for Holiday gatherings. I particularly enjoy making these Pumpkin Crescent Rolls. The canned pumpkin adds a wonderful, deep color to the rolls and pumpkin pie spice provides just a hint of flavor.

You'll like these rolls even if you're not a fan of pumpkin bread. My sons would never have known there was pumpkin in the rolls if I hadn't told them. They thought the rolls had cinnamon in them. My oldest son loves cinnamon so that’s a good thing.

 

 

Pumpkin Crescent Rolls

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Start to Finish: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Tip: To help with Holiday preparations, you can prepare these rolls up to 12 hours ahead, then cover and refrigerate. About 1 1/2 hours before serving, remove rolls to a warm place to rise until double in size. Bake at 400 for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 to 4 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 package regular active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 egg

Directions:

Yield: 16 rolls.

In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of the flour, the yeast, brown sugar, salt and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. 

In 1-quart saucepan, heat water, pumpkin and 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat to 120°F to 130°F, stirring occasionally.

Add pumpkin mixture and egg to flour mixture. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  By hand, stir in just enough of the remaining 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour to make a soft dough that leaves sides of bowl.

Place dough on floured surface. Knead 3 to 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy.

I covered the dough with a bowl and let it rest about 10 minutes before kneading. Letting it rest (autolyse) helps the gluten start to develop so you don’t use as much flour during the kneading process.

Place dough in large bowl greased with oil, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover and let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until double in size.

Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead a few times. Shape dough into a ball, then flatten.  Roll into 15-inch circle.

Spread with remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Cut into 16 wedges.

Roll up each wedge, starting at wide end. On ungreased cookie sheet, place rolls with points underneath and curve slightly.

Cover and let rise in warm place 20 to 30 minutes or until double in size.

Heat oven to 400. Bake uncovered 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve these aromatic rolls warm.

 

These rolls were a big hit with my family. I hope they will be with yours as well. 

Happy Baking!
Cathy