Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Soft Potato Rolls

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I just came up with the recipe for these rolls the other day and at dinner that evening my husband said they have to be on the Easter menu. I agreed. They are really very easy -- they won't eat up a big chunk of your meal prep time (just makes sure you start far enough ahead) -- but they are soft and sweet and the perfect dinner roll.

The recipe makes two round cake pans -- 8 rolls each -- which is perfect for Easter dinner with company. For a regular week night I would freeze half the dough for another dinner. A few notes: You could use all-purpose flour for this recipe, but the bread flour is what gives you the really tender roll. The milk and water should be baby bottle warm -- just slightly warmer than body temperature. And just add flour as directed. You may need the whole measure on a humid day, or less on a dry day. You'll want a really soft, but not sticky dough. For very soft rolls, brush the baked rolls with melted butter when they come out of the oven. Or for that homemade look, dust the tops with flour before baking.

Soft Potato Dinner Rolls
makes 16

 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (one package)
1/2 cup warm water (more if needed)
 1/2 cup warm milk
3 cups bread flour
 
1 t. salt
3 T. sugar
6 T. unsalted butter, soft
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes

Dissolve yeast with a pinch of sugar in 2 tablespoons of the warm water. Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, until the yeast begins to bubble. 
 
Add to the yeast the remaining ingredients, adding only two cups of the flour. Mix and knead everything —by hand or bread hook — until you have a smooth dough, adding more flour as needed a little at a time. The dough will be soft, but should not stick to the bowl or your hands. Add just enough flour to get this consistency.
 
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl, and allow dough to rise, at room temperature, until it's nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. It should be very puffy when it's ready.
 
Lightly grease two 9" round cake pans, or one 9" x 13" pan.

Gently push down the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased or floured work surface. Divide it into quarters and divide the quarters into quarters for 16 pieces. (If freezing half the dough, divide dough in half and place one half -- dusted in flour -- in a freezer bag and freeze promptly.** Continue with other half, dividing into eight portions.) 

Shape each piece into a ball (pull the dough into a very small ball with the edges underneath, smoothing the top).
 
Place eight balls in each of the round cake pans (or all in the 9" x 13" pan), spacing them evenly; they shouldn't touch each other.

Cover the pan(s) with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the rolls to rise until they're very puffy, and are touching one another, about 1 hour. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the rolls until they're a deep golden brown on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from pan. Serve warm or cool.

** To use frozen dough, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator, dust with flour, form into rolls and place in pan as directed. Let rise and bake as directed.

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10 comments:

Christal said...

I've been on such a bread kick lately and these look great! It sounds like they'd be similar in flavor to Parker House rolls. At what point would you freeze the dough?

Barbara said...

I have made a note in the recipe, Christal. I would freeze after the first rise. Thaw and form into rolls and let rise again. You could also half bake them for a brown and serve roll, but they'd probably be better the other way.

Mary said...

These sound absolutely delicious - I will be making them for Easter dinner this weekend. Do you think an overnight refrigerator rise would work once they are in the pans?

Barbara said...

Mary, It would be my preference to let them rise the first rise overnight. I find that when the rolls are formed and then let to rise in the fridge, they often fall when you take them out just before they bake. They still taste o.k. but might not look as good. Just take the cold dough out of the fridge, form them into rolls and then let them rise the second time. It will take longer because the dough is cold.

Liz B in PA said...

These sound wonderful. The picture reminds me a bit of the Bob Evans rolls I dearly miss and make a point of having whenever we have an opportunity when traveling. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to add this recipe to my stack of "try these soon" recipes.

Carina said...

We love having dinner rolls with dinner and I thought I had found the "perfect" dinner roll recipe a few years ago. But I know I'm going to have to try these too! (What if there is a better recipe out there and I miss it because I'm stuck on my previous recipe?!! Yeah...that's the way my mind works!) :)

C Killingsworth said...

Oh Barbara, these are just like my grandmothers. I can't wait to do them for myself!

Kaylan said...

Oh yum! These take me back to my childhood. When I was little my grandmother would always make potato rolls and make sandwiches out of them with leftovers. My favorite sandwich of all time is still her leftover meatloaf on homemade potato rolls with just a smidge of grainy mustard. Can't wait to try these out. As an Irish gal anything that has bread and potatoes is gold in my book!

Anonymous said...

looks delicious - keep on inspiring all of us - Happy Easter! Debbie

Sara said...

I made these on Good Friday. I doubled the recipe and used half for Easter. I used the other half for Hot Cross Buns----I flattened the dough and just sprinkled sugar and cinnamon across it and kneaded it in. Everyone loved them. Some of the Easter ones got frozen before baking, so I let them thaw and rise all day and baked just before dinner.