Sourdough Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

Not to build up the hype too much for these soft Sourdough Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls, but I think they’re one of my favorite recipes I’ve made!

These rolls are irresistibly fluffy, thanks to a pre-cooked flour mixture and mashed sweet potatoes infused with sage. Their beautiful golden hue and natural sweetness come from the sweet potatoes, enhanced by a touch of honey, and would be a perfect addition to any holiday table.

The woodsy, piney flavor of sage (or any other herb you want to include) adds an earthy and warm note, making these buttery rolls a must-have for Thanksgiving or any festive meal!

This detailed recipe will walk through every step of the process and give lots of tips and photos so you can get the best results possible.

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What Makes These Dinner Rolls So Soft?

A couple of techniques and ingredients help make these sourdough sweet potato dinner rolls so soft and fluffy.

First, the recipe employs a technique called “tangzhong“. Tangzhong is a pre-cooked roux of milk/water and flour that’s often used in east Asian breads. The technique creates a pillowy bread that also stays fresh for longer.

To make the tangzhong in this recipe, you only need to whisk flour and milk on a stovetop for a few minutes until it pre-cooks and creates a thick, mashed potato-like mixture. Then, mix it into your dough!

While similar, tangzhong is a slightly different technique than yudane, which is the method of pouring boiling water over flour that I use for my sourdough brioche, sourdough dinner rolls, maritozzi, and cinnamon rolls.

The other thing that makes these dinner rolls so soft is the use of mashed sweet potatoes! Potatoes have a high starch content, which helps make the potato rolls and potato breads especially tender.

Finally, sweet potatoes add and retain natural moisture in the dough (just like tangzhong), so it increases the hydration of the rolls so they stay soft and fresh for longer.

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👨‍🏫 Baker’s Percentage Chart

I include a baker’s percentage chart to scale a recipe up or down easily. With baker’s percentages, the total weight of all flour in the recipe is 100%.

I also include the prefermented flour from the levain in this flour weight. Finally, I note the ingredients proportionally to the total weight of flour.

Note that the hydration may initially seem low in this recipe, but there’s additional liquid in the starter/levain, mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, butter, and honey.

If you want to learn more, the King Arthur website has a more detailed reference page on why and how baker’s percentages are calculated.

Ingredients	Weight	Baker’s Percentage
Bread Flour	499 grams (includes 35g for levain* and 30g for tangzhong)	100%
Water	35g (for levain)	7%
Sourdough starter	35g (for levain)	7%
Mashed Sweet Potatoes	250 grams (about 1 cup or 8oz)	50%
Salt	12 grams	2.4%
Whole Milk	150 grams (all in tangzhong)	30%
2 Eggs	116 grams (plus one for egg wash)	23.2%
Fresh sage	4 grams (2 TBS), plus more for topping	.8%
Honey	40 grams	8%

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🛠 Tools Needed

See below for my tool recommendations for making these dinner rolls, including various substitutes.

• Baking Scale
  • Measuring your ingredients by weight instead of volume is essential so you get a more consistent and accurate bake.
• Whisk, for whisking the tangzhong
• Stand Mixer with dough hook attachment (highly recommended)
  • If you have a stand mixer, it’ll really help bring this brioche dough better. It’s a relatively sticky dough and the stand mixer will do a lot of the hard work for you to build the gluten development for 15-20 minutes.
• Bench Scraper
  • Assists with dividing and shaping the rolls.
• 9×9 square baking pan
  • The recipe makes 16 dinner rolls that fit perfectly in a 9×9 square baking pan. However, you can use another pan or baking dish with a similar area, such as an 8×12″ oval casserole dish or a round 10″ pan.
  • If you only have an 8″ square pan, you can still make the recipe, but decrease the size of each roll to about 60-65g each so they’ll fit (you’ll have some extra dough).
  • Alternatively, for a 9×13″ baking pan, increase the amount of ingredients by 50% and make 20 rolls.
• Pastry brush, for egg wash and melted butter topping
• Optional: Brød and Taylor Folding Bread Proofer
  • This folding proofing box by Brød & Taylor is a game changer to keep your sourdough starter and doughs at the perfect temperature while proofing.
  • The proofer folds up easily, includes a humidity tray, is multifunctional, and can even be a slow cooker.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for more information, variations, and possible substitutes.

• Bread Flour
  • I use King Arthur Bread Flour at 12.7% protein, which gives these rolls a chewy texture and help them rise tall. The higher amount of gluten is helpful in combination with the starchy sweet potatoes to add structure, but you could use all-purpose flour if you need to.
  • If you want to make the rolls even heartier, substitute about 100g with whole wheat flour.
• Salt
  • I wrote this recipe for unsalted mashed sweet potatoes. But if your mashed sweet potatoes are already salted, reduce the salt by 3g.
• Sourdough Starter
  • Use active sourdough starter and not sourdough discard for this bread.
  • Don’t have a sourdough starter? Learn How to Make a Sourdough Starter and make a stronger sourdough starter with my top sourdough starter tips and why I maintain a small sourdough starter.
• Sweet potato
  • If you’re making mashed sweet potatoes for your Thanksgiving dinner, just add another potato to the mixture and remove some of it when making!
  • Otherwise, I mash one medium sweet potato or about 1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes (250g or about half a pound or 8oz).
• Unsalted butter, room temperature
  • This is a brioche dough, so it’s vital that your butter is at room temperature so it will incorporate into the dough. If it’s too cold, it won’t mix well (or take forever to mix) and if it’s melted, it may make your dough too sticky.
• Eggs, plus one for egg wash
• Whole milk
  • I always bake with whole milk and full-fat dairy for richness and the best flavor, but you can substitute the whole milk with 2%, low-fat milk, or plant-based if needed (use unsweetened).
• Fresh sage
  • Sage is my herb of choice for these dinner rolls, adding an earthy and herbaceous element to the rolls. However, you can use rosemary or thyme in a pinch or leave out the herbs altogether.
  • If you use dried sage, use half the amount.
• Honey
  • The rolls have some natural sweetness from the potatoes, but honey complements them well for a touch more sweetness with no processed sugars.
  • Substitute honey with maple syrup, agave, or another liquid sweetener.
• Flaky salt, for topping (optional)
  • Adds brightness, zestiness, and a little acidity.

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⏰ Sample Baking Schedule

This is just one baking schedule for making these rolls for a late afternoon or evening dinner. However, the steps are flexible, depending on your own schedule needs, environment (like temperature), and starter strength.

For example, you can extend the proofing time in the refrigerator by a couple of days or make the mashed sweet potatoes up to a few days in advance.

Plus, the rolls store extremely well, so you can certainly make them ahead of time and reheat them before serving.

If making for a holiday like Thanksgiving, I’d personally plan to bake them the night before or early in the morning so you can just reheat them slightly!

Steps	Time
1. Make the Levain, Tangzhong, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes	9:00am
2. Mix the Dough	1:00-1:30pm
3. Bulk Fermentation	1:30-7:30pm (about 5-6 hours at 78ºF, but can vary depending on temperature)
4. Overnight Proof	7:30pm-next day (or up to 48 hours in fridge)
5. Divide and Shape	12:30pm
6. Final Proof	1:00pm-5:00pm (3-4 hours at 78ºF, but can vary depending on temperature and how long your first fermentation went)
7. Bake	5:00pm-5:25pm

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🍠 How to Make Sourdough Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

Follow this visual step-by-step guide to help make these soft Sourdough Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls with sage.

1. Make the Levain

Mix 35 grams of sourdough starter, 35 grams of bread flour, and 35 grams of room-temperature water in a clean jar.

Cover and set it in a warm location (between 75-80ºF) for about 4-5 hours until it’s bubbly and ripe. The levain should double in size during this time.

2. Make the Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Peel and chop one sweet potato into one-inch cubes. Place the potatoes in a small pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.

Boil the potatoes for about 25 minutes until they’re completely tender and can be easily skewered with a fork.

Strain and place the sweet potatoes in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Let the sweet potatoes cool completely before mixing into your dough.

3. Make the Tangzhong

While you’re waiting for the levain to rise, make the tangzhong. This easy pre-cooked roux will make your rolls extremely soft and fluffy.

Add 30 grams of flour and 150 grams of whole milk to a small saucepan and whisk constantly over medium-low heat.

As it cooks, it will get thicker and thicker until the whisk leaves distinct trails in the saucepan and resembles mashed potatoes. Remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of your stand mixer (or another mixing bowl) to cool completely.

4. Mix the Dough

Once your levain has doubled in size and your mashed sweet potatoes and tangzhong have cooled completely, add them and all of your dough ingredients (except the butter) to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Begin mixing on medium-low speed. At first, the dough will be dry and shaggy, but it will eventually come together into a sticky, wet dough after a few minutes.

Highly enriched brioche doughs like this can take a while to come together as you need to develop quite a bit of gluten to hold all of the dough ingredients together. That’s why I recommend using a high-protein flour such as King Arthur’s Bread Flour.

Mix the dough for about 5 minutes. It will be sticky and tear easily at first (image 1 below).

While mixing, slice your room-temperature butter into pieces and toss it into your dough (2). Only add more butter once each piece is fully incorporated.

Once all of the butter is added, it’ll continue to be a bit sticky until enough gluten is developed, but should continue to smooth out during mixing (3).

Continue mixing on medium speed for 15 minutes (yes, it’s a long time!) or until the dough is strong enough to pass the windowpane test and slaps the sides of the bowl (4). To test, stretch a portion of the dough between your fingers. If you can stretch it into a thin membrane without tearing, then it’s strong enough. Keep mixing if the dough tears easily.

Add a TBS of flour at a time while mixing if your dough never smooths out and still seems wet.

5. Bulk Fermentation (First Proof)

Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and cover for bulk fermentation, which will take about 6 hours at 78ºF.

If your dough and environment are colder, bulk fermentation will take longer. Conversely, in warmer conditions, the dough will ferment faster.

I don’t usually need to add folds to this dough, but if yours seems very slack or a little weak at the end of mixing, you can add a couple of folds separated by an hour during fermentation.

Bulk fermentation is complete when this dough has doubled in size, is smoother, and domes in your bowl.

6. Overnight Proof

Transfer the dough to the refrigerator for a cold, overnight proof and up to 48 hours.

The dough will continue to ferment slowly in the refrigerator, which helps develop flavor and allows you to bake on your own schedule.

7. Divide and Shape

Butter or grease a 9×9″ square baking pan and set aside.

Punch down the dough and dump it out onto a clean work surface. Weigh the total weight of the dough and divide by 16 to get equal-sized dinner rolls. My rolls are typically around 70g each.

Use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 16 equal-sized pieces (image 1 below) and lightly flour a work surface.

Then, flatten the dough into a rough square and bring the corners into the middle to create a dumpling or garlic bulb-like shape (2).

Turn the ball of dough over and use a lightly floured palm of your hand and the surface tension of the counter to shape the dough into a taut ball (3&4). Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

8. Final Proof

Place the 16 balls of dough in four rows of four in the buttered baking pan.

Cover and place in a warm location for the final proof. At 78ºF, the final proof typically takes 3-4 hours, but it depends on your environment and how much the dough proofed during the first ferment.

At the end of the final proof, the dough should double in size and rise in the pan, be poofy, and feel full of air if you poke one with a floured finger.

9. Bake

Preheat the oven to 375ºF (191ºC).

Beat an egg and a teaspoon of water in a small bowl and brush the egg wash onto the rolls. Before baking, I lay a small sage leaf on top of the rolls for visual interest, but this is optional.

Bake for 25-28 minutes until the tops are beautifully golden brown.

As soon as they come out of the oven, melt 2 TBS of butter, brush the melted butter on top of your rolls so they shine, and add a sprinkle of flaky salt. You can add some chopped sage to the melted butter if you like.

Cool on a wire rack before pulling apart and devouring!

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How to Store & Serve

These sourdough sweet potato dinner rolls store extremely well due to the tangzhong and sweet potato, which add a lot of moisture to the bread and help keep them soft and fluffy.

The rolls keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days, but will lose some moisture over time. Reheat them slightly before serving.

Finally, you can freeze baked dinner rolls in a freezer-safe bag. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight and reheat the rolls in a 300ºF (149ºC) toaster oven, toaster, or oven until warmed through.

The sweet potato dinner rolls are an impressive side dish for fall dinners, including Thanksgiving or other holiday gatherings. I like serving them with cinnamon butter, honey butter, herb butter, or even apple butter.

Sweet potato dinner rolls pair well with roasted turkey, ham (great sliders!), fall vegetable sides like brussel sprouts or beans, hearty soups or stews, fall salads, and cheese spreads.

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❓FAQs:

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