Sweet Potato Rolls

I first made this recipe about five years ago, when my mom, a food blogger by trade, and I decided to go through the entire month of May without buying any bread. And amazingly, we managed it. We are not the greatest at finishing things around here. My brother and I recently joked that our family motto should be "good enough." But whatever the motto and however terrible we are at following through, we did it that time - and I think the reason we made it is that we LOVED it. There is nothing in the world like making your own bread. It's cheaper, it's tastier, and every bite tastes of accomplishment. These rolls were the highlight of our month, for sure. And when I made them again yesterday and we tore into a still-too-hot roll, the first thing that came into my mind was "these are exactly as good as I remember them." Which personally, I think is the greatest compliment you can give to something you make.

If you're nervous about baking bread, this is absolutely a good place to start. It is dead easy and incredibly satisfying. It makes a great rainy day afternoon activity. Make the dough, throw it somewhere warm to rise, and go curl up with a book for a few hours. Perfection!

Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb (approximately 1 1/4 cups) sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups unbleached all- purpose flour
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 egg, whisked, for egg wash

1. Boil the sweet potato in a saucepan with about 2 cups of water until tender (about 15 minutes). Drain, and reserve the cooking water. mash or puree the potato and place in a large bowl. Let the potato and the water cool to lukewarm.

2. Measure 1 cup of the water and stir in the yeast to dissolve thoroughly. Add the yeast water to the potato, then stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup of the flour. Add the butter and salt and stir, then add the 2 eggs and mix well. Add 2 more cups of flour, one cup at a time.*

3. Dust a clean work surface generously with flour and turn out the dough. Knad for about 5 minutes, until soft, smooth, and somewhat elastic*. Place in a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about four hours).

4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Use a sharp knife or a dough scraper to cut the dough into 16 even pieces. Using your cupped palm, pressing the dough lightly into your work surface, roll each piece into a round roll by rolling it in a short circular motion about ten times**. Place the shaped rolls onto a greased 18x12-inch baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes.

5. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400F. Brush the tops of the rolls with the egg wash just before baking. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the rolls are a deep brown on top and a golden orange on the sides.

This recipe is from Home Baking, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.

*If you're like me, you might find that your dough is still way too sticky to work with. This is okay! It happens. Just sprinkle a bit more flour onto the dough as you're kneading it until you're able to actually knead it without it attaching itself to your hands too completely.
**I didn't do this. I just rolled them in my hands. It doesn't appear to have made any difference.