Homemade American Style Potato Rolls

Potato rolls, also known as dinner rolls, are an American take on soft bread that gets its wonderfully interesting texture from the addition of mashed potato. These little rolls aren’t just incredibly soft and tasty, they also have a unique texture thanks to the potato starch, which helps hold onto moisture and gives you a light, fluffy dough. The result is a roll that practically melts in your mouth and goes perfectly with just about any meal, which is why this is such a common type of bread across the United States.

Even though these are yeasted rolls, they’re actually super easy to make, even if you’ve never made bread at home before, you really only need to knead for a few minutes. The original recipe calls for instant mashed potato flakes, but if you happen to have leftover mashed potatoes lying around, you can absolutely use those instead (remove all the ingredients to make the instant mashed potatoes), let’s get to the recipe! ;D

Homemade American Style Potato Rolls

Servings: 4
Time: 1hr 30mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Want some rolls that are crusty on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside, why not give these American potato rolls a try.

Ingredients

Flour – 370g (up to 420g)
Baker’s Yeast – 1 sachet (+/- 10g)
Sugar – 10g
Milk – 180ml (Semi-skimmed)
Water – 115ml
Unsalted Butter – 40g
Instant Mashed Potatoes – 20g
Egg – 1 L
Butter – For greasing and brushing
Salt – 1 teaspoon

Directions

In a microwave-safe mug, add the milk, water, and butter. Heat for about 1 minute until very hot but not boiling. Remove from the microwave and add the potato flakes, mix (yes, I know, it’s the recipe for instant mashed potatoes, hehehe).
Combine both mixtures and whisk well with an electric mixer for 1 minute.
Now add the egg and another 125g of flour, whisk for another minute. Add one-third of the remaining flour and continue whisking until the dough forms a smooth, slightly sticky ball (Note that I’m being vague because the recipe is vague, some days you need more flour, other days less. Add flour until you get the recommended texture).
Transfer the dough to a floured surface and sprinkle with more flour. Knead well for about 4 to 6 minutes, until the dough forms a smooth and elastic ball.
Press it with two fingers, it should spring back to its original shape. If it’s sticky, add a little more flour until it reaches that baby bottom texture. Cover the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
Then, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (or 12 equal pieces if you want small rolls like in America). Shape each piece into a ball and place them on a buttered baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour (in my case it took 2 hours, but the recipe says 1 hour is enough).
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Bake the rolls for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. If necessary, rotate the baking sheet halfway through so that the rolls brown evenly.
After removing from the oven, brush the warm rolls with melted butter if you want them more golden. Since these are enriched rolls, they will keep well for a couple of days. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips: These are often shaped into small rolls, about the size of a muffin, giving you a batch of about 12 little rolls, but I personally prefer bigger rolls, about the size of a regular kaiser roll, which works out to 4 good sized rolls, it’s really all down to your own preference 😀

Also worth noting, the American instant mashed potato flakes usually have some coloring added to make them look more yellow, which is why American potato rolls tend to come out with a deeper golden color, while mashed potato here in Portugal has a paler color and fewer additives, so my rolls turned out a bit lighter in color than the typical American ones.

Make sure your milk and water mixture is warm, not hot, water above roughly 54°C (130°F) can kill the yeast, so if you’re not using a thermometer, aim for something like warm bathwater. If you’re using active dry yeast rather than instant yeast, you may want to proof it in the warm milk and water mixture for about 5 to 10 minutes until foamy before mixing it into the flour, just to make sure it’s still alive and kicking.

Resist the urge to add too much flour during kneading, this dough is meant to be soft and slightly tacky, a drier dough will give you denser rolls instead of that classic pillowy texture.

If you want extra shiny, bakery style tops, brush the rolls with an egg wash (one egg whisked with a splash of water or milk) before baking instead of, or in addition to, the melted butter afterward.

These rolls freeze beautifully, once fully cooled, wrap them well and freeze for up to a couple of months, then thaw and warm them in the oven before serving.

This recipe for Homemade American Style Potato Rolls was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Pão de Batata Americano Potato Roll foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.