Yukon Gold Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, about 3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon coarse, kosher salt
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 5 ½ to 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided, meaning you'll use 1 cup first and the rest later (see note for UPDATE)
- ½ cup warm water
- ¼ cup (53 g) sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons instant or active dry yeast
Filling:
- 1 cup (212 g) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, very soft
Icing:
- 2 ounces (57 g) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, softened
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (200 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine the potatoes, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, over medium heat until the potatoes are very tender, 15-16 minutes. Do not drain. There should be about 2 1/4 cups of water/potato mixture after boiling (UPDATE: If you have more than this, drain off a little water or mash the mixture together and measure out 2 1/4 cups).
- Off the heat, mash the potatoes with the water until coarsely mashed. Add the butter and mash until the butter is melted and the potatoes are fairly evenly mashed and smooth.
- Whisk in 1 cup of the flour and the eggs until smooth (a few lumps are ok, as long as they are small). Set aside and cool until room temperature (a slight warmth is ok, but room temp is best otherwise the mixture will absorb more flour).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the 1/2 cup warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let the mixture stand until foamy (only needed if you are using active dry yeast, no need to proof if using instant yeast).
- Add the potato mixture and start gradually adding flour while mixing until the dough clears the bottom and sides of the bowl. It will be very soft and elastic. Knead for 3-4 minutes (it's ok if you have to continue adding a bit more flour if the dough starts sticking to the sides and bottom while kneading). Don't worry so much about the exact amount of flour as you do about the texture of the dough.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.
- On a lightly floured or greased countertop, roll or pat the soft dough into a 20X12-inch rectangle (doesn't have to be exact).
- Spread the softened butter evenly on the dough.
- Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl until evenly mixed. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the butter and pat lightly.
- Roll up the dough, starting with one long edge, and pinch the seam to seal (I often don't do this because I tuck the loose end under the roll on the pan).
- Using unflavored dentil floss, thread, or a serrated knife, slice the roll into 1-inch or slightly larger sections.
- Place the rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1- to 2-inches apart, tucking the loose end under the roll, if desired. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until puffy and almost doubled, an hour or so.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes until no longer doughy in the middle (but take care not to overbake!). Remove the rolls from the oven and let cool until warm.
- While they cool, prepare the icing by adding the cream cheese and butter to a medium bowl. Whip with a handheld (or stand) mixer until creamy. Add the salt, milk or cream, and vanilla. Mix again. Add the powdered sugar and whip until light and creamy.
- Spread the slightly warm rolls evenly with the icing. Serve immediately or let cool completely and serve at room temperature (or warm lightly before serving).
Notes
Potato: I haven't tried these cinnamon rolls with other varieties of potato (because I love the Yukon Gold's so much), but I'm guessing you could easily experiment with pretty good results.
Flour: as I talk about a lot, don't get hung up on the exact amount of flour, and instead, focus on the texture of the dough. The flour amount in this recipe will vary based on how much water is left in the pan after simmering the potatoes and the exact amount of potatoes you start with in the first place (among other factors when making yeast doughs), so if you have to add more flour to achieve a very soft, elastic dough that isn't overly sticky, that's ok!
UPDATE: ok, you guys, after many comments saying you had to add over 8 cups flour to the dough, I ran back into the kitchen to see what's happening. For a bit of history, I've made this recipe probably 7-9 times and never had to add more than 6 1/2 cups flour (total). But there's obviously some factor causing a lot of you to need to add extra flour, and I think I've figured it out.
First: it's important to measure the potato/water mixture and ensure it doesn't measure more than the recommended amount in the recipe (about 2 1/4 cups). Simmering vigorously at a high temp will reduce the water more - conversely, a lower simmer will leave more water with the potatoes. Keep it at a medium simmer and make sure the potatoes and water aren't too far below or above the 2 1/4 cup amount.
Secondly: it is imperative that the potato/water mixture cools (almost completely or to a very lightly warm temp). I tested side-by-side batches of these and in the batch where I used the potato/water mixture right away, the dough absorbed quite a bit more flour (several cups). However, when I let the potato/water mixture cool (per the recipe; I've included a few more details about that in the directions), I stayed right around the 6 1/2 cups flour amount (that includes the 1 cup added to the potato/water mix). I've edited the recipe ingredients to indicate this, since the original flour amount was throwing people off. Mostly, keep an eye on the texture of the dough, like I describe in the paragraph above. This dough is going to be much softer than other yeast/cinnamon roll doughs, but it should definitely clean the sides of the bowl without leaving a lot of residue on your fingers (so even if you have to add 7-8 cups flour TOTAL, it'll be fine as long as the dough isn't overfloured - many factors, aside from the potato/water temp will contribute to flour amount, like humidity and elevation).
When adding flour to the recipe, it's also important to let it mix fully before adding more - high moisture doughs benefit from a longer mix to fully absorb the flour (before needing to add additional). Thanks to Liz, a frequent commenter, for helping me troubleshoot that portion!
Make-Ahead: this post details how to make sweet rolls ahead of time.