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Potato Cinnamon Rolls

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I sure hope the recipe title didn’t scare you away! I mean, a Thanksgiving side and breakfast sweet don’t normally go together, but I promise you, in this circumstance they do. They definitely do.

My mom remembers her mom making these often, usually the morning after a big batch of mashed potatoes. She was a thrifty lady in the kitchen and there was no way she wanted to waste perfectly good mashed potatoes! So, in they would go, as the secret ingredient in her cinnamon rolls.

Mashed potatoes add this gooey, dense consistency to the dough, which in turn, create melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls. We request these from my mom often, so much so that, dare I say, we sometimes have to make fresh mashed potatoes just to make them. Ha!

potato cinnamon rolls

POTATO CINNAMON ROLLS

Inspired by Redfly Creations

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
  • 1 cup warm water, leftover water from cooking potatoes if you’ve got it
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 2 envelopes active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 eggs
  • 8 1/2 – 9 1/2 cups flour

Filling

  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar, brown or white
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Icing

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons milk

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, place mashed potatoes, potato water, butter, sugar, salt and hot water and mix well. Set aside. In a separate bowl add yeast and 1/2 cup warm water. Once dissolved, add the yeast mixture to the original dough mixture. Add eggs and slowly mix. Then, add flour, one cup at a time, until your dough forms. Flour your counter top or a large cutting board and plop dough onto it. Knead the dough until it’s smooth and looses its’ lumps. Put in a fresh, greased bowl and set aside for at least an hour. It’s done when it has doubled in size.

While your dough rises, mix up your filling. In a small bowl just whip together the butter, sugar and cinnamon.

Once fully risen, gently knead the dough a few times and divide into two balls. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle and cover with the cinnamon filling. Roll into a log and with a greased knife, slice into rolls. Place each roll into a 9×13 baking dish, allow to rise for 30 minutes and then bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

While your cinnamon rolls bake, mix up your icing. In a small bowl whisk together powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Add tablespoons of milk until your icing reaches the desired consistency, usually a total of 4. Then add a dash of vanilla at the end. When cinnamon rolls come out of the oven, drizzle the icing on the top and serve immediately.

Oh, and your dad just called … he wants these for Father’s Day – wink, wink.

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