Potato Cinnamon Rolls

[kirra]

Potato Cinnamon Rolls

While the addition of mashed potatoes to these rolls may seem surprising, it actually makes a lot of sense. Yeast loves the starch in potatoes and reacts with it beautifully to produce fluffy, tender rolls. These cinnamon rolls are baked in an oversized muffin tin and rise up into plump, spiraled mushrooms. If you don't have the pan, you can place them 2-inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet, but they will look very different.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1/3 cup instant mashed potatoes
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, softened cut into pieces
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast or 1 1/2 teaspoons SAF instant yeast
For the Rolls:
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup pecan pieces
Sugar Glaze

Preparation:

Dough:
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper; sprinkle lightly with flour. Stir instant mashed potatoes and boiling water in small bowl until thickened. Cool until warm, about 10 minutes. Place potato mixture and all remaining dough ingredients in bread machine pan in order listed. Program machine for Dough Cycle; press Start. Transfer prepared dough to baking sheet (dough will be very soft, almost sticky, yet smooth and springy). Pat dough into thick rectangle. Cover with two layers of plastic wrap; refrigerate 6 hours to overnight. Check once and press dough down to deflate.

Rolls:
Butter sides and bottoms of two 6-cup giant muffin pans. Combine sugars and cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. Let dough stand on counter 20 minutes. Press dough down to deflate. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough to 18x12-inch rectangle. Spread softened butter evenly over dough, leaving 1-inch border around edges. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar and pecans; press in pecans with fingers. Starting at one long side, roll dough jelly-roll style forming log. Pinch seam to seal. Trim ends. Cut log crosswise into twelve 1-inch-thick pieces. Arrange slices cut side down in prepared muffin cups. Cover loosely with plastic.

Note: At this point, rolls can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with double-layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate. Loosen plastic wrap before proceeding.

Let loosely covered rolls rise at room temperature until puffy, about 1 hour and 15 minutes (or 1 hour and 30 minutes for refrigerated rolls). Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F 20 minutes before baking. Bake rolls until tops are dark brown and filling bubbles, about 18 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks. Cool until warm, about 25 minutes.

Remove rolls from pans. Drizzle with Sugar Glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: Finished rolls can be made up to 1 month ahead. Cool completely. Enclose each roll in plastic sandwich-size freezer bag and freeze.