Our Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls

It has been way too long since I have been able to post something here, but things got a little busy around here since we hosted Thanksgiving! We have been hosting Thanksgiving for the past 5 years! This year, we had a total of 15 family members that came! We had a really nice time and had way too much food...but it was fun to taste so many different types of food that was brought along! And to top it off, I had a root canal on Monday! Glad to eventually be rid of that pain...but I still have a little pain - I suppose from the root canal procedure itself! Well, enough of my pain...on to a new recipe that I tried for Thanksgiving!

I have not made it a habit to include dinner rolls as part of the Thanksgiving meal, although my mother in law made challah bread a few times - and that was so good! This year, I decided to try a new dinner roll recipe that I will have to share with you! It came from my new cookbook, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining. And, no, it was not made in the slow cooker! It was one of those recipes that could accompany a slow cooker meal.

The Recipe:

Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

1 package (scant 1 Tablespoon) active dry yeast or 2 tsp. instant dry yeast, such as SAF

1 cup warm low-fat or whole milk (110 to 115 degrees F)

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup cold mashed sweet potatoes

2 large eggs separated

3 T unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 1/2 to 4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

1 T cold water for brushing

1 T sesame seeds (I used about 1/2 T)

1. In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in warm milk. Add a pinch of the sugar and let stand for 5 min. Add the remaining sugar, sweet potatoes, egg yolks, butter, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining 1 1/2 to 2 cups flour to form a soft dough.

2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes (I usually spray my hands with nonstick cooking spray before doing this). Place in a bowl coated with nonstick cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 28 balls (I did 32) of equal size. Roll each ball into a 10-inch-long rope (I just did it in my hands); tie each rope with a loose knot. Place the rolls 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cover and let rise again until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

5. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites with the cold water (you probably only need one egg white and can use the other one for something else), and brush the mixture over the rolls. Sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds. Baked until lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes. (watch this - mine were done in about 12 minutes)

**If you like, bake these at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes, until cooked through but not browned. Cool, then store in the freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to serve, defrost in the bag and bake as directed.

***Making these made me decide that I REALLY want to try and make soft pretzels!

The Results:

Everyone LOVED the rolls! My sister asked to take some home with them! Be sure not to bake them too long, or they could get a little dry. I would definitely make these again! :)