In 2008, my New Year’s resolution was to try 50 new recipes. That essentially boils down to one per week, and without an official tally, I believe I made it. One of the recipes I tried for the first time was the Amish Dinner Roll Recipe from King Arthur Flour. Now, nearly one year later, it remains one of my Top 1o Recipes.

Because it is a recipe I make so frequently, I thought it would be fitting for one of my first posts. This yeast roll recipe makes hands-down the best dinner rolls I have ever had. These dinner rolls work well as a homemade bread recipe made by hand, or as a bread machine roll recipe. My personal preference is to make the dinner rolls by hand, but using a bread machine can reduce the amount of effort required.

One of the things you will notice about this recipe is that is calls for using mashed potato. It sounds like an odd ingredient in a homemade bread recipe, but once you know the theory behind it, it makes perfect sense. Potatoes, as we know, have starch in them. Using potatoes in the bread provides additional starch to the recipe, but keeps the bread from getting dried out, as adding more flour would do. The flavor of the potato is mild and undetectable, but the texture it adds to the yeast rolls is remarkable.

The link above provides instructions for those who would like to use the bread machine roll recipe, while my tutorial below is geared for those who would like to make the best dinner rolls by hand.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
1 cup (7 1/4 ounces) unseasoned mashed potatoes, lightly packed*
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
3/4 cup water (potato water, if possible)
4 1/4 cups (18 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

*1 medium-to-large baking potato will yield 8 ounces of mashed potato.

One of the things I would like to note here is that I’ve made this dinner roll recipe using both a baked potato and mashed potatoes made from using instant potato flakes. They are virtually identical, so feel free to substitute one for the other as the mood suits you. For me, I find the instant potatoes easiest most of the time, but for times when you will be making a batch of homemade potatoes anyhow, like Thanksgiving, it is just as easy to use the real deal.

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients, and mix until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased or floured surface, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it’s smooth and shiny.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or rising bucket, turn to coat, cover the container with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise till it’s doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.

Amish Dinner Rolls Before the First Rise

My favorite way of making sure that my breads stay consistent regardless of the temperature in my home (too cool in summer, not warm enough in winter) is to use my oven as the place where my dinner rolls rise. To do this, I turn on the my oven light before I even begin mixing my dough. By the time it has been mixed and kneaded, the light in the oven has created enough heat to be warm, but not too hot. Because the oven door closes, the space is draft free, as well, allowing my bread to rise in a space that has an even, consistent temperature. DO NOT turn the oven on and then shut it off instead. This will result in uneven heat, and may be too hot for the yeast.

When it comes to kneading the Amish dinner rolls, watch a clock or set a timer. Avoid using too much flour (I reserve the 1/4 cup from the recipe for use during the kneading process), or the dinner rolls will become too dry, heavy, and dense. The video below, which I made while kneading the best dinner rolls ever, demonstrates the exact way to knead a loaf of bread.

Amish Dinner Roll Dough After Rising

Shaping:

For pull-apart yeast rolls, divide the dough into 15 pieces. This isn’t as challenging as it sounds: first, divide the dough into three equal pieces using a bench knife or dough scraper . Cut off one piece, about the size of a racquetball or handball , off each of the three pieces, setting the pinched-off pieces aside; then simply divide what’s left of the three pieces into four pieces each. Presto! Fifteen balls of dough. Gently roll the dough balls under your cupped fingers till they’re nice and round.

Place the dinner rolls into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan, spacing them evenly in five rolls of three balls each. Cover the pan(s) with a proof cover or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dinner rolls to rise for about 2 hours, until they are quite puffy and touching.

To learn the easiest way to shape dinner rolls, watch my video tutorial below. It walks you through the entire process and all but guarantees that you will create perfect, symmetrical dinner rolls.

Amish Dinner Rolls Immediately Before Baking

Baking:

Bake the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, till they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, carefully turn them out of the pan — the pull-apart rolls will come out all in one piece — and brush them with melted butter, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The dinner rolls will keep for several days, but I highly recommend that you refrigerate them after more than a day. Chances are, though, they’ll be gone before you even have to think about that.