Potato Rosemary Rolls

I just spent some time fixing up a new design for my blog name and attached a pretty photo of sweet raspberries... and now I'm posting two savory dishes in a row. Sorry guys! I promise this is still a sweet-centric blog.


Tally ho onward to the potato rosemary rolls...


I've had my eye on this recipe for about six months now... not sure why it took me so long. Probably because I was knee-deep in my desserts and more recently, all my sweet cookbooks. But with papers due and Joe studying his butt off at school all day, we needed a bunch of quick easy recipes that we can grab and go.


These rolls are great. The potatoes make it filling, although I'm not the biggest fan of rosemary... blasphemous, I know. I'm more of an assortment of Italian herbs kinda girl, and usually it's everything minus the rosemary... plus tons of garlic. My rosemary had been sitting on my spice rack untouched since January. But Joe loves rosemary and I thought I'd follow the recipe exactly for my first time.

It still turned out great, although I really want to include garlic in it next time.
It's also unfortunate that I don't keep salted butter here, since all desserts ask for unsalted butter and God forbid I should accidentally switch those up. That will give me nightmares...


I really liked making these in the form of 3 balls in each muffin cup.. They broke apart easily and reminded me of a clover! 

*Note: Feel free to chop up a few cloves of garlic and either use in the butter spread or put it in the dough.


Recipe:
Adapted from here
Makes about 20 rolls


2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup shortening (I used trans fat free palm oil) or butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup hot milk
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tbs fresh rosemary finely chopped


Put the yeast in the warm water and stir. Let it sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast starts to bubble. Scald the milk and let it cool for a couple minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together sugar, shortening, and salt. Add the milk and stir in one cup of the flour. Next add the yeast mixture and beaten eggs. Add the mashed potatoes and rosemary and stir. Stir in the remaining flour until dough comes together. 
Knead the dough about 5 minutes or until it's smooth. Add flour if the dough is too sticky. Place the dough in a large greased bowl and let it rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.


Punch down the dough. Pinch off about a 1/2 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Please three balls into a muffin cup and continue doing so until the dough is gone. Let the rolls rise until doubled in size about 30 minutes. 
Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. 


Serve warm!