Mashed Potato Cinnamon Rolls
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Mashed potatoes are the secret ingredient to making these absolutely super fluffy and airy Mashed Potato Cinnamon Rolls with the perfect flavor and texture!
Calling all cinnamon lovers to try my Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Bars, Overnight Cinnamon Roll French Toast Casserole, Crescent Roll Cinnamon Buns, and Cinnamon Roll Ups!
It’s NOVEMBER. I don’t know how it happened, but October just vanished into thin air and I’m freaking out a tiny bit about the fact that Halloween has come and gone and now it’s time to get ready for Thanksgiving. And when I say freaking out, I mean that in multiple ways. Freaking out in a bad way because I am dearly going to miss October – my favorite month of the year. And also freaking out in a good way because HELLO! Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving means potatoes. And potatoes mean cinnamon rolls.
Are you confused?? It’s okay I was too. This is my mother in law’s recipe. With a few tweaks. For the longest time I was completely baffled why my mother in law only made cinnamon rolls the day after she served roast and potatoes for Sunday dinner. It was like clock work. And I never made the connection on my own until one day she said “I made mashed potatoes for dinner because I was really craving cinnamon rolls”.
Me: Ummmmmm. I don’t get it.
Then she told me. Her cinnamon roll recipe calls for a cup of mashed potatoes. I’m sure I would have been fairly grossed out if I hadn’t tried her cinnamon rolls before which taste a lot like Cinnabon only… lighter and fluffier and wonderful-er.
Look at that dough – it has mashed potatoes in it. Crazy huh?? I know it seems weird but I swear it works. They don’t give the cinnamon rolls a weird flavor or texture – in fact they make the cinnamon rolls extra fluffy and airy, it’s pretty much the most amazing trick EVER.
And since turkey + potato day is coming up in a few short weeks, I thought I’d share it in time for you to plan on starting a new tradition: mashed potato cinnamon rolls the day after Thanksgiving. Genius right?!
You know you’re going to have hoards of leftover mashed potatoes and while everyone has their ideas for what to do with your leftover turkey, there are only so many ways to eat leftover mashed potatoes you know? So while I’m a huge fan of re-heating potatoes and gravy the next day, I am advocating something different here. And that something is cinnamon rolls. Topped with frosting. Not gravy.
No offense gravy, but you wouldn’t taste awesome on a cinnamon roll. It’s nothing personal.
Would get a load of these beauties?! Oh oh oh, I almost forgot to mention that they only require 45 minutes of rising time so this isn’t a whole-day affair. They’re a cinch to make and the flavor and texture is perfect. So if you’re wondering what to do with all of those Thanksgiving leftovers – here’s your answer… Perfect, fluffy, cinnamon rolls!
What people are saying about these Mashed Potato Cinnamon Rolls
“I have tried many, many cinnamon roll recipes and these are really the best I have ever had! )this includes recipes from Food and Wine and Peter Reinhart. Thank you for sharing.” – Shannon
“I just made them, and they are so far the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had!! <3 Thanks so much.” – Kate
Mashed Potato Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 cups hot milk
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup finely mashed potatoes, (see note)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast , (2 packets)
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 7 – 8 ½ cups flour
Filling
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Frosting
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 5 tablespoons milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the 1/2 cup butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl. Pour hot milk over butter. Add sugar, mashed potatoes, and salt. Allow to cool slightly while you do the next step.
- Dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water. Add to milk mixture with eggs and 4 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth and well blended.
- Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. When dough comes together, transfer to a clean, well-floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes by hand. Place in a lightly greased large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet or large casserole dish.
- Roll dough into a large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. For the filling, spread the softened butter onto the dough. Mix together sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Tightly roll one long side to the other long side and pinch the seam to seal. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut into about 16 sections.
- Place sections swirl-side-up/down onto your greased casserole dish or baking sheet. (see note) Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden and cooked through.
- Prepare the frosting. Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla and mix again for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Drizzle or spread over warm cinnamon rolls and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Kara, I know some people say don’t use butter and some say to use softened butter. Well, being old school, I still do it the old fashion way. I melt my butter and brush it onto the rolled out dough, covering every inch. Then I add my sugar topping, the roll tightly. Been doing it that way for over 50 years, my mother did it, my grand mother did it, and it’s how it’s done in the old cookbooks. So, as they say, “tried and true”, it still works. 🙂 If you do it this way, I think you’ll be happy with the results. 🙂
I did write a review, but honestly, it was poorly written. So, here’s what I have to say about the cinnamon rolls in addition to what I thought about them the next day.
Cinnamon Roll – for the filling, when I rolled out the dough for the cinnamon rolls, I used butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. I melted my butter, used a basting brush to apply it the rolled out dough. Then I generously applied the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. What I use for that is 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Then I roll up the dough and start cutting into rolls.
I have been baking for over 50 years and I also questioned the one rise because it’s different than my other one rise I usually use. My other one rise you make the dough, cut out the rolls, let them rise and then bake them. This one you let the dough rise, make the rolls and bake them. I can say this, don’t be afraid of this recipe. It works and it’s incredibly good.
Because this is a single rise dough, I did use Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Instant Yeast. It only requires one rise with that yeast, so it works great in this recipe.
I didn’t time the rise, I just paid attention to the height of the dough, I just watched for when it doubled in size. Then I knew it was ready to use for cinnamon rolls.
Anyone who is curious, I used instant mashed potatoes. I made them just for this recipe and they worked out great. When I made the instant mashed potatoes, I only used the water, milk, and potatoes. No butter and no salt.
Do not be afraid of this dough if it feels really soft. It works. Just don’t over work the dough. Over working it can end up with tough rolls. You don’t want that.
I also want to say, I used King Arthur’s Bread Flour in this recipe. And like I said, the results were awesome.
And lastly, my husband has asked me to try this dough again, but to test it and see if I can make doughnuts out of it. Lol….umm…ok. If, or when, I do that, I’ll post a comment and let all of you know how they turn out.
Happy Baking Everyone.
I came across this recipe a couple of hours and decided to try it. Something different from my usual cinnamon roll recipe. Anyway, I baked these a couple of hours ago. Here’s what I can say…They are indeed different than my usual recipe, but, they’re really good. I would definitely make these again. However, there is one thing, the recipe says it makes 16 cinnamon rolls. I have to ask, how jumbo huge are people making them? 16 cinnamon rolls my foot. I ended up with 30 really nice cinnamon rolls. Thankfully I have neighbors that love it when I bake. They’re always happy to take things off my hands. 🙂 But, these are really good and I will make them again. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I followed the recipe exactly as written.
All the filling came out! Help!!
I’m so sorry that happened! Your rolls may have been rolled too tightly. Making sure your butter is softened but not too soft will help as well.
Kara, I know some people say don’t use butter and some say to use softened butter. Well, being old school, I still do it the old fashion way. I melt my butter and brush it onto the rolled out dough, covering every inch. Then I add my sugar topping, the roll tightly. Been doing it that way for over 50 years, my mother did it, my grand mother did it, and it’s how it’s done in the old cookbooks. So, as they say, “tried and true”, it still works. 🙂 If you do it this way, I think you’ll be happy with the results. 🙂
I let the dough raise for 1 hour then rolled out and put cinnamon on it and rolled it up and cut it into 16 pieces. was I supposed to let the rolls raise a second time before baking?? the instructions didn’t say to. But after I baked them, I think they should have been raised for a time before baking. I was very disappointed with the results.
I’m so sorry about your experience with this recipe! You only need to let the rolls rise once in this recipe, but you can try to let them rise a bit more after they’re on the pan if you prefer 🙂 someone else has left a review saying they let them rise again and she liked how they turned out. Hopefully that helps you enjoy this recipe a bit more. I would also make sure you have the exact measurements and maybe double check to see if a step was skipped.
I’ve been baking for over 50 years and this is what I do, or should learned not to do. I don’t time the rising of any of my recipes. Why? Because the time mentioned for rising, varies greatly with the weather and temperature in a person’s house/kitchen. So, always let it rise until double in size. It could take and hour, it could take 2 hours. Don’t rush it, let it do it’s thing. I made these rolls for the first time on 6/26/23 and I can say, they only need one rise. Once you roll them out and make them into cinnamon rolls, place them in a pan and bake them. They do not need a second rise. Because I’ve been baking for over 50 years, I used Bread Flour in my rolls. It has a higher gluten content that’s perfect for breads and rolls. If you browse through the reviews, you’ll see what I wrote and what I did. Hope this helps you a little bit.
Best cinnamon rolls by far!! I doubled the cinnamon sugar the second time I made as my husband likes a bit more. Also thickened the frosting a tad so it wasn’t just like a glaze as it was a bit messy. Thanks for a great recipe!! They are wonderful!
Wow! Thank you so much! 🙂
These were deliciously soft and fluffy! The instructions could be a little more clear in some parts, but if you’ve made cinnamon rolls a few times, it should be all right. I think it wasn’t enough cinnamon flavor, so I’ll increase to 1 Tbs cinnamon in the filling next time (and omit the 1/4 cup granulated sugar).
The rolls were gigantic, but wonderfully fluffy and but bready at all! Next time, I will roll the dough much thinner and cut maybe 20 rolls or more.
The frosting was very sweet (of course my children loved that lol!) and a bit runnier than I prefer but great if you want to drizzle rather than frost. I used 4 Tbs of milk, but next time I will use more butter, 2 or 3 Tbs milk, and maybe a scant 2 cups powd sugar and beat it until fluffy.
All in all, loved the dough and it was very easy to work with. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
*not bready at all.
Sorry for the typo. :/
Arlene, try brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling. 🙂 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. You don’t have to use all of it. Use what you feel comfortable with and what looks right to you.
Can you make mashed potato cinnamon rolls the night before?
Yes 🙂
Love this recipe so much! It’s a little time consuming as most recipes with yeast are but EVERYONE LOVES these cinnamon buns so much! Thank you.
Great recipe!! I ended up splitting the recipe in half and substituted the egg for an entire banana. I also used a Japanese sweet potato. Instead of cinnamon I used green cardamom, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon.