Sweet potato cinnamon rolls are soft, spiced, and swirled with mini marshmallows and brown sugar. A warm glaze melts over the top for that extra toasty-finish moment!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
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Prep Time
45 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Proof Time
1 hour
Total Time
2 hours 15 minutes
Servings
9 rolls
Difficulty
Intermediate
Calories *
306 kcal per serving
Technique
Make dough, proof, roll out and fill, slice, proof, and bake. Top with a warm marshmallow glaze.
Flavor Profile
Spiced sweet potato rolls with cinnamon-marshmallow filling and a toasty marshmallow glaze.
* Based on nutrition panel
Sweet potatoes are always in my pantry, so this was such a fun way to use them. The dough came together beautifully! It was soft, not sticky, and easy to roll. The marshmallow glaze melted right in and made the rolls taste like dessert and breakfast all at once. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lauren
Sometimes I wonder if I could be one of those people who literally eats the exact same foods every day for his or her entire life. I mean, it would be convenient and there are plenty of foods I love enough to eat on a daily basis. Mashed potatoes are one of them. Same goes for peanut butter and jelly. Bread, duh. I could probably live on enchiladas, too, and cookie dough ice cream for dessert.
But then I think about all those other foods I love that would be neglected (like my beloved brussels sprouts, or macaroni and cheese, or my mom’s spaghetti sauce) and I realize that eating the same foods every day for my whole life would be a real drag (these are the things that take up space in my brain sometimes, I know).
One thing I could eat every day — if my hips would allow it, anyway — are breakfast rolls, reason being because there are so many variations you could make. Like these gingerbread rolls, for instance. Or these raspberry-filled ones, or these Meyer lemon poppy seed ones. Most likely, however, I’d go for these sweet potato-marshmallow cinnamon rolls time and time again because… well, I don’t think that really requires an explanation, do you?
I’m not sure what inspired this flavor combination. Maybe it is my mom’s sweet potato casserole she makes for Thanksgiving every year that I so love. It’s made with mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, more sugar, more butter, spices and pecans. Except my brain went for marshmallows instead of pecans.
In any case, I’m glad I was struck with said inspiration because ohmygoodness, these rolls are tasty. The sweet potato addition, though subtle in flavor, makes the rolls extra soft and fluffy, and the gooey marshmallows melted inside the rolls along with butter and brown sugar is just ri.dic.ulous. Oh and then I went ahead and drizzled a marshmallow glaze on top because I can. You’re welcome. It’s also a trick I’d be down to try with my sweet potato pie or sweet potato dinner rolls (because why not?)!
Feel free to play around with this recipe to make it your own — add some pecans, or drizzle the top with a maple glaze instead of marshmallow one. Get some chocolate action somewhere in there, maybe. I’m sure it won’t take long before you come across your own combination that you could eat over and over again.
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Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 packet
- ¼ cup mashed sweet potato
- 1 egg
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
For the glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat milk and butter until butter is just melted. Remove from heat; cool to about 100 to 110 degrees F. Stir in yeast to dissolve; let sit 10 minutes until slightly foamy.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, stir together mashed sweet potato and egg.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Add flour mixture to mashed sweet potato mixture; stir to combine. Slowly add yeast mixture, stirring on low speed. Knead dough by hand on a lightly floured countertop 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to make a smooth, soft and slightly sticky dough OR knead dough in stand mixer with dough hook attachment on medium speed 6 minutes, adding more flour as needed to make a smooth, soft and slightly sticky dough.
- Shape dough into a ball; transfer to a large, lightly greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until doubled.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Punch down risen dough, then transfer to a lightly floured countertop. Roll or pat out into a 9-by-9-inch square. Brush top with melted butter, then sprinkle evenly with brown sugar and cinnamon. Top with marshmallows.
- Roll dough up tightly into a log; pinch seam to seal. Use a sharp knife to slice log into 9 equal rolls. Place each roll, cut-side up, in a lightly greased 9-by-9-inch pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 20 to 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
- Bake rolls 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and baked through. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter and water. Stir until butter melts, then add mini marshmallows. Stir until melted, then whisk into sugar mixture.
- Pour glaze evenly over warm rolls. Serve warm or room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!Before You Go
Looking for more yeast breads? Don’t miss my potato bread!
Sweet potatoes are always in my pantry, so this was such a fun way to use them. The dough came together beautifully! It was soft, not sticky, and easy to roll. The marshmallow glaze melted right in and made the rolls taste like dessert and breakfast all at once.
Can this be made without egg? :/
Faye, Great question. Unfortunately the egg is important to the structure of these rolls — however, you could try a flax egg if you can: https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/
Cherry — You can peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into cubes and boil them, then drain and mash them, or bake them and then scoop out the insides and mash them!
Thank you very much , going to try it this weekend ?
I would really like to try this recipe, i have one question though. Do i boil the potatoes before i mash them ? Sorry i’m a newbe and this looks soo yummy
Oh my LORD. These look so. incredibly. good. And I LOVE that they’re sweet potato marshmallow! I feel like we’ve seen a lot of cinnamon roll variations lately (especially pumpkin-based) but I’ve never seen this. It’s so genius. Love it and can’t wait to try it out.
Yum! Sounds delicious, and the pictures have me drooling over my keyboard!