If you are looking for the softest, gooiest cinnamon rolls of your life, you are in the right place! These potato cinnamon rolls may sound strange but the potato starch does something magical to the dough. It is easy to work with and the resulting rolls taste amazing!
Start by getting your potatoes ready. Use as many potatoes as you think it will take to make 1 cup of mashed potatoes. Peel the potato(es), cut into cubes, and boil it until soft enough to mash.
Reserve ¼ cup of the water that you used to boil the potatoes, then discard the rest of the water. Mash the potato until smooth and measure out 1 cup.
Stir 1 Tablespoon of sugar into the potato water and let cool to about 110°F. Once the water is cool enough, stir in the yeast and set aside.
Return the mashed potatoes to the saucepan. Add the milk, butter, salt and ½ cup of sugar to the mashed potatoes. Stir and warm over low heat until the butter is melted.
Place the warm potato mixture in the bowl of your mixer. Stir in the egg, vanilla, and yeast mixture.
Slowly add in the flour. You want to stop adding flour while the dough is still sticky, but it should at least come together into a dough. With the dough hook attachment, allow your mixer to work the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough will still be a bit tacky, but not super loose or sticky.
Put the dough in a large greased mixing bowl. Be sure to scrape everything off of the mixer bowl and hook. Cover and allow to rise to at least double its size, about an hour.
Punch down the dough and give it a couple of quick kneads to make sure it is deflated.
Place on a lightly floured surface. Let rest for about 10 minutes, then use a rolling pin or your hands to form an 18″ square.
Brush melted butter over the dough.
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle over dough. You can add hydrated raisins in this step if you want to.
Roll dough into a log and cut into 12 equal pieces.
Grease a 10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan. (You can use two 9x13-inch pans or a 13x18-inch pan. Each will have slightly different results, but all will be good.)
Place cinnamon rolls on prepared baking dish. Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, another 45 minutes to an hour.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan half way through. The tops should be a light golden brown. (check a few minutes early if using 9x13-inch pans or 13x18)
Let sit for about 5 minutes, then put together the icing.
Cinnamon Roll Icing
In a small bowl, use your hand mixer to beat together the butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract. Mix in milk or cream. It should be a relatively thick consistency, barely thin enough to pour.
Drizzle glaze all over warm cinnamon rolls, then let cool.
Notes
You can use leftover mashed potatoes as long as they don't have pepper or garlic in them.You can make the cinnamon rolls the night before. Take them to the point where you cut them into 12 rolls and place them on the greased pan. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, loosen the plastic wrap and allow to sit on the counter for about an hour before heating the oven to bake them.We like a lot of icing on our cinnamon rolls. You can use half of the amount in the recipe if you prefer.Store leftovers on the counter for up to 5 days. Either wrap them or put them in an airtight container to keep the cinnamon buns from drying out. Freeze for up to 3 months.