Bakers Schedule

Day 1

• Feed Your Sourdough Starter, ideally in the evening.

Day 2

• Start in the morning if you can.
• Cook the sweet potato and brown your butter, so they can cool a little bit.
• Mix your dough. This will take about 10 minutes.

Stretch and Folds

• For the 90 minutes after mixing the dough, do a set of stretch and folds every about 30 minutes (don’t worry if this isn’t exact).

Bulk fermentation

• You can do this on the day of mixing the dough or the day after. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until about doubled for 3-6 hours. The time it takes hugely depends on room temperature, your flour, the temperature your ingredients had when mixing and how active your starter was.
• Go by feel and look. If the dough looks about doubled, is bubbly underneath, comes away easily from the sides of the bowl and springs back slowly when you poke it gently, it’s ready.

Overnight Cold Ferment

• This is not strictly necessary, and you can bake right after shaping and the last proof, but it hugely improves the flavor and make the protein easier bioavailable. Plus it frees time in the day I feel. You can leave your dough in the fridge for anywhere from 8 hours up to 3 days.

Shaping and Last Proof

• The shaping only takes a few minutes and then the buns can proof right in the baking dish until doubled in volume. This takes 1-2 hours usually.
• After that you can either bake right away or put them covered into the fridge for up to 3 days (all in all fridge time. So not 3 more after 3 days of the dough sitting in the fridge) until you are ready to bake.

Bake

• These sweet potato rolls take about 25-35 minutes to bake.
• This schedule and the rough time estimations, plus the fact that you can switch up the times when you do the cold fermentation and shaping mean this recipe, just as most sourdough recipes, is incredibly flexible and forgiving when it comes to busy holiday (or workday for that matter) schedules. Plan around what suits you.

Detailed Instructions

Day 1

Feed your starter.

• I assume you have an existing sourdough starter. If not, either ask a bakers friend if they share theirs or start a week earlier and follow the instructions in this post on how to create your own sourdough starter. It works for both rye and white flour.
• Simply stir together water and flour until you have a relatively stiff starter, then allow it to rest, loosely covered overnight or until nice and bubbly and about doubled in volume.
• I found using just a tiny bit less water (about 10ml) than the weight of the flour and only 1 part existing starter gives me the most active and flexible starter with a much longer peak time. So it’s very forgiving in when I use it.

Day 2

Get all your ingredients ready

• This will save you a lot of time and running back and forth (and, if you are like me, probably forgetting something in the process. You can essentially bet that I forget something in nearly every recipe test I do. It’s a miracle that most work out anyway!)

Brown The Butter

• Start by browning your butter, as you’ll want it to come to room temperature before you use it. You could do this the day before as well.
• Grab a heatproof bowl to transfer your browned butter into when it’s done.
• Add your butter to a saucepan and allow it to melt over medium high heat. Once it starts to wildly bubble, turn the heat down to medium/low and keep stirring, ideally with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, to scrape off any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan constantly. This is where the flavor lives!
• Once the foam changes in sound and bubble size (they will suddenly turn a lot smaller) watch it like a hawk. The water has evaporated, and the browning will now be very quick. Keep stirring and take it off the heat once it smells nutty and delicious and you see golden brown specks under the foam.
• Pour into your waiting heat proof bowl to avoid burning in the still hot pan. Happened to me more than once!

Boil Sweet Potatoes

• Peel your sweet potato and cut into large chunks. Just cover with water (don’t add salt) and boil for 15-20 minutes or until you can very easily smash them with a fork. They should be really tender.
• Take the potato pieces out with a slotted spoon and allow them to drain and cool a bit in a colander.
• Don’t throw out the cooking water, we still need all its starchy goodness for the Yudane.

Mix The Yudane

• Now, while your cooking water is still boiling hot (if it cooled, just re-heat it) measure out ½ cup from your flour and put it into a heat proof bowl. Pour ½ cup of the sweet potato cooking water over it and stir with a spoon until you have a smooth mix.
• This might seem weird if you never tried the Tangzhong or Yudane method, but it gelatinizes the starches from the flour and gives these dinner rolls their incredible softness, holding onto even more moisture than your flour and the starch from the potatoes usually would. If you ever tried one of those super soft Japanese white breads: This is their secret.
• Allow to stand and cool down a little while you get on with the recipe.

Blend The Protein Ingredients

• In your blender, add first the eggs, then protein powder, then top with the cottage cheese. These layering is your best chance to not end up with protein powder stuck to the lid, as it’s sandwiched between the two liquid ingredients. Blend until smooth. If any powder did get stuck to the sides, scrape them down and blend again.
• Add the measured cup of sweet potato to the blender and blend that in too.
• I’m a little mindful of not adding the hot sweet potato right next to the egg, to avoid any potential coagulation, but if yours has cooled down a bit first, you could add it straight away with the rest.
• You’ll be left with a super creamy, lovely orange mix. Tempting, isn’t it?

Stir In The Sourdough Starter

• Because I don’t want to damage the delicate gluten structure of my starter, I never blend it in.
• This is the time to gently whisk it into your creamy cottage cheese blend.
• I use a dough hook, but any whisk or even a fork will do just fine. You’ll just want it relatively smooth without any big “blobs” of starter.

Mix The Dough

• In a large bowl (I used the glass bowl from my Kitchen Aid), mix your flour, salt and sugar briefly.
• Then stir in the liquid mix and the Yudane but not the butter yet.
• Butter will coat the flour and inhibit gluten formation, which we want later, but not quite yet. To get the perfect fluffy rise we are looking for, we need the flour to absorb most of the liquid and develop some gluten before the butter gets added.
• You can use your stand mixer for this step but only mix briefly until just combined. Don’t knead for a long time or you might overdevelop your dough.

Autolyse

• Now allow the dough to stand, covered with a damp towel or cling film, for about 30 minutes, so the flour can absorb most of the moisture.

Knead In The Butter

• You can do this by hand, but I used my stand mixer for this step, as it does get a bit messy and sticky.
• Whichever method you use, add the butter slowly, kneading in a bit, then adding more.
• Or, if you are as impatient as I am, pour it all in, then curse as the mixer spins in circles without grabbing the dough, use the dough whisk and then finish with the mixer until you have a smooth and uniform dough. Again, don’t mix too long.
• Assess Your dough at this point, It should be soft and sticky, but not runny or batter-like. If it looks way too moist, add 2-4 tbsp of flour. This will depend on your flour, the moisture content of your potatoes and, frankly, even the weather. I added 2 tbsp in my second test run but didn’t need any in the first. Despite the same recipe.

Stretch And Folds

• Within the next 90 minutes or so, perform three sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes.
• To do this, wet your hands, stretch one side of your still very sticky dough up and fold it over the rest. Turn the bowl by 90 degrees, repeat twice. Then allow to rest for the next 30 minutes and perform the next set. Repeat once more.
• Your dough should now look fairly smooth and be relatively easy to handle. It will still be slightly sticky. That’s perfectly normal for sourdough.

Bulk Fermentation

• Transfer your dough into a lightly oiled and clean bowl, so it’s easier to turn out later.
• Now you can either go ahead and let your dough bulk ferment covered outside (I usually use clingfilm or a lid, to keep it from drying out) of the fridge for 3-6 hours or until about doubled in volume or put it into the fridge overnight and do the bulk fermentation the next day. Decide depending on your schedule. Both methods work perfectly well.
• The time it takes hugely depends on room temperature, your flour, the temperature your ingredients had when mixing, and how active your starter was.
• My kitchen is around 70°F/21°C most of the time, which is perfect for this fairly buttery dough. It took about 6 hours to double in volume.
• While I often say you can speed up the rising time with a cup of hot water in your switched off oven, I would not do that for this dough, as you don’t want the butter to get too warm and seep out.
• The cool rise will keep a slight flakiness in your finished rolls. The dough is ready when it looks nice and puffed up, comes away from the sides of the bowl, showing a good network of bubbles and springs back slowly when you poke it with a fingertip.

Cold Fermentation

• At this point you can cover your dough and allow it to cold ferment in the fridge overnight or for up to 3 days. The flavor will improve, adding a bit more of that delicious sourdough tang, nutrients will be broken down, to make them easier bioavailable and you’ll get all the gut friendly benefits from the sourdough.
• You don’t have to do this, but it’s one of the best ways to get the perfect sourdough.

Shape your Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

• Once the bulk fermentation and cold fermentation (if you chose to do it) is done and your dough is nice and fluffy, grease your baking dish with a bit of butter.
• Flour your work surface. I like using a silicone mat for easier cleanup.
• Turn out your dough, if needed using a dough scraper. Though with all the butter it usually comes out easily.
• Now gently flatten in a bit and fold it into thirds like an envelope, then tuck under the sides and turn it with your hands, until you have a relatively round shape with a smooth top and a bit of surface tension.
• Using a dough scraper or knife, cut your dough into quarters. Then cut each quarter into three relatively even pieces. You could use scales, if you wanted them perfectly even, but I never bother. This is home cooking and should be as stress free as possible!
• Now flour your hands a bit. The dough will still be a little sticky. Grab one piece of dough and pull all the corners up, as if you are making a little bag. Pinch them together, then turn the ball over, so the pinched corners are in your palm and, with a cupped hand on top, start rolling the ball in rapid little circles for a moment, until you have a smooth top.
• Place seam side down in your greased baking dish and repeat with the remaining dough pieces, spacing them slightly apart, to give them room for their last rise.

Last Rise

• Cover the dish with a damp towel or, as I usually do, with clingfilm, to prevent the dough from drying out. Allow to rise for about 1-2 hours or until about doubled in volume.
• You can now bake them or store in the fridge until ready to bake.

Baking Your Sourdough Protein Buns

• Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C.
• If you like an even darker crust, brush them with some egg wash. I like them as they are and feel the butter after baking soaks in better if I don’t cover them with egg.
• Bake the dinner rolls for about 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and fluffy. My oven bakes very unevenly and gets a little too hot in the upper half, so I set my rolls to the lower rack and rotated the baking dish once after about 15 minutes, to get even browning.
• If yours brown too fast, cover loosely with some kitchen foil to finish baking. I covered mine for the last 10 minutes. Ovens can behave very differently, so my best tip is to get to know yours.
• An instant read thermometer can help to check the internal temperature of the rolls in the center. It should read around 190°F/85°C when they are ready.
• Alternatively carefully pull one of the rolls from the center out and gently pull it open, to see if it’s baked through.

Finish and Serve

• Now it’s time for the final touches, letting these slightly sweet and super tender rolls really shine.
• After taking them out of the oven, brush with some melted butter, then sprinkle with a little bit of flaky salt. Allow to cool for just a little, until you can reasonably touch them. Serve for dinner in their dish, so everyone can pull one out, enjoying the sweet smelling steam, buttery scent and flaky interior.
• These are just as good served with a great Thanksgiving dinner to mop up all the Turkey juices, as they are just with some butter and maybe honey on top.
• Oh and don’t forget to try them as leftover turkey sandwich. The sweet- tart cranberry sauce goes just incredibly well with the slightly sweet and tangy, buttery soft bun!