As 2023 summer came to an end, we started to panic to get in as many BBQs as possible. And what better to BBQ than burgers? A few years ago, we discovered a wonderfully light burger bun made with sweet potatoes! Because who wants a heavy, overpowering bun? I had some leftover mashed potatoes from a recent dinner party and decided to turn them into these buns! What a great way to utilize leftovers! These were plain, ordinary whipped potatoes made with cream and butter and a little salt. They turned into the most delicious, light buns.
You’ll notice that there is also one egg and some melted butter in this recipe that allows the dough to have that gorgeous brioche structure without being heavy. These are truly the best burger buns.
Potato Buns
Makes about 11 buns, about 65 g each (unbaked) with a tiny “tester” bun left over.
Ingredients:
- 454 g leftover mashed potatoes
- 65 g all-purpose flour
- 125 mL warm water
- 8 g quick-rising yeast
- 1 large egg
- 45 mL unsalted butter, melted
- 10 mL honey
- 7 g sea salt, finely ground
- 240 g bread flour, or slightly more as needed
Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, or to taste
Directions:
- In a bowl, mix together the 65 g flour, warm water, and yeast, and whisk until smooth.
- When the yeast mixture is frothy (about 10 minutes), pour it into the large bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the creamer paddle. Add the mashed potato, the egg, the melted butter, the honey, and the sea salt and mix until well incorporated. Switch the paddle to the kneading hook and add the 240 g of flour in batches. Knead 4 minutes. If the dough is still too sticky, add an additional 30 g of flour and knead until the dough is soft, elastic, and shiny (about 8 minutes). Stop and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes. Once rested, knead again with the dough hook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Turn the dough out into a well-oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise until double in size (about 1 hour).
- After it has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch and fold a few times. Measure out the dough into 10 equal portions (about 65 g each, with one tiny “tester”) and roll each portion into a smooth ball. Allow to rest for 45 minutes or until doubled in size on a covered baking sheet.
- Preheat your oven to 400° F. Combine the remaining egg, and water and mix well. Brush each bun with the egg mixture and sprinkle each with sesame seeds.
- Bake in a hot oven until golden or when the internal temperature is 200° F (about 15 minutes).
I could definitely use a good bun recipe, so thank you!
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I’ve had potato buns before (so good), and I also love this sweet potato spin. Beautiful colour. I cannot judge the texture from the inside, but they seem too be nicely light, fluffy, and airy!
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I can attest to how mashed potato can lighten a dough. Great tip for making focaccia barese as well!
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Eva, you can come join us for the continued bbq. The weather is ever so slightly more bearable (laugh). There is a tinge of fall in the air.
I love a good potato bread. You made good use of leftover mashed potatoes! No doubt these were delicious.
Velva
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Thank you for your lovely invitation, if I find myself in Florida I will definitely give you a shout out. Thank you for the kind words too, they were indeed delicious.
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wow, thank you so much for this recipe. i’ve got a lot of potatoes here. i’ll try to do your recipe, too.
JULIE ANN LOZADA BLOG
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Thank you Julie for your comment and welcome to my humble blog. The recipe is very easy so I hope you do try it, it has a lovely texture.
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A big yes to potato buns! Everyone seems to have moved from brioche to potato buns now 😮 These look picture perfect Eva!
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Back when I catered and often made buns, I sometimes used potato flour. But never mashed potatoes or sweet potato mash. This is brilliant!
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Don’t think I’ve ever tried potato buns, let alone baked them. Something to try!
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These look beautiful, Eva.
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These look super soft! I like to add mashed potato to the dough too, but usually much less than your recipe calls for. Gotta try yours out.
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YUM! I love potato bread and I know your rolls are just as delicious!! They look bakery worthy!
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