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There is nothing more cozy and delicious than super-sized, fluffy, swirly buns oozing with spiced sugar and topped with gobs of sweet cream cheese frosting. Made with Okinawan purple sweet potatoes, these sugar buns are guaranteed to be ultra soft with incredible plushy texture. Warming scents of cinnamon, ginger, and a hint of cardamon blend beautifully with golden notes of brown sugar. This recipe can easily be made the day of or overnight for the best breakfast surprise! If you have some time and want to make something extra special this fall, make this and treat everyone to the best Okinawan sweet potato sugar buns. They really are the ultimate cinnamon rolls!
Jump to Recipe
Why are the Cinnamon Rolls Pink?
First off, aren’t they cute!!! These Okinawan Sweet Potato Sugar Buns make me smile every time I make them. Okinawan purple sweet potatoes create a gorgeous pale purple/pink color and beautifully shreddy, pillowy soft dough. If you don’t have purple sweet potato, don’t let that stop you! This recipe can easily be made with normal sweet potatoes! It’s pumpkin and sweet potato season after all!
What’s the Deal With Mashed Potatoes in Cinnamon Rolls?
Have you ever had cinnamon rolls that completely blew your mind? At 8 years old, I still remember sitting in art class when my art teacher shared the best cinnamon rolls I ever had in my life. The secret was mashed potato. Who knew mashed potato could bring cinnamon rolls to a whole new level! If you’ve ever had potato dinner rolls or Hawaiian sweet rolls, you know they are light, fluffy, and squishy. This is all because of potato starch. The added starch retains more moisture so you get a really lovely soft dough!
Ok, What Are Okinawan Sweet Potatoes??
On any trip to Hawaii, my favorite meal of the day was always breakfast! The most coveted item on the breakfast table were the mounds of steamed Okinawan sweet potatoes. Grandma would make pounds and pounds of these delectable, vibrantly purple sweet potatoes. A local favorite, Okinawan sweet potatoes are violet to deep purple in color and light beige skin. They are mildly sweet, have a slightly floral aroma, and a creamy soft texture basically like traditional orange sweet potatoes. Paired with Portuguese sausage and rice, this is my ultimate breakfast! Throw in some apple bananas, mangoes, and papaya…mmmm! I could live off of it for the rest of my life!
The Okinawan Sweet Potato Saga
Okinawan sweet potatoes thrive in warm climates. That means its pretty hard to find Okinawan sweet potatoes in Washington. Sometimes my parents will bring home this delicious treat when they come back from visiting family. But what can you do if you don’t have a sweet potato contact? Solution! My dad is an avid gardener, and I thought the perfect gift would be Okinawan sweet potato slips. Summertime in the PNW can be pretty warm, so I decided to give it a try! Unfortunately, for the potato plants, I do not have a green thumb. You could say I am a plant murderer…
I purchased the plants hoping they would be fine! However, a sudden cold snap in April meant the poor plants were slowly dying. Instead of giving my dad 8 beautiful potato slips for his birthday, he got sad depressing sticks. Thankfully they have since thrived and are healthy and happy!
What If I Can’t Find Okinawan Sweet Potatoes??
If you don’t have access to Hawaii or a gardener, you can find purple sweet potatoes in the frozen section at the grocery store. Or, you can use normal sweet potatoes, potatoes, or even pumpkin! You just won’t get this happy pink color.
Step By Step
Here is how you make your own sweet potato cinnamon rolls!
Step 1:
Cook and peel your sweet potatoes. Mash them with a fork until you have 1 2/3 cup of cooked potato.
Combine potatoes with sugar and milk. Blend with a hand mixer til smooth.
Step 2:
In a kitchen aid, combine the softened butter, potato puree, packed light brown sugar, salt, and food coloring (optional) until it is just mixed together.
Tip: If you don’t add the food coloring, the pink color will fade to a light dusty pink hue. By adding a tiny bit of blue and red food coloring, you get to keep that bright pinky purple color!
Step 3:
Activate the yeast by combining scalded milk, active dry yeast, and honey. Let it grow for about 5 minutes or until the yeast is bubbly and frothy.
Step 4:
Once the yeast is ready, Add one egg, 4 cups of flour, and yeast mixture to the kitchen aid. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Once the dough is starting to come together, slowly add the remaining flour until the dough pulls away from the bowl. This process takes about 10-15 minutes.
Do the windowpane test to make sure the gluten strands have been worked thoroughly.
Step 5:
Place the dough in a large greased bowl. Cover, and let it rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour until the dough has doubled in size.
Step 6:
Make the filling and sugar bottom by making brown butter. Add brown sugar, spices and salt. Set aside.
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and roll it out in a 14×18 inch rectangle. Sprinkle most of the spiced sugar mixture over the dough and spread it out evenly over the top. Starting on the long end, roll it up to make a log.
Cut into twelve pieces. A serrated knife makes this really easy and doesn’t squish the dough.
Sprinkle the remaining spiced sugar over the bottom of a 9×13 pan. I sometimes use two 9 inch round cake pans. Arrange the cinnamon rolls in three rows. If possible, try to leave as much space as you can between the rolls.
Step 7:
Cover with plastic wrap. At this point you can place it in the refrigerator overnight for up to 8 hours if you don’t want to bake them on the same day. Or, you can cover and let the rolls rise in a warm place for an hour. Once risen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 8:
Bake the rolls for 30-35 minutes until they are lightly golden and fully cooked in the middle. After 10 minutes of baking, cover the rolls with foil to avoid over-browning.
Step 9:
Mix up some cream cheese frosting and serve warm! Enjoy!!!
Okinawan Sweet Potato Sugar Buns
Ingredients
Dough
- 1β cup cooked Okinawan sweet potato You can easily substitute other purple sweet potato, normal sweet potatoes, or yams
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 drop blue food coloring (optional)
- 1 drop red food coloring (optional)
- 1 egg
- 5Β½ cups bread flour (you might need 1/2 cup more depending on your dough)
Yeast Mixture
- 1ΒΌ cup scalded milk
- 1 tsp honey
- 2ΒΌ tsp active dry yeast (not instant yeast)
Filling
- 1 stick unsalted butter (browned and cooled)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/8 tsp cardamon
- pinch of salt
Frosting
- 8 oz softened cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4-5 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Dough
- Cook and peel the purple sweet potato. In a mixing bowl, add the potato, milk and sugar. Use a hand mixer and blend til you have a smooth puree. You can also blend it in a blender.
- In a Kitchenaid, set up the dough hook attachment. Combine the softened butter, sweet potato puree, 2/3 cup light browned sugar, salt, and food coloring (if using). Mix until just combined.
- Meanwhile, scald your milk in the microwave, and bring the temperature to 110β. I usually heat it up to about 1 minute. Add the active dry yeast and honey. Stir to combine. Let the yeast activate for about 5 minutes until the yeast is bubbly and frothy.
- Add 1 egg, yeast mixture, and 4 cups of flour to the Kitchenaid. Knead on medium low for about 2-3 minutes til smooth. Slowly add remaining 1Β½ cups of bread flour til dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This takes about 10-15 minutes. Do the windowpane test to make sure the gluten has developed.
- Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled large bowl. Let the dough take a nap for 45 minutes to an hour.
Filling
- Brown 1 stick of butter and let it cool completely. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, and a pinch of salt. Whisk to combine.
Shape the Rolls!
- On a lightly floured surface, Roll the dough into a 14×18 inch rectangle. Spread 2/3 cup of the filling evenly over the rectangle. Spread the rest of the filling in the bottom of a 9×13 Pyrex baking pan or two 8-9inch cake pans. Starting at the long edge closest to you, rightly roll up the dough into a jellyroll. Gently cut the dough log into 12 even pieces using a serrated knife. Arrange the sugar bun rolls over the sugar mixture in the baking pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. If you are baking the rolls on the same day, let them rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
Baking Time!
- Preheat the oven to 350β. If baking the next day, remove the rolls from refrigerator and let them rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 30-35 minutes. After 10 minutes, cover the sugar buns with foil to prevent them from over-browning.
Frosting
- Whisk together cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. When ready to serve, slather the frosting on top and serve warm! Enjoy!
