Sweet Rolls from Sarah

My friend Sarah is a foodie, like me. She enjoys cooking for her family and friends and I really enjoy reading her blog; View from the Porch. If you haven’t been on her site, I would highly recommend you checking it out.

Sarah works with my husband and is a fellow MU graduate. I appreciate the openness and conversation-like writing of her blog. She shares many great family recipes on her site and talks about traditional family recipes which I really enjoy reading about.

A couple weeks ago my husband came home from work and said that Sarah had brought in these sweet rolls and I had to get the recipe from her. He bragged all night about these rolls, so I found that Sarah had posted the recipe on her blog, plus the history behind the recipe.

From her blog post:

This recipe dates back many years. As far as I know, it came from my great-great Aunt Madolyn who was known for both her cooking and her gardens. I’ve written about Nanny and her incredible patience, gorgeous gardens, and wonderful cooking before. I’ve made a simple addition of cinnamon to this recipe and occasionally omit the raisins so my husband will eat it. The recipe can also be prepared as a coffee cake.

Sweet Rolls
By Madolyn Baldwin (Nanny)
From View from the Porch

1 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed potatoes ( I used instant)
2 eggs
2 packages yeast dissolved in 2 c. warm water
1 c. raisins
7- 7 ½ c. flour
2 tbsp. melted butter
Brown sugar
cinnamon

Caramel Icing:
1/3 c. butter
½ c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. corn syrup (clear)
Nuts (optional)

Rolls: Cream the sugar, butter, salt, potatoes, and eggs together in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add to the mixture and beat well. Add the raisins. Beat in the flour one cup at a time. After the first couple of cups have been added, you will need to knead the remaining flour in.

Cover with loose plastic wrap or a towel and let rise, until it has doubled. Roll out until it is 1 inch thick. Spread with melted butter and then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Carefully roll the dough into a spiral. Slice with serrated knife into 1 inch slices. Put in buttered pans, cover loosely and allow to rise again. Bake until lightly browned (30 minutes or so) at 350F.

Icing: Melt butter. Dissolve the brown sugar and syrup into the butter. Add nuts if desired. Pour on top of rolls as they cool. You may also pour the mixture in the bottom of the pan and place the rolls on top before baking. This gives the rolls a lovely brown coating when you invert the pan to serve.