Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls with Whipped Honey Butter
Soft and fluffy crescent rolls brimming with the cozy flavor combination of sweet potato and nutmeg, and smothered with homemade honey butter.

These super soft crescent rolls have a special secret ingredient— sweet potatoes! It gives the rolls their velvety texture, and also adds sweetness, flavor, and a fun distinctive color. Guest are sure to be delighted and intrigued!
Combined with a hint of nutmeg and an optional (but recommend) honey butter, these sweet potato rolls are simply divine. They’re perfect for holiday baking like for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but honestly they’d be great anytime!





Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls with Whipped Honey Butter
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- ¼ cup honey (85 grams)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (42 grams)
- ½ cup milk (118 ml)
- 3-4 cups all-purpose flour (360-480 grams)
- 1 packet Red Star Active Dry Yeast (2 ½ teaspoons, 7 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sweet potato puree (330 grams, about 1 medium)
For the honey butter:
- ½ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (113 grams)
- 1 tablespoon honey (21 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan set over medium low heat, warm the butter, honey and milk until butter is melted and mixture begins to steam. Do not boil. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes, or until the temperature is between 120-130° F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine 1 ½ cups of the flour with the yeast, salt and nutmeg. Add the milk mixture and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each, followed by the sweet potato puree. With the mixer on low, add the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time until dough clears the side of the bowl but is still slightly sticky to the touch. You may not need all 4 cups of flour.
- Continue to knead the dough in the mixer until it is smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Gently punch down dough and knead a few times. Cover it with the plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- On a clean surface roll the dough out into a 16-inch circle. Using a pizza slicer, cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Working with each piece individually, roll the dough up starting with the fat end. Place the roll on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper so the skinny point is on the bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and rise again for 30 minutes.
- While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375° F. Bake rolls until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
- While rolls are baking, prepare the honey butter. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the butter, honey and salt until smooth.
- Brush hot rolls with some of the honey butter, then serve with additional honey butter. The rolls are best the day they are made but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
NOTES
- If desired, you may also use Red Star Quick Rise Yeast. Cut both rising times in half.
- To make sweet potato puree: prick sweet potato(es) with fork and place on a sheet pan. Bake at 350° F until soft, about 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature, then peel and mash with a fork.
I would like to try the Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls
The Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls with Whipped Honey Butter look yummy
Yummy can’t wait to try
honey butter and sweet potato are such a classic combination. I cannot wait to try this crescent roll recipe!
I can’t choose just one of these recipes to make. The more I look, the more I want to make them all!!
I like all of them but the no knead one looks great
Okay, so the last “rise” before baking is where I’m extending the time and as long as I go from my fridge to my car (which should be freezing, since I’m NY) I should be fine. Thanks so much! That’s very helpful.
Hi Annalise,
Let’s say I wanted to mix the dough at home travel a couple hours and bake the rolls just before Thanksgiving dinner. Would I could completely ruin the texture of the rolls by letting them rise for that long? Could I let the dough rise in the refrigerator instead to compensate.
Thanks!
By the way, I made your Southern Coconut Cake last Thanksgiving and it was an absolute hit!
Hi Toyin! You can definitely mix the dough in advance. I wouldn’t store the dough at room temperature for longer than 2 hours, and I wouldn’t store it in the fridge for longer than 24 hours. What I would probably do is prepare the recipe and shape the rolls, put them on a sheet pan and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to leave. Then transport them in a cooler or the trunk of your car if it’s cold outside. They don’t need to be kept refrigerator temperature, but you want them to slowly come up to temp while you travel, so I wouldn’t just put them in a warm car. Does that make sense? Then they’ll probably be ready to bake when you get to your destination. I hope this helps! 🙂
Heavens these are the most beautiful rolls EVER!!
Oh boy I bookmarked this page to make these rolls. I must get over my ineptness with yeast. I must. LOL I sure would also love to make the apple pull apart bread struesel bread.
I wish I could take a bread class. I cannot just cannot seem to get bread right! It’s always too tough, too crusty my kitchen is so cold too, it takes all day to even rise.
Perfect for the holidays! I want to bake bread with you more… I need help 🙂
I’m excited to try the Snickerdoodle Bagels with Cinnamon Crunch.It looks so good!
I am most interested in trying the chocolate glazed pumpkin doughnuts.
I definitely want to try your rolls, as well as the Fluffy No Knead Refrigerator Rolls from Stephie Cooks and the Apple Streusel Pull Apart Bread from Girl Versus Dough.
the apple coffee cake