Healthy Cinnamon Sweet Potato Rolls recipe, perfect for Christmas or Thanksgiving breakfast or brunch. These rolls are delicious, moist, fluffy and easy to make!
You won’t believe how delicious AND healthy are these cinnamon sweet potato rolls! In the beginning, I wasn’t even planning to post this recipe on my blog but it’s so good I just can’t resist to share it with you! I made them for brunch just to use up the sweet potato leftovers and I didn’t even expect them to be that good! However, they were. In fact, I would even go as far as to say that they are the best breakfast rolls I’ve even tried. Taking into account that they are also healthy, I can’t recommend you to make them enough! And I can imagine how great they would be for Thanksgiving breakfast!
I really love healthy baking. Whenever I try to develop such a recipe, I usually try to substitute whole wheat flour to white flour, brown sugar or honey for refined sugar and coconut oil or Greek yogurt for butter. It doesn’t always work if you substitute it 1:1, so I had to go through trial and error many times. Surprisingly, this recipe worked perfectly from the first attempt!
I like adding pureed vegetables (or apple sauce) to baked goods. This recipe calls for sweet potato puree but you also can use pumpkin, squash or yams. The intensive orange color and lovely moistness and fluffiness sweet potatoes give to baked goods are just amazing! You don’t taste them very much, though they count as your 5-a-day! My sister-in-law didn’t believe I added sweet potatoes and used whole wheat flour for these rolls. She liked them very much though!
If you don’t have leftover sweet potato puree, just bake 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes (not too big) for about 1 hour in the oven, until they are soft when pierced with a fork (see the details in the recipe below). Scrap the flesh with a spoon and mash it. Sweet potato puree is ready to use!
How to Make Healthy Cinnamon Sweet Potato Rolls
We will use yeast dough, so you will have to let it rest for about one hour or until it doubles in size. I like to put it in the oven over minimum heat (50 °C or 120 °F). This way, the dough is raising much better and faster.
To make the dough, dissolve yeast in water and add a bit of brown sugar to activate it. Let sit for 5 minutes or until the surface is foamy. Combine it with sweet potato puree, Greek yogurt, eggs and flour. Knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic, about 2-3 minutes. Add more flour if it’s too sticky. Transfer it to an oiled bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Next step is to let it rest until it doubles in size. It took my dough about 40 minutes in the warm oven, but if you keep it at a room temperature, it will probably be 1 hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Combine chopped pecans, honey, cinnamon, a bit of coconut flour and coconut oil. Once the dough is ready, roll it on a well-floured surface into a rectangle until it’s about 50 x 35 cm (20 x 14 inches). It should be 1.5 cm or about 0.6 inch thick. Spread the pecans mixture evenly over the dough and start to roll from the long edge up.
Cut each roll in half, then again each piece in half, then each quarter in three, until you have 12 rolls. Place them tightly side by side into a fitting rectangular backing form. Let sit for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle the rolls with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. Just for the sake of healthiness, I don’t use icing to avoid extra sugar and I think they are sweet enough anyway. Bake sweet potato rolls for about 18 minutes, until golden brown. Enjoy them warm or cold for breakfast or brunch with a cup of coffee or tea. They are perfect for the season! Check the recipe below for more details:
Healthy Cinnamon Sweet Potato Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 400 grams or 2 cups sweet potato puree or 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
- 21 grams fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 500 grams or 4 cups whole wheat flour
For the filling:
- 180 grams or 1 1/2 cup pecans toasted and chopped
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
For the topping:
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- If you don't have leftover sweet potato puree, preheat the oven to 200 °C or 400 °F. Bake washed and dried sweet potatoes for about 1 hour in the oven, until they are soft when pierced with a fork. Scrap the flesh with a spoon and mash it.
- To make the dough, dissolve yeast in water and add brown sugar to activate it. Let sit for 5 minutes or until the surface is foamy. Combine it with sweet potato puree, Greek yogurt, eggs and flour. Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic, about 2-3 minutes. Add more flour if it's too sticky. Transfer it to an oiled bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Let it rest until it doubles in size. If you put it in the oven over minimum heat (50 °C or 120 °F), it will take about 40 minutes. If you keep the dough at a room temperature, it will take around 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Combine chopped pecans, honey, cinnamon, coconut flour and coconut oil. Once the dough is ready, roll it on a well-floured surface into a rectangle until it's about 50 x 35 cm (20 x 14 inches). It should be 1.5 cm or about 0.6 inch thick. Spread the pecans mixture evenly over the dough and start to roll from the long edge up.
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 400 °F. Cut each roll in half, then again each piece in half, then each quarter in three, until you have 12 rolls. Place them tightly side by side into a fitting rectangular backing form. I used 13 x 9 inch pan (33 x 22 cm). Let sit for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle the rolls with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake sweet potato rolls for about 18 minutes, until golden brown. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Other Breakfast & Brunch Recipes You’ll Love:
- Muesli Recipe: A Healthy and Delicious Breakfast Idea
- Delicious Kale Smoothie
- Healthier Brioche French Toast
- How to Make a Smoothie Bowl
Donna Porro
Wednesday 30th of November 2022
Could you swap cup-for-cup flour? Gluten free sweet potato lover!
Elena Szeliga
Thursday 1st of December 2022
Hi Donna, yes, you can substitute whole wheat flour for gluten free flour blend (or baking mix). Hope that helps!
Val
Monday 22nd of February 2021
We're dairy free--could you sub out the greek yogurt for a butter (or other yogurt) alternative? Or do you recommend using a dairy-free greek yogurt...?
Elena Szeliga
Tuesday 23rd of February 2021
I would recommend any dairy-free yogurt of your choice (coconut is my fave). Let me know how it turned out!
Helena
Wednesday 8th of May 2019
I really think these rolls are great for any day really! They look absolutely delicious and are healthy, too - what else do you need in a breakfast, right? :-)
Elena Szeliga
Thursday 9th of May 2019
Absolutely! I could eat them every day as they never get boring :)