Light and airy with a hint of crispness around the edges, these yeast-risen doughnuts don’t fall too far from their wheat-filled counterparts. In order to keep them light, the dough is not rolled and cut as wheat-based doughnuts are. Instead the dough is left loose, helping it to rise beautifully. When it comes time to fry, the dough is either spooned in for doughnut holes or piped onto parchment for easy round doughnuts. Note that instant yeast can be added to this recipe to add more yeast-risen flavor and texture, but the sourdough starter can be used alone as the leavening.

Makes 9 Rolls
These rolls are ideal for both burgers and sandwiches. Don’t salt the cooking water for the potatoes. A pound of russet potatoes should yield just over 1 very firmly packed cup (1/2 pound) of mash. To ensure optimum rise, your dough should be warm; if your potatoes or potato water is too hot to touch, let cool before proceeding with the recipe. This dough looks very dry when mixing begins but will soften as mixing progresses. If you prefer, you may portion the rolls by weight in step 5 (2.75 ounces of dough per roll).

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Mashed potatoes are hefty and substantial, but in a potato rolls recipe, they give the crumb a light, tender, moist texture. That’s because the starches in potatoes dilute the gluten-forming proteins, which weakens the structural network and makes it softer, moister, and more tender. For the lightest potato rolls, we use a combination of ½ pound of mashed russet potatoes and high-protein bread flour. This creates a potato roll dough with a stable structure that supports the greatest amount of potatoes, producing rolls that were not only perfectly risen but also light and airy.