I'm in Muncie! Learning to be a doctor for little adults (for at least a couple of months). I miss many things in Indy like the canal and my comfy bed but I'm also trying to be optimistic and be excited to explore Muncie. Plus lucky me, Andrew is here for a month anyways! So we will have fun adventures when we can - there's already a Middle Eastern place we want to check out and a pastry shop on the list. I went to Target today for essentials like shampoo and a giant ass bag of Boom Chicka Pop so basically I'm ready for at least the next couple of days before I go home for Thanksgiving and then buy actual things to be a real person in this place.
I will make this short and sweet, because I'm sure you all are busy busy busy planning Thanksgiving menus and getting your place all fancy for the holidays! I'm sharing these rolls in case you are still deciding what carbs you want to bring to the table on Thursday. These pull apart knots are a play off of Cynthia's stunning stuffing rolls from last year. For this version, there is sweet potato in the dough to give it an extra fluffiness from the added starch. It's sprinkled with an herb-y mushroom and onion goodness and some bleu cheese for a little extra flavor. And then topped with a nice sprinkling of coarse sea salt to balance out the natural sweetness of the roll. It's a fluffy cloud that is not only tasty, but check out those swirls! I took four pans to our annual friendsgiving on Saturday and was happy to see empty pans at the end of the night.
Have a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend! I am so thankful every day for all you readers and supporters of this blog. And especially thankful this week. Be sure to nourish your bodies with great food and fill your hearts with laughs and smiles this weekend!
Love, Erica
For the dough
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon + 1/3 cup sugar, divided
- 1 1/2 cup warm water (use the potato water if you have the chance)
- 1 cup room temperature mashed sweet potato (about 1 large sweet potato)
- 2/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 eggs
- 7 cups flour
For the filling
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 5-6 sage leaves, chopped
- 16 oz baby bella mushrooms, diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Bleu cheese, crumbled
- Olive oil
- Coarse sea salt
Directions
In a large bowl, stir the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar into the warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes or until frothy and bubbly. Add 2 of the 7-7 1/2 cups of flour, and mix until well combined. Stir in the potato, butter, sugar, salt and eggs to the dough until well combined. Add the remaining 5-5 1/2 cups of flour until you have a dough that comes together and pulls away at the sides.
Place the dough onto a well floured surface and knead for 5-7 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic. Place the dough into a large well oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and then place in the fridge overnight.
For the filling, melt butter in a skillet. Add the shallots and cook until they become translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the baby bella mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms have softened. Salt and pepper to taste. Add fresh thyme, parsley, and sage and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the stove, put mixture into a large bowl, and place in the fridge to cool.
Remove the dough from the fridge and punch down the dough. Roll out into a long rectangle and then slice into strips. Create simple knots with each strip.
Place the knots into the bowl of mushroom mixture and toss so that the mixture coats the knots. Be gentle here since you don't want the knots to stick together.
Grease three 8 inch pans with butter. Place the knots in an even layer across the pans. Sprinkle in the cheese in between the knots and on top. Cover the pans with plastic wrap and let the knots rise in a warm place for about one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350 F at around the 45 minute mark.
Brush the tops of the rolls with olive oil, and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt. Bake rolls for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Remove and top with remaining chopped parsley. Enjoy warm and fresh from the oven!