Martha Stewart's trick for making the best cinnamon rolls is mashed potatoes, and her recipe delivers

Lauren EdmondsMar 20, 2021, 17:54 IST

Insider

Martha Stewart created a cinnamon-roll recipe that incorporates mashed potatoes.
Stewart said that mashed potatoes are "the secret behind the light texture" of her cinnamon rolls.
The mashed potatoes definitely added a fluffy consistency, but the recipe was time-consuming.

According to Martha Stewart, cinnamon rolls "will turn anyone into a morning person." And I definitely agree.

Some of my favorite childhood memories were waking up in the morning and racing into my kitchen, where the smell of gooey cinnamon rolls topped with icing filled the air. My family relied on store-bought versions like Pillsbury Grands! Cinnamon Rolls that were so dense we never finished a whole batch in one sitting.

But in December, Stewart caught my cinnamon roll-loving attention when she re-shared her 2018 recipe that promised to yield the "lightest, fluffiest cinnamon rolls ever" thanks to one unexpected ingredient: mashed potatoes.

"The secret ingredient to pillowy perfection? Adding a russet potato," the 79-year-old chef and lifestyle icon wrote on Instagram.

While the mashed potatoes did make the cinnamon rolls undeniably airy and delicious, the two-day baking process was more time-consuming than I'd anticipated.

Stewart's trick may seem odd to the average home baker, but it's actually pretty common. Bakers often add mashed potatoes to cinnamon rolls and other pastries to make them extra fluffy.

Adding mashed potatoes to a pastry can help keep it moist and fluffy. Lauren Edmonds

Stewart's trick may seem odd to the average home baker, but it's actually pretty common. Bakers often add mashed potatoes to cinnamon rolls and other pastries to make them extra fluffy.

The recipe calls for 13 ingredients, including active dry yeast, and has five major steps.

The recipe called for three types of sugar and active dry yeast. Lauren Edmonds

The potato was boiled and prepared for mashing at the start of the recipe.

The potatoes took about 12 minutes to cook in a small pot of water. Lauren Edmonds

Making the dough from scratch was the most challenging task.

It took at least five attempts and a call to my father for me to realize how active dry yeast worked. Lauren Edmonds

Everything was integrated in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.

After dusting my kitchen counter with flour, I smoothed the dough into a rectangle and began adding the filling. Lauren Edmonds

The cinnamon filling was far easier and only required everyday items found in my pantry.

I spread the cinnamon filling onto the dough and then rolled it into a log. Lauren Edmonds

Stewart suggested that the cinnamon rolls refrigerate at least eight hours or overnight before baking- making this a two-day recipe.

I managed to get 13 cinnamon rolls from my batch. Lauren Edmonds

The next day, I baked the cinnamon rolls in the oven for 35 minutes while I whisked together the glaze.

It was finally time to bake the cinnamon rolls! Lauren Edmonds

Stewart's cinnamon rolls were a delicious and gooey treat, but the process took one day longer than I wanted.

Stewart's version of cinnamon rolls will definitely be added to my recipe wheelhouse. Lauren Edmonds

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Martha Stewart's trick for making the best cinnamon rolls is mashed potatoes, and her recipe delivers

Stewart's trick may seem odd to the average home baker, but it's actually pretty common. Bakers often add mashed potatoes to cinnamon rolls and other pastries to make them extra fluffy.

The recipe calls for 13 ingredients, including active dry yeast, and has five major steps.

The potato was boiled and prepared for mashing at the start of the recipe.

Making the dough from scratch was the most challenging task.

Everything was integrated in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.

The cinnamon filling was far easier and only required everyday items found in my pantry.

Stewart suggested that the cinnamon rolls refrigerate at least eight hours or overnight before baking- making this a two-day recipe.

The next day, I baked the cinnamon rolls in the oven for 35 minutes while I whisked together the glaze.

Stewart's cinnamon rolls were a delicious and gooey treat, but the process took one day longer than I wanted.