Sweet Potato-Dried Fruit Buns

Potato bread is one of my favorite breads because it can be served with dinner, is good for sandwiches, and is as simple to make as French toast. Potato bread has a rich, soft texture and a thin, crisp crust. I tweak potato bread recipes by using sweet potatoes, adding chia seeds gel and dried fruit to give this bread a natural sweet taste and good health benefits.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup skim milk
1 egg
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes*
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbs chia seeds gel
1 tbs soft butter
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup dried fruit, your choice (raisins, plums, or dates)
2 tbs soft butter
Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in the order listed above up to the dried fruit into a bread machine. Select the dough setting and press start. Add the dried fruit at the last minute of the bread machine cycle so the dried fruit will still hold their shape. When the cycle is done normally the first rise is finished. Remove dough from the machine and place dough onto a lightly floured work surface.

Spread 1 tbs of soft butter on the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking dish.

Roll dough into a long log (about 18 inches long).

 Cut dough into 12 pieces.

 Lightly sprinkle dough with flour if it is too sticky to handle. Shape each piece into a smooth ball by first stretching each one out a couple of times.

Place smooth balls 2 inch apart on the prepared baking dish. Top each ball with the rest of the soft butter.

 Cover with a clean kitchen cloth and let rise until almost double in size (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or place in the refrigerator to rise slowly overnight.

Gently brush risen dough with egg wash.

Bake in preheated oven set to 375° for 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool on the wire rack

*To make mashed potatoes for this recipe, peel and quarter a medium sweet potato. Boil quartered potato in water until tender. Drain and mash potato with a folk until smooth. Cool to room temperature before using.
The Chia seed gel contribute to the crunchiness of the buns