Mix dry ingredients, potatoes, and sugar together in a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer.
Add 2 cups water with the mixer on. Let it mix together for a about 1 minute.
Gradually add the final cup of water and add more if necessary. The dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl but clean the sides and be sticky to the touch. If you add too much water, don't worry! Just add a bit more flour to get it back to the right consistency.
Knead 6-8 minutes in a mixer or 8-10 minutes by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Don't skimp on the kneading! This helps create the structure of the bread.
Let the dough rise (covered, room temperature) in the same bowl you mixed it in for 1 hour or until doubled.
Turn out and divide into 30 pieces, or however many rolls you would like.
Create round rolls by stretching the dough over your thumb and tucking the excess underneath and to the center of the roll. Repeat until the dough is taught.
Place evenly on a lined or greased baking sheet.
Spray the tops of the rolls with cooking spray to prevent the plastic wrap from sticking and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled.
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Once rolls have risen, bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops and bottoms are golden brown.
Notes
I use instant yeast for this recipe, you can use active dry and follow the same directions. If you are using fresh yeast, you may have to do some trial and error as I haven't tested that with this recipe. Most people recommend a 2:1 ratio.
If you halve the recipe, you can mix and raise it in a bread machine.
You can freeze this dough or baked rolls, check out this post for more details.
Do not substitute gluten-free flour or bread flour in this recipe, it will not turn out or raise correctly. If you choose to use all wheat flour, the texture and taste will be different.