Potato Bread
A few years ago I spent weeks on end trying to make the perfect sandwich loaf. After that I had a major Tartine phase and since then I have made sourdough boules far more often than your usual sandwich loaf. As much as I enjoy a crust that shatters and a open crumb, sometimes it is nice to have a simpler sandwich bread.
Enter this potato bread. This has to be one of the lightest, airiest, loaves I have ever made. It got incredible oven spring, so much so that when I made sandwiches with it all I needed was one slice. When toasted the bread got deliciously brown and crisp and held shape very well. The loaf didn’t last long but we did manage to also make some french toast with it (highly recommend!). Potato bread and buns are exceptionally popular around this time of year for their use at summer BBQs. The soft bread is great for mopping up barbecue sauce or anything else on your plate. This recipe makes enough dough for two loaves so I used half of it to make buns that we had with some delicious steak burgers from Sparrow Market.
This was the perfect bread to make french toast with. I cut two nice thick slices, soaked them in milk for a few minutes and then dipped them in egg before frying in a pan with butter. Make sure to let the bread cook enough before flipping to get a nice crust on the outside, about 4-5 minutes. This will also help make sure that the inside gets cooked too. Enjoy!
- 4 medium potatoes (about 1.5 lbs), peeled and cut into 1" chunks
- 4 C water
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 8 C AP flour
- 1 C whole wheat flour
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- Put the cut potatoes, 1 tsp salt, and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Drain the potatoes but keep the water! Mash the potatoes and set aside in a bowl to cool. When the potatoes and water have cooled you are ready to make the dough.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine 3 C of the potato water, the potatoes, 1 Tbsp salt, yeast, and 6 C of the AP flour and all the whole wheat flour.
- Knead on medium speed for 6 minutes, until the dough is very soft. Add additional potato water or AP flour as needed. The dough will be sticky but should clear the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1.5 hours.
- Divide the dough into two equal pieces and shape as desired.
- For a sandwich loaf pat the dough out to a 9"x5" rectangle and roll up from the short end to form a loaf, pinching the seams as you go. Let rise in a buttered loaf pan.
- For buns divide dough into 8 pieces and shape into rounds. Flatten with your palm, then cover with plastic wrap to rise.
- Whether making buns or a loaf, allow the dough to rise for another 90 minutes, until it has roughly doubled in size.
- While the dough rises preheat oven to 375 F. Bake rolls for about 30 minutes, the loaf for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
