Potato Bread

Today I’m sharing my take on potato bread – perfectly light, fluffy and easy to make. What more could you ask for?

I have shared a few basic bread recipes throughout the year but this is on another tier, trust me when I say that. I remember a while ago when I first made this loaf, I as amazed at how light and fluffy the bread was. I was expecting the end result to be a heavy and dense loaf but it really isn’t. Adding the potatoes in  once the dough has done mixing certainly helps with keeping this loaf perfectly balanced.

This is the perfect bread to make if you have either some left over boiled potatoes or have some potatoes to use it, trust me. This is one of those breads, when you tell them what it has in, they’re intrigued and want to try it.

I’ve kept it very plain and simple but feel free to add other flavours like herbs and spices with other addtions like meat or cheese – it’s a really easy to customise. What would your combination be?

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

500g Strong bread flour.

5g Salt.

15g Fresh yeast.

30g White shortening.

10g Milk powder.

210ml Water.

250g Potatoes (peeled, boiled and fully cooled down).

 

Method:

Before you get into making this loaf, you’re best to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, preparing the loaf pan with a slip of greaseproof paper and get any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and a spatula. Don’t forget to peel and boil your potatoes and allow them to cool down fully before  you use them.

To start on the dough, take your mixing bowl and place in the bread flour and salt, giving them a good mix, just until they are incorporated.

You can then go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, shortening, milk powder and water – then mix on low speed to start with for around 2 minutes, followed by 6 minutes on a high speed. You will notice the dough isn’t as soft as usual, this is normal and will change.

Once the dough has been mixing for around 6-7 minutes, stop the mixer and place in all of the potatoes and mix on a low speed for around a minute, followed by 1-2 minutes on a high speed. By this time, you’ll notice the dough is looking a lot better, much lighter and fluffier.

Lightly flour your work surface with a small amount of flour, then place the dough onto it and give it a brief knead. You just want the dough to be smooth and elastic.

You can then transfer the dough into a bowl which has been lightly oiled with. flavourless and colourless oil. Place the dough into the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm until the dough has doubled in size (which usually takes around 45-60 minutes, depending on the climate).

While the dough is proofing, it’s the perfect time to get cleaned down and ready for when the dough is proofed.

Once the dough is well proofed, you can then go ahead and flour your work surface with a small amount of flour, then you can go ahead and add the dough on to it and knock it back. Knocking the dough back is the process of removing the gases that have built up in the dough. Once the dough has been knocked back, you can bring it back into a ball shape, then roll out into a fat sausage shape and place into your lined loaf pan. Cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to proof for a further 30-45 minutes.

Now you can see your dough has risen well, you can preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Remove the clingfilm from on-top of the dough and place into the preheated oven and baked for 15-20 minutes, it should be well coloured.

Once the baking time is done and the bread is baked, remove from the tin/tray and allow to cool fully before you slice it up. If you’re not sure your bread is full baked, turn the loaf upside down and tap the bottom – if it sounds hollow, its baked.

Slice and enjoy, once the loaf has cooled down fully. This is the perfect bread for sandwiches, toast and if you allow it to go stale, bread pudding.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.