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Aug 16, 2020

Rustic Potato Loaves

These rustic potato loaves is made from a dough that is half flour and half potatoes. When they are baking, your house will smell like baked potatoes.






The dough for this bread is so unusual and interesting to work with. First, the dough seems to come together pretty quickly, and then it seems to fall apart in your mixer before it comes back together into a a cohesive dough.



How to make this dough:


Take equal parts mashed potatoes and flour, mix them together with some yeast, a little water, and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Then beat the heck out of the dough for 11 (not 10, not 12) minutes.

Don't pay attention to how the dough feels. Don't worry about the weather, the room temperature, or the humidity. Forget everything you thought you knew about baking bread and the "feel" of the dough.

This all goes against my bread baking intuition. Except... it works.






The first time I made this bread, I used all russet potatoes. This time, because I had a lot of small Dutch baby potatoes, I used two-thirds russets and one-third Dutch babies. The Dutch babies (which are like Yukon Golds) added a slightly yellow color to the bread.

The dough gets most of its moisture from the potatoes, plus 1/2 cup of the water from boiling the potatoes. It's important to let the potatoes dry a bit before mashing them and adding them to the flour. After draining the potatoes, I return them to the pot and turn on the heat to cook off extra moisture before mashing them, peel and all.

This dough only requires a 20 to 30 minute first rise, and a 20 minute second rise after shaping. Don't worry about the dough doubling. Just go with the time stated in the recipe.





To shape this dough, you flatten it, roll it up, and place it seam side down on a floured tea towel. To bake it, you flip it over, seam side up, so that the bread can open naturally into its rustic shape.

Because the slices are a bit oddly shaped, they aren't the best for sandwiches, but they sure make excellent garlic cheese bread. They are also delicious dipped in sauces and gravies.






How to store this bread:


This bread can be stored at room temperature for about two days. After that, you can slice and freeze the bread, taking out slices as you need them. You can also tightly wrap and freeze whole loaves, and then let them thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.

These are crusty rustic loaves with a super soft interior. The recipe involves a baking stone, steam, and all of that business, which is how you get such a crunch crust. If you don't have a baking stone, you can easily use a baking sheet.

For the steam, I used a few ice cubes in broiler pan, along with a spray bottle to spray the walls of the oven. I once took a sourdough class, and the baker actually used a Super Soaker for steam!







This week, the From Our Dinner Table theme is positively perfect potatoes. Check out everyone's recipes using potatoes.

Positively Perfect Potatoes


We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, follow our Pinterest board, too!







This is an update (new instructions, recipe card, and photos) of a post I originally wrote in April, 2013 along with the Tuesdays with Dorie group. We baked our way through the book, Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers - In Classic Julia Style, by Dorie Greenspan. The photo from the original bake is featured first.





Rustic Potato Loaves

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Rustic Potato Loaves
Yield: 32 servings
Author: Karen Kerr
These rustic potato loaves is made from a dough that is half flour and half potatoes. When they are baking, your house will smell like baked potatoes.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
  • 4 teaspoons salt, divided
  • 1/2 cup reserved potato water, about 80 to 90 degrees F.
  • 1 tablespoon instant or active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 23.75 ounces (675 grams/4 3/4 cups) unbleached all purpose flour. 

Instructions:

  1. Wash the potatoes and cut them into 2 inch chunks. Cover them with water in a 3-quart sauce pan along with 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are fork tender. 
  2. Collect 1/2 cup of the potato water, and then drain the potatoes in a colander. Return the potatoes to the hot pan and cook for a minute or two to cook off extra moisture. Spread the potatoes on a sheet pan to cool for about 20 minutes. 
  3. Stir the yeast into the reserved potato water and let it sit for 5 minutes. 
  4. Put the cooked potatoes into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix the potatoes on low speed until they are mashed. 
  5. Add the yeasted potato water and the olive oil and mix on low until incorporated. 
  6. Switch to the dough hook and add the flour and 2 teaspoons of salt. Mix on low for 2 to 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix for an additional 11 minutes. The dough will at first look dry, then it will look wet, and then it will finally come together. 
  7. Cover the bowl and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. It will be pretty puffy but not necessarily doubled. 
  8. While the dough rises, equip your oven with a baking stone on the middle rack and a steam pan on the bottom rack. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. 
  9. Rub a linen/tea towel or baker's couche with flour. 
  10. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a ball and then flatten into about an 9 inch disk. Roll the dough from edge farthest from you to create a torpedo, gently stretching the dough as you go. Dust the edge closest to you with flour and then rock the dough back and forth to narrow the ends. 
  11. Place the shaped loaves, seam side down, on the floured linen/tea towel. Cover with another towel or oiled plastic wrap and let proof for 20 minutes. 
  12. When you are ready to bake, add a cup of ice to the broiler/steam pan and shut the oven door. Line a pizza peel with parchment and sprinkle with polenta or coarse corn flour. Move the risen dough to the parchment, seam side up, side-by-side. It should be fairly easy to transfer gently with your hands and a bench knife. 
  13. Transfer the dough, parchment and all, to the baking stone, and spray the walls of the oven with water. Shut the oven door. After 5 minutes, respray the oven walls. Bake the loaves for an additional 40 to 45 minutes, until they reach and interior temperature of 200 degrees F (using an instant read thermometer). 
  14. Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing. 
Calories
108.30
Fat (grams)
1.11
Sat. Fat (grams)
0.16
Carbs (grams)
21.32
Fiber (grams)
1.22
Net carbs
20.10
Sugar (grams)
0.32
Protein (grams)
2.95
Sodium (milligrams)
268.52
Cholesterol (grams)
0.00
bread, potatoes
Bread
American
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  1. Karen, you temptress... another kitchen gadget to add to my collection ;-) Your bread turned out beautifully! This recipe was a leap of faith but really did turn out to be a winner. Glad you enjoyed it.

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  2. Your bread looks perfect!!!! A beautiful crust that gives a nice rustic look!!!
    I love this recipe, easy and very tasty, definitely a keeper!!!

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  3. Beautiful loaves, Karen! I finally broke down and bought a squirt bottle just for the kitchen after making this bread. I had a teeny weeny bottle that was pretty worthless :)

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    Replies
    1. I once went to a bread demo and the guy used a Super Soaker. That's power!

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  4. Beautifully done.

    I had a little less faith and added some extra water :-)

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    Replies
    1. Probably easier on your mixer. I was a bit concerned!

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  5. I want a bread spraying garden tool! I don't understand how this works either, but it works so well and is so forgiving. I baked mine in pre-heated pyrex, since that was all we had, and it still turned out!

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    Replies
    1. I think anything that can give the bread a blast of heat when it first goes in the oven would be great. I'd just be careful spraying near the hot glass =)

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  6. I'm always forgetting about putting potatoes into bread dough. Thanks for the reminder! Your bread looks beautiful.

    I love your sprayer! (This would be perfect for foiling our one year old cat. hahaha, I think I'll get several to put in every room of the house. Do they come in designer colours?)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Elizabeth! Perfect for cats. How about sprayer cozies! ha ha.

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  7. Your loaves look incredible! Great job! And I too like your spray bottle!

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  8. Your loaves are absolutely gorgeous, Karen. I really like your new kitchen tool. :)

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  9. Love the garden tool :) I also had to fetch the spray bottle that I use for my plants. The crust of your bread is simply amazing - good job!

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  10. Your bread has such an amazing crust - my oven will not co-operate to do such things. I love that you left the skins on - I did too and it gave the bread such a great nutty flavour.

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    Replies
    1. I'm wondering how you could get your oven to cooperate... could you add just a little malt syrup to the bread?

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  11. Perfect loaves! This really was a crazy recipe compared to the 'regular' bread recipes, I liked your description of it (don't worry how it feel, just go by time). I'm already wanting to make this again. I turned the rest into garlic bread last night and it was delish.

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  12. Your sprayer must really do the trick as your crusts look perfect. It was an odd recipe and the texture was soooo different from normal bread, but it did work!

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  13. Loved how this bread looks. Most rustic I have ever made. I was leery about the dough as well, but like you said - it works. Your loaves are perfect.

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  14. i definitely need one of those water sprays to have my loaves as crusty as yours Karen!

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    Replies
    1. Oh get one! You will crack yourself up when you use it.

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  15. Hope this is not a duplicate comment. My comment disappeared as I was typing.

    Beautiful bread! Then I expect nothing less from a talented bread baker as yourself. I enjoyed this recipe and will make this again. May I ask how long you have had your cutting board? I have a similar one and it is a chore to keep up, and never looks as good as yours. What do you use on it for the upkeep?

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    Replies
    1. Cathleen, you are so sweet. True confession time. I kind of keep that cutting board for photos and use an old ugly one for the real cutting. I've had this one for about a year and got it from Crate and Barrel. =)

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  16. Love your spray bottle. You can multitask and mist your plants after you spray the oven!

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  17. I love potato bread. Thanks for all the tips to make a perfect loaf!

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  18. This bread looks really good! Who would think you can make bread with potatoes?

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    Replies
    1. I've made potato bread with just a little, but this one is half potatoes!

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  19. Another winning bread! It looks perfect and we love potato bread!

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  20. You are the wizard of baking! We have never heard of this bread before and it sounds amazing. We will definitely give this a try :)

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  21. I have a bunch of potatoes I need to use soon and this bread sounds divine. I can hardly wait to try it.

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  22. Made this today and formed four smaller loaves as there are just the two of us and I know I can store three in the freezer and reheat when I want a loaf fresh. This would make great rolls, too!

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  23. What a clever potato recipe! The bread is beautiful. Looks amazingly light for a short rise and heavy potatoes. May use this to break me out of my bread rut!

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  24. That looks so moist and delicious. Another gorgeous loaf! You seriously should consider some YouTube baking videos! I totally would sign up.

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  25. In the photos you show the potatoes with skins on. I imagine you peel them either before or after boiling.

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    Replies
    1. Actually, I leave the skins on! It's up to you.

      Delete

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