I really love home made bread, but am often a little disappointed with the results.  Not this recipe, which makes two loaves. We had this for supper with pan-roasted veggies and we’d eaten half the loaf when I realized I forgot to photograph it. It has a wonderful flavor and tenderness, and it was pretty easy.  I did vary slightly from the original recipe, but it turned out fine.

Ingredients

potatoes to yield of 1 cup mashed after cooking
6 ½ cups flour
3 Tbsp sugar
2 ½ tsp instant yeast
1 cup whole milk at room temperature or warmed
2 tsp kosher salt
½ cup potato water
4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature or warmed

Scrub potatoes well, and cut in half. Add to a pot of boiling water. Do not salt the water. Cook 20 minutes until very soft. Save about 3/4 cup potato water, and then drain the potatoes. Peel by squeezing the skin off. Mash in a small bowl and let cool.

If milk and butter are cold, warm them in a little pan until the butter melts and the milk is warmed a little.  Do let it cool if it has gotten too hot so it doesn’t kill the yeast when you add it in.

In a mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, yeast, milk, ½ cup potato water, salt, butter and mashed potatoes. Mix with a dough hook, scraping the sides down as needed. Knead for 6-8 minutes, or knead by hand for that length of time.  This makes a quite soft dough.  If the dough seems too dry, add a bit more potato water.

Cover with plastic wrap, and keep someplace warm for about 1 to 1 ½ hours. I kept it on the radiator with a kitchen towel folded underneath.  Thank you, old house!

Punch the dough down, divide in half and form 2 oval loaves on a baking sheet. Cover with parchment paper and let rise again for 30-60 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Remove and let sit until cooled. The recipe online said to make the loaves in loaf tins, and bake for 35 minutes. Couldn’t find my loaf tin, so I made them on a sheet pan.

Amazing!!!