Sourdough Potato Bread
Last Updated on August 29, 2023 by TheFarmChicken
Lately, Agnes (my sourdough starter) and I have been busy making sourdough potato bread. There is just something very good about homemade sourdough bread. I think we’ve made 6 loaves and now I feel like I have a consistent recipe that our family loves. I didn’t think I would ever be into recipe creating but sourdough has sparked an interest I didn’t know I would ever have.
Potato bread is something that I didn’t really know about until I was dating my husband. My mother-in-law would make it and it was very good. I decided if it’s good with commercial yeast I bet it would be good made with sourdough too. And it is!
Until I made this bread, I didn’t have a bread recipe that I consistently liked for all sandwiches. Some are good but usually by the second or third day it is not as soft as I like for sandwiches. That aside, this bread is both flavorful and soft; and soft for more than a day or two. It is the perfect homemade bread for peanut butter & jelly (iykyk)! It is also a great option for kids because it is so soft.
There are more ingredients involved in this bread than my usual sourdough but it is worth it.
What is the flavor like?
So, potato bread is a homemade bread with a fuller flavor-almost tangy. It is quite like you took a bread loaf and combined it with a subtle French fry…haha believe me it is in a good way! The potato is subtle and is more there to contribute a delightful texture than anything.
What makes potato bread potato bread?
That’s just it, it includes potatoes! If you find yourself with leftover mashed potatoes then this is a wonderful way to use them.
What makes potato bread so soft?
Buttermilk and the potatoes are huge contributors to the soft crumb and the texture of the bread.
Now the recipe:
This sourdough potato bread recipe makes two loaves of bread. It is a great recipe to have one loaf around for the week and either share the other with a neighbor or family, or stash it in the freezer for later. This bread does an overnight rise in the fridge which I think just improves the flavor that much more!
Sourdough Potato Bread, A Recipe from the Farm.
Steps to making sourdough potato bread:
- Read through your recipe and plan out your day/times.
- Feed your starter.
- Mix your ingredients once you have an active starter.
- Autolyse
- Knead dough
- Fold dough
- Shape Once
- Final Shape
- Proof
- Bake
- Enjoy!
My timeline for baking bread:
The day before bake day
- 10:30 AM Feed starter
- 5:30 PM Mix bread together
- 6:30 PM Perform folds in dough
- 9:00 PM Shape Loaves
- 9:30 PM Proof Loaves
- 10:30 PM Proof loaves in the fridge overnight (12 hours)
Bake day – the next morning
- 10:00 AM Preheat oven and Dutch oven
- 10:30 AM Bake
- Enjoy!!
If you have a full-time job outside the home, I will have a few different timelines in my sourdough starter post and printable (coming soon) to help you fit bread making into your busy schedule. For now, I have just included my timeline which works well if you are a stay-at-home mom or if you have a couple days off.
What is the definition of Autolyse?
Autolyse is when you minimally mix your bread together and then follow it with a rest, usually around 30-60 minutes. It gives time for the flour to absorb liquid.
Why autolyse your bread?
- Easier dough handling
- Easier to use higher hydration (more water) in your recipe.
- Nicer texture in the bread
- More flavor in bread
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Sourdough Potato Bread
Ingredients
- 360 g Sourdough Starter, Active
- 128 g distilled water, room temperature
- 30 g sugar, granulated
- 720 g white bread flour I love using Dakota Maid flour.
- 179 g buttermilk
- 1 cup mashed potatoes 230g – leftover is just fine!
- 35 g canola oil
- 14 g Kosher salt
Instructions
- In a mixer bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook, mix the active starter, sugar and distilled water until combined. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the salt.
- Mix for 1-2 minutes until just coming together. You want it to be shaggy. See picture.
- Cover with a tea towel and autolyse the bread dough for 45 minutes.
- After autolyse, add salt and knead by hand or mixer for 4-5 minutes until dough fully comes together. It should have an elasticity to it.
- Next, move to a greased (I use olive oil) low sided container. I use my marinate container. Anything like this would work great.
- Next you will complete an envelope fold. Basically, take one side of your dough and pull/stretch it up and to the center of the dough. Turn the container a quarter turn and do this on all four sides and then flip it over. Be careful not to "rip" the dough.
- Let sit for 50 minutes then repeat envelope fold.
- Do this two more times for a complete time of 200 minutes.
- After the final 50-minute rest time transfer your dough to a clean counter. (Do not flour counter).
- Cut the dough in half. I don't have a bench scraper, so I use a chef's knife. Just try to make the cut in one motion.
- Next you will do the first shape of your loaves. You will do two total.
- Take one half of the dough and stretch it out into a rough 6"x10" rectangle. (Remember to be careful not to pull to hard and rip the dough.)
- After you have your rectangle start with the short end facing you, fold the bread right side into the middle and left side into the middle.
- Roll this up to create a boule shape and work it in circles to create tension in the bread. Complete with second loaf and let rest cover by a tea towel for 15 minutes.
- Use the same technique to fold/shape your loaves for the second and last time.
- After your final shaping of each loaf, set seam side up in a banneton. (If you don't have a banneton you can use a cloth-lined bowl, like a tea towel.)
- Place in a plastic bag, tie the bag and let proof for an hour at room temperature.
- After the hour transfer to the fridge and proof for 12 hours.
Bake Day
- The next day preheat your oven to 450 degrees with the Dutch oven about 30 minutes before you plan to bake the bread.
- Then take your bread out and flip it onto a piece of cornmeal dusted parchment paper. Score.
- Place potato bread into the Dutch oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
- Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on and 10 minutes with the lid off. Having the lid off helps it to brown nicely.
- Repeat with second loaf. (Make sure to put the Dutch Oven back in the oven while you prep the second loaf.)
- Cool on a wire rack and enjoy! It is simply delightful!
I plan to include this recipe in my sourdough starter post and printable on how to make your own sourdough starter! Stay tuned for that!
More sourdough recipes that we love:
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Our favorite cast iron Dutch oven
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Colossians 3:23
