Potato Sourdough Bread

On the Twelfth day of Breadmas my Baker gave to me, Potato Sourdough Bread! Hooray! You made it to day 12! That means it’s sourdough time. I adore potato bread. There’s no Irish in my family tree, but there’s English, German, and Scottish, and I think all of those folks love their potatoes and breads as much as the Irish! And this bread is real lover affair of the two. Lightly sour, moist and fluffy from the potatoes, and so good in every way.

At some point I’ll put up a recipe for potato scones. They’re this awesome breakfast food that I learned about while in Northern Ireland, and completely fell in love with. But while I was in the UK was also the first time I ever ate potato bread. And it doesn’t get much better than that. And there’s so many varieties.

The most common potato bread recipes that I came across had mashed potato in them as part of the wet mix. Some also use potato flakes. But my favourite types had bits and chunks of roasted potato throughout the bread. The more sandwich style potato bread we used to make at the bakery was this style as well. Though it had a tighter crumb and a less rustic sour taste.

This recipe combines some of my favourite aspects of potato bread, the rustic crust, mature sour flavour, slightly more open crumb, and chunks of potato. It’s also herby. I like rosemary the best, since it really brings out the roasted potato flavour. But you can add whatever fresh herbs you have on hand. They would all be great. One of my favourite ways to eat this loaf is simply toasted with butter and some flakey sea salt. YUM.

Potato texture

The first few times I made this recipe I diced the potato into chunks before mixing it. And that was fine, but I found that the chunks were too uniform. They made mixing the dough a bit tricky. In the end the best results came from breaking up the roasted potatoes with my hands. That way there was lots of different sizes, and the potato is spread more evenly through the dough.

Also, as a bonus, this recipe makes two loaves! So you will definitely have enough to satisfy your potato bread cravings once you’re addicted. I use bannetons to proof them, but you can also use mixing bowls lined with flour or oil.

Well gang, you made it through Breadmas 2020! I think it was a delicious success, and I’m thinking we try it again next year. Maybe with some shirts? Everything is more fun with shirts! or Aprons! Anyway, I hope you had as much fun as I did with all these recipes. It was great to dig through my archives and bring out all these tasty breads. If you aren’t already, jump over to Instagram and follow me (@dorkylittlehomestead) and keep up with all our food and homesteading fun. I’ll be posting a full Breadmas Recap tomorrow! Happy Sourdoughing! (totally a word.)

Potato Sourdough

LizaLeigh

A rustic loaf full of potatoes and a touch of herby goodness.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 4 hrs 25 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Cold Fermentation 12 hrs

Total Time 17 hrs 5 mins

Course Appetizer, Baked Goods, Bread, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine canadian, English, Irish, Scottish

Servings 2 Large Boules

Equipment

• Round Banneton (optional, but very helpful)
• Dutch Oven

Ingredients

  

• 430 g Potatoes I use white fleshed roasting variety
• 740 g All Purpose Flour
• 20 g Kosher Salt
• 40 g Sugar
• 8 g Dry Active Yeast
• 530 g Water Room Temperature
• 340 g Active Sourdough Starter Feed starter ~6 hours before starting for best results.
• 1 Tbsp Each Chopped, Fresh Rosemary and Sage

Instructions

 

• Place cleaned potatoes in a baking dish, unpeeled. Stab them a few times with a fork. Cover the dish and roast at 400F for about 30-40 minutes until soft and cooked through. Allow to cool. They don't have to be cold, but they should be easily handleable. If they're too hot, they'll kill your yeast. Break the potatoes apart into a bowl. You want lots of different sized pieces.
• Combine the flour, salt, sugar, herbs, potatoes, and yeast in a large mixing bowl.
• Add the water and mix into a rough and ragged dough. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes.
• Add the starter on top of the dough. Pull the edges of the dough up and over the starter to cover it. With a wet hand, pinch the dough 3-4 times to snip it into chunks. Fold the dough back together. Repeat the pinching and folding for about 6-10 minutes. the dough will be sticky and you shouldn't be able to feel any salt anymore.
• Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Uncover and fold the dough. Starting at the edges of the bowl, lift a side of the dough, stretch it up and over the rest of the dough. Rotate the bowl and fold the next section up and over. You'll do about 4-5 folds in this process, it should only take about 30 seconds. Cover and rest again for 15 minutes.
• Repeat the folding and resting another 2 times. Then cover the dough and allow to rise for 2-3 hours.
• Scrape the dough out onto a floured counter. Divide it into two equal pieces. I don't weigh them, I just eyeball it. Roll each piece into a tight ball and place seam side down into two floured bannetons. If you don't have bannetons, flour or oil two medium mixing bowls and place the dough balls seam side down into those. Cover with plastic and place in the fridge for 12-15 hours.
• After the 12-15 hours of cold fermentation, place a Dutch oven into the oven and heat to 475F. Allow to heat up for about 45 minutes.
• You can cook these loaves straight from the fridge, so leave the second loaf in the fridge until the first one is done.
• Gently flip the loaf out on to a floured surface, trying your best to not deflate it. Sprinkle the Dutch oven with cornmeal. Carefully and gently lift and place the dough into Dutch oven and put the lid on. Bake for 15 minutes with the lid on, then 25 minutes with the lid off.
• The loaf is done when it's a deep golden brown all over, and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Allow to cool fully before cutting. Repeat with the second loaf.
• Store the loaves in a seal bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Keyword Potato Sourdough, potatoes, sourdough, Sourdough bread

The First 11 Days:

• Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
• Cinnamon Raisin Bread
• Focaccia with Herbs de Provence
• English Muffins
• Walnut Cranberry Bread
• Gluten Free Italian Bread
• Irish Soda Bread
• Round Rye Bread
• Pesto Pull-Apart Bread
• Brown Butter Beer Bread
• Oat & Honey Bread