How to Turn Leftover Mash into Potato Bread!
Fluffy, flavorful, scrumptious Homemade Potato Bread, sandwich-loaf-style, using leftover mashed potatoes!
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Servings: 1 Sandwich Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. yeast Instant or Active Dry
- 1/4 cup cane sugar
- 3/4 cup filtered water Lukewarm, ~110F
- 6 Tbsp. neutral oil Vegetable, Avocado, Canola, etc.
- 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt reduce to 1 tsp. if using Himalayan Pink Salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup mashed potatoes Leftover & chilled overnight
- 3-5 cup bread flour or All purpose flour
Instructions
- In a big bowl or stand mixer, add yeast*, sugar, warm water, oil and egg. Mix to incorporate. Add mash, salt and flour. Start with less flour (about 3 cups to begin) as the temperature of your house will affect the dough. Knead in a stand mixer for 5 min or by hand for 10, adding flour as needed, until you have a homogenous, supple dough ball.*See note below for difference between Instant yeast and Active dry yeast
- Grease a big glass bowl with neutral oil and plop the dough ball in. Make sure the dough is totally coated in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and/or a lint-free kitchen towel and let proof until doubled in size. Depending on the temperature in your house this could take up to two hours (the warmer your home, the quicker it will rise as the optimal temperature for yeast to thrive in your dough is about 80F. So for me, in South Florida, this step takes about 30 or 40 minutes)
- After it's doubled in volume, shape your loaf on a floured surface. Make sure it is the same size as your loaf pan.
- Score the top with a sharp knife or bread razor and cover again. Preheat your oven to 375F. Once the loaf has doubled, bake for 25 minutes. Cover with foil if the top gets too brown and bake another 15 min.
- To make sure your bread is done baking, give it a knock. It should sound hollow when tapped on when it's done. It should be a deep golden brown like bread you buy from the grocery store.
- Let cool overnight if possible. The steam trapped in the bread needs to be released slowly so the crumb texture can set up properly. If the steam escapes too quickly, the bread texture can come out doughy or squishy with an almost “wet” crumb even though the bread was cooked through. This is comparable to not letting meat rest before you slice into it. All of the juices rush out and the meat isn't as tender and juicy as it would be if you had let it rest for a bit! Make sense?
- As tempting as it is to cut into a warm loaf of bread, keep this in mind! (I usually cut off the end piece after 20 min resting or so to satiate my warm-bread-eating-desires, but then I leave the rest to be sliced in the morning) Absolute minimum wait time to slice the whole loaf would be 1 hour in my humble opinion but you're the ruler of your kitchen so I give you the info and you do what you gotta do, boo!
Notes
Instant yeast and Active Dry yeast can be used interchangeably. The only difference is Active Dry yeast needs to be "activated" in lukewarm water (think bathwater for a baby), with a pinch of sugar to feed the little yeasty boys, for 5-10 minutes before moving on with your recipe. Instant yeast does not require this step and can be added right into your dry ingredients, which is why I prefer it! The less steps the better, if you ask me.
Please keep in mind that salt directly touching the yeast will kill it. I recommend adding it last into the flour to avoid this terrible and unnecessary massacre.
Himalayan Pink Salt tends to taste saltier to me than Kosher salt so that's why I decrease the amount if using this kind.
Leftover mash are best to use here as they thicken up some in the fridge. But, if you use some that were just cooked, just don't make them too runny (AKA use less liquid such as milk or cream in your recipe) and it should work just as well.
The difference between sticky and tacky:
Sticky dough actually sticks to your fingers leaving behind residue
Tacky dough is supple and feels sticky but it doesn't leave any residue behind when you touch it. If you remember that sticky wall tacky we used to hang up posters in grade school, it's similar to that. It feels sticky to the touch but doesn't leave a film behind on your hands!
Final Note: Good in is good out. This is especially true with food. Using non-GMO, organic, unbleached and additive-free ingredients whenever possible will make a massive difference in your final product's overall taste and quality. Also, someone somewhere may have said it's good for your health or something like that but I couldn't hear them very clearly over the sound of me munching on some delicious ass bread.