Daring Bakers November Challenge - Tender Potato Bread

This month the Daring Bakers challenged themselves to make Potato Bread. You may think that this doesn't sound particularly hard or exciting, but I assure you that would be an incorrect assumption.

The lovely Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups chose this recipe so that we'd be able to expand our baking horizons and use new ingredients. I have never baked with potatoes so I was looking forward to see how the bread would turn out. After reviewing the recipe I got to work and didn't leave it to the last minute like I usually do.

First of all, the dough turned out very soft and sticky. I ended up adding 7 and a half cups of flour to get a nice dough consistency. I let it proof in my oven and unfortunately didn't use a big enough bowl because when I came back after the first rise, the dough was exploding over the sides. Be aware that the recipe makes a lot of dough.

I had enough dough to make a 9 x 13-inch pan holding 12 buns and two 9-inch round focaccia breads. Sadly, I don't have a picture of the latter since they got eaten first. I added some shredded cheese to the bun tops and baked them up. Let me just say, the bread was wonderful.

The potato bread had a chewy texture and a crispy crust. It definitely didn't taste like regular white bread but it didn't taste like potatoes either. The buns rose so high that you were full after just one. I used them to eat with chili and turned the rest into breakfast egg and cheese sandwiches. It was a winner and I didn't have any problems with potato weights or the yeast. I would, however, make less next time.

For the complete recipe, please visit Tanna and for all the many talented creations made by my fellow Daring Bakers, check out the blogroll.