Friday, July 20, 2012

Whole Wheat Sourdough Potato Bread

As you've probably noticed, I like playing around with sourdough bread recipes. While I love my Super Simple Sourdough Bread, it tends to be a little too sour for my kids' taste, and a little dense for my husband's. So I've reverted back to an old favorite, sourdough potato bread. It's not quite as simple, and a little less healthy, but it doesn't taste so sour and rises beautifully (sometimes too much! I just had a loaf overflow onto the bottom of the oven because I left the dough a little too wet). It's a great sandwich loaf for the whole family.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Potato Bread
Sponge:
1/2 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup water
1 cup freshly ground whole wheat flour (NOT sprouted!)
1/2 cup plain mashed potatoes (no butter or salt)

Mix these ingredients together in a large bowl, cover loosely, and let rise overnight. This will rise a LOT so make sure your bowl is at least twice as big as your sponge.

In the morning, stir down the sponge and add:
1/3 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil, lard, melted butter, or liquid coconut oil
2 Tbsp honey
3 cups whole wheat flour (NOT sprouted!)

Mix all well (I do this in my Kitchen Aid mixer). Add more flour if needed to prevent stickiness. Dough should be soft and firm yet pliable. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Punch down and place into loaf pan; cover loosely and let rise again.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. If you prefer a softer crust, cover until completely cooled.

13 comments:

  1. can i do this without the mashed potatoes?

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    1. I was out of potatoes and my garden produced a lot of butternut squash this year -- so I used squash instead and it was delicious!

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  2. Hmmm. I don't know. I've done it with pumpkin instead of the potato (http://www.thecheerfulagrarian.blogspot.com/2012/10/pumpkin-sourdough-bread.html)
    and that worked great (I have another batch soaking right now, as a matter of fact!) but I don't know about leaving it out altogether. If I don't want to use potato (or pumpkin) I usually use my regular sourdough recipe:
    http://www.thecheerfulagrarian.blogspot.com/2011/09/100-whole-wheat-sourdough-bread-update.html

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    1. Update: I make this all the time now without the potato. I use the recipe as is, and just omit the potatoes. Still turns out great!

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  3. As you make this recipe, you should weigh the ingredients and add the grams to your recipe as it is much more accurate. Nobody measures a cup of flour the same way. I will try it this weekend and report. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. While I agree in general that it would be helpful if the weight was provided in grams, I think dictating to someone (‘you should...) how you want them to write THEIR recipe on THEIR blog which they offer for free is a tad rude.

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  4. Replies
    1. You don't have to feed the starter beforehand, since you're pretty much feeding it when you make the sponge (I just made a batch last night/this morning with starter I haven't fed in almost a week (I definitely don't recommend trying that!) and it turned out just fine).

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    2. Thanks! Have done unfed several times and will now try fed! Love this recipe.
      :D

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  5. Thanks for the recipe. Can the oil and sweetener be ommitted and still get a soft fluffy crumb?

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    1. I would think that the potato/squash would make up for the oil and sweetener, but you'll have to try it and let me know!

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  6. How does one make sourdough starter?

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  7. Here's the link to my post about that: http://thecheerfulagrarian.blogspot.com/2013/08/starting-sourdough-starter-from-scratch.html

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