Leftover Mashed Potato Bread

You can use leftover mashed potatoes to make bread the day after Thanksgiving. The bread is soft and lighter than regular bread. And if you have to eat all those leftover sandwiches, it might as well be on this yummy bread.

Making bread is tricky. Everything has to be the correct temperature, or your yeast will not cooperate. Also, you can substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour, but the dough will be different. Bread flour has more gluten which makes the bread dough more elastic and absorbs more moisture.

•  Servings: 2 loaves of bread
• Time:  Prep:  15 minutes; Cooking: 35 minutes; Rise time  60 minutes; Bread in about 2 hours
  Hardware:  Measuring spoons and cups, a stand mixer, a silicone spatula, a microwave proof bowl, a thermometer, a large mixing bowl, a clean tea towel, 2 9x5 bread pans

 

 Ingredients

• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 package instant yeast 
•  ¼  cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½  cup leftover mashed potatoes
• ¼  cup butter melted
• 4 cups bread flour
• A little oil
• Cooking spray

1. Turn your oven onto the lowest setting and place the hopper, the paddle and the bread hook into the oven. You do not want them to be hot, but warm when you use them.
2. Melt the butter and set aside.
3. Mix the milk, water and sugar together and warm to between 110˚ and 115˚f. Any cooler and the yeast won’t rise, any warmer and you will kill it.
4. Sprinkle the yeast over the liquid and set in a warm place until it gets frothy, about 5 or 10 minutes.
5. Place the egg, salt, potatoes, butter and flour into the warm (NOT HOT) hopper of the stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture, making sure to scrape in everything.
6. Use the paddle attachment to mix the ingredients until they are just combined. Over mixing makes the bread tough.
7. Switch to the bread hook and knead on medium-high for 5-7 minutes. The dough should be a little sticky.
8. Pour a tiny bit of oil into the bottom warm (not hot) mixing bowl. Add the dough ball and flip it over so that the whole ball is covered in oil. Cover it in a tea towel and place it in a warm spot until it doubles in size. I find it easiest to turn my oven onto the lowest setting for 2 minutes