Roasted Garlic Potato Bread

I never ever get sick of making bread. The smell of fresh bread baking in the oven cannot be beat. I'm one of those people who would rush to the store to buy the fresh loaves of bread early in the morning while they were still warm. I am so happy that I learned to make my own bread. I used to be VERY intimidated by using yeast and even more afraid of the word "kneading". I had no clue what to do and I didn't think I would have an easy time learning. You've seen me post many times about the recipes I've found in the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day".

I've made quite a few of their recipes already:

Homemade Soft Pretzels
Spinach and Feta Bread
Boule Bread
Sun Dried Tomato and Parmesan Bread

I have so many of the recipes tagged in the book that I want to make! After this book I think I'm going to buy their healthy bread book and bake my way through that one. The great thing about these recipes is that each batch makes enough dough to make 4 loaves of bread. You can keep the extra dough in the fridge so you can have fresh bread every day! Next on my hit list is one of their sweet treats. I've got their cinnamon buns in my cross hairs. Anyhow - back to the Roasted Garlic Bread.

Roasted Garlic Potato Bread

• 1 head of garlic (I did cheat here and use pre-roasted minced garlic)
• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup mashed potato
• 6 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• cornmeal to dust the board

If you are using a whole head of garlic and roasting it yourself you want to wrap it in aluminum foil and bake it for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool and then cut the top off the garlic head. The garlic should very easily slide out of the skin. You will need 2 tablespoons of the roasted garlic for this recipe. I used minced roasted garlic that I bought at the store. The bread came out fantastic, but if you have the time you should roast your own garlic. There is nothing better than fresh roasted garlic. It is sweet and incredible.

Peel, cut and boil your potatoes. You need 1 cup mashed, so depending on the size of your potatoes it might be 2-3 potatoes. Once they are fork tender, drain and mash. Set aside until they cool off slightly. It's okay to use them if they are warm, but I wouldn't use them when they are piping hot.

In a large bowl combine the yeast, salt, sugar, water and mashed potatoes and roasted garlic. Stir to combine.

Add the flour in and then stir to incorporate. Continue to stir until it seems that it is too dry and then use your hands to work in any remaining flour. You do not have to knead the dough, just work in the flour.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours. Look at how much the dough rose!!

You can either use it at this point, or you can refrigerate the dough and use it any time in the next 7 days. The dough is much easier to work with when it is cold, so you can make the dough the evening before and then have it ready for you the next day.

When you are ready to bake the bread, sprinkle a little flour on the dough and cut off a piece of the dough about the size of a grapefruit (1 pound).


Smooth the dough out by folding it under itself and rotating it as your turn it in your hands. You basically want an even looking smooth round ball of dough. Let the dough rest on a cornmeal covered surface (a pizza peel if you have one) for 1 hour before baking. This is where I usually set a timer for 40 minutes. At the 40 minute mark you want to preheat the oven to 450 degrees, place a baking stone in the oven and a broiler tray on the rack below it. You also want to dust the top of the bread with a little flour and slash a slit in the shape of a cross or scallop with a serrated knife.


When the oven is preheated, slide the bread onto the hot baking stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and immediately close the oven. This traps the warm steam in the oven and keeps it moist while baking. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until deep golden brown and firm. Allow the bread of cool on a wire rack before slicing.


This bread was out of this world. The smell alone was intoxicating! The potato made the bread unbelievably moist. Another winner!