Cheddar and Garlic Potato Bread

What do you do when you have leftover mashed potatoes? 

Not long ago I shared a recipe for sneaky healthy mashed potatoes, which are so tasty, despite the charged up healthy factor. In fact, the first batch I had no leftovers. But when you’re testing a recipe to share on a food blog, you generally make a lot more then one batch of something. So, by the third (rather large) batch of sneaky healthy potatoes, there most certainly were leftovers. 

I’ve always been a fan of twice fried mashed potatoes, and that is the most common thing I do when I have leftover potatoes. So I totally made some. It got the family back on the potato bandwagon for a night. But there were still leftovers. I don’t know why, but I have a difficult time cooking in small quantities sometimes, but I hate wasting leftovers. So, back to the drawing board. I noticed a recipe from Joy the Baker for savory potato waffles a while back. I figured that would probably do the trick, but I couldn’t try it just then because I really, really, really wanted to put bacon in them. Savory cheddar and bacon waffles? Yeehhsss. I most unfortunately didn’t have any bacon around the house. But, that recipe is totally bookmarked for a later date because I’m pretty sure that they will work out wonderfully…

Then it finally came to me, potato bread! 

I buy potato bread at the store. Everyone in my house loves it. Why not make my own? So that’s totally what I did.

And it was yummy. 

Perfect winter bread fair. Tender, fluffy, and remarkably quick and easy to make for a yeast bread. Actually, I’ve gotta say that the texture of the bread was so lovely I’m thinking I may use it to make cinnamon rolls or sweet potato cinnamon rolls at some point. Sounds odd, but I just have this feeling it will totally work. Anyhow, until I figure out how to turn a perfectly lovely loaf of bread into dessert, make this cheddar garlic version. You serve it with all your soups, stews, chilis, and other winter dishes, it’s a keeper. 

Quick note: You most certainly can make this with all purpose flour, but it comes out significantly better in texture if you stick with the bread flour; and a big part of bread is texture so use the bread flour if you possibly can! 

Cheddar and Garlic Potato Bread

Yields: 1 loaf

Adapted From: Food Network.

• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 5 cups bread flour
• 1 cup mashed potatoes (sneaky healthy mashed potatoes work great!)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (omit garlic powder if using garlic mashed potatoes)
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
• olive oil, to oil rising bowl

1. In the bowl of a large stand mixer add sugar, yeast, and warm water. Swirl gently to make sure yeast is covered by water. Allow the yeast to stand for 5-10 minutes until foamy.

2. Add the flour, mashed potatoes, milk, salt, and garlic to the mixer. Mix/knead using the dough hook on the dough setting (usually #3) for 7 minutes. 

3. Transfer the dough to an oiled rising bowl. Cover loosely using a towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm location to rise for 30 minutes, or until about doubled in size.

4. After 30 minutes turn the dough out onto an open work surface. Punch down the dough gently, and knead by hand briefly, for about a minute. 

5. Divide the dough into two even portions. Use a rolling pin to roll each portion out into a long rectangle. Spread one cup of cheese out on each rectangle leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. 

6. Roll each rectangle up cinnamon roll style starting from a long edge. Use a small bit of water on your finger to seal shut. This will leave you with two long sealed “ropes.”

7. Twist the two ropes together and tuck into a lightly greased 9X5 loaf pan. Place the loaf pan somewhere warm and cover loosely. Allow to rise for about 45 minutes. The dough will double in size in the loaf pan.

8. Preheat the oven to 350*. When the dough has risen, bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until crust is lightly golden brown and sounds hollow when you knock on it with your fist. Allow the bread to cool before slicing for the neatest results.