Lemon Thyme Potato Bread
This is a potato bread with fresh thyme & lemon for a summertime treat. Potato adds structure and softness but no flavor so it's a great addition to sandwich bread where you need it to hold together.
Equipment
- Digital Metric Scale
- Zester (to remove outer skin of a lemon)
- Electric Mixer with Dough Hook
- 4 Liter food container (or bowl)
- Cover for container (or plastic wrap)
- Bread pans (2 each)
- Sharp Smooth Knife (such as a paring knife)
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
- 1 ea Russet Potato (225 g mashed)
- 40 g Unsalted Butter
- 485 g Bread Flour
- 5 g Sea Salt
- 6 g Instant Yeast
- 180 ml Reserved Potato Water
- 2 T Honey
- 1 ea Organic Lemon (1 T zest and 1 T juice)
- 2 T Fresh Thyme Leaves
Egg Wash
- 1 ea Egg
- 1 T Water
Instructions
Ingredient Preparation
- Peel the russet potato and cut into pieces. Place in a pot and cover with water. Boil on stovetop until potatoes are soft.
- While potatoes are boiling, zest one small lemon, measure 1 T of zest, set aside.
- Squeeze lemon removing seeds. Measure 1 T of lemon juice, set aside.
- Remove thyme leaves from their woody stocks.
- Measure 2 T of thyme. Finely chop the thyme leaves. Set aside.
- Drain potatoes, reserving 180 ml of the potato water, set aside.
- Return potatoes to the pot and dry the potatoes out over heat until no liquid remains (about 2-3 minutes). Measure out 225 grams of potato. Set aside.
Scaling
- Using a digital scale, measure out all other ingredients.
Mixing
- Add butter to 225 g of the boiled, drained and dried potatoes. Blend butter and potatoes together or run them through a ricer or food mill until smooth and butter is melted/mixed in.
- Check temperature of the potatoes and the reserved potato water. Note: Both the water and the potatoes should be cooled to 100-110 F (38-43 C) degrees before moving on to the next step.
- Add lemon juice and honey to potato water and stir until dissolved.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together by hand the flour, salt and yeast.
- Add potatoes to the flour mixture, stir together by hand.Note: The mixture will be course but this is okay as it will blend together as it is kneaded.
- Attach the dough hook and add the liquids to the flour mixture.
- Mix on Level 1 (low) for 2 minutes until wet and dry ingredients are combined.
- Mix on Level 2 for 8 minutes until a smooth dough is formed.Note: Dough will pull from the sides but stick to the bottom of the bowl.
- Add lemon and thyme and mix on Level 1 (low) for 1 minute until incorporated.
- Dump dough onto work surface, knead 30 seconds into a smooth ball.
Bulk Fermentation (First Rise)
- Place dough ball seam side down into a container sprayed with oil and cover tightly.
- Allow to rest for 1 - 1½ hours until doubled in size.Note: As with all bread making, this step may take shorter or longer depending on the room temperature.
Folding (sometimes called punching)
- When dough has doubled in size, gently dump onto a work surface.
Dividing
- Note: If using smaller pans or making up rolls, you can divide dough here, otherwise skip this step.
- Press dough into a 8" x 6" rectangle (20cm x 15cm).
Pre-Shaping or Rounding
- Roll dough firmly from the long edge into a tight cylinder.
- Seal the seam together.
- Flip over so seam side is down.
Makeup and Panning
- Prepare a 9" x 5" (23 cm x 12 cm) bread pan with spray oil.
- Gently lift rolled cylinder and place seam side down into prepared pan.
- Cover with sprayed plastic wrap.
Proofing (Second Rise)
- Proof at room temperature for 30 minutes until doubled in size and about 1" (2½ cm) above pan.Note: It was very hot the day I made this bread so to control the second rise I placed the panned bread into the refrigerator while the oven preheated to ensure it did not rise too quickly.
Baking
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees (177 C degrees/Gas Mark 4)
- Remove plastic cover and create a center cut about 1 cm deep with a sharp smooth bladed knife, such as a paring knife.
- Mix one egg with 1 T water.
- Gently egg was the top of the bread so as not to deflate it.
- Place into the oven.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, turning dough mid-way through to ensure even browning. Note: The loaf will be golden brown, sound hollow and register 200-205 F (93-96 C) degrees on a kitchen thermometer.
Cooling
- Remove bread immediately from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
- Cool for 45 minutes before slicing.
Storing
- Store completely cooled bread in a plastic bag on the counter. This bread keeps well for 3 days (if it lasts that long, it's delicious)! Enjoy.