Cheesy Potato Bread

 

Cheesy Potato Bread, toasted and buttered

Here's one more recipe today from the King Arthur Flour Yeast Bread Competition at the Iowa State Fair. I love that two of the recipes I made yielded two loaves each. This way I can blog about them...and taste them, too, I suppose. Not that I need to be eating this. I wasn't sure what to expect with this bread because I've never really heard of "Cheesy Potato Bread" before, but I wanted to put something into the competition ($250 King Arthur Flour gift card for best overall).  I'm pretty doubtful I'll be getting any ribbons or gift cards out of the competition today, but why not stay up until 3:00 A.M. baking bread? Right?

I do like this bread, but I think next time I make it I will add more cheese, or different types of cheese, and maybe even some bacon bits or something. It's got a smidge of cayenne pepper, but I almost think black pepper would have tasted better. Anyway, it's really good toasted with butter, or toasted and dipped into Potato Leek Soup (that is topped with bacon). It's not a fussy bread, so it's relatively easy to make. It just took a while to grate the potato. It rose pretty quickly, so it's a time value. Did I mention I went to bed at 3:00 A.M.? And that I woke up at 7:00 to take the bread to the fair? Now that I've eaten and blogged about this bread, I think a nap is in order.

Go try this bread now.

P.S. As mentioned in my previous post, I just copied and pasted the recipe as it appears on the recipe cards I had to turn in for the competition. And now you know my Exhibitor number for the Iowa State Fair.

Class 124                                                                                                    Exhibitor #51592

Division 12

Cheesy Potato Bread

   --adapted from www.tasteofhome.com

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3/4 tablespoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 cups finely shredded peeled potatoes (I used yellow-fleshed potatoes)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese 

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Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a heat proof measuring cup, measure out water and half-and-half. Cut butter into tablespoon size slices and add three of them to the water/milk mixture. Microwave on high for about 50 seconds. Stir to melt butter. Microwave for additional time to bring the temperature up to 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
Transfer liquid to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add sugar, salt, cayenne pepper, and 2 1/2 cups of flour. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Mix in shredded potatoes.

Switch to the dough hook attachment, making sure to scrape the dough off the paddle before removing. With mixer on low speed, add remaining 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour, half a cup at a time. Stop adding flour when/if dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead on medium speed for about 5 more minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down. Pat into a 1/2-in.-thick rectangle. Sprinkle cheese evenly over dough. Fold dough over the cheese and knead into dough. Shape into two round loaves; place in greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Cut an X on top of each loaf; brush with butter. Bake at 400° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the center reaches 185-190 degrees. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves.

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