This months Daring Bakers challenge was a savoury potato bread. I liked the sound of making a bread with potatoes. Potato bread sounded like it would be a bit heavier than normal bread and really moist. Of course I left it to the last minute… (I really need to start the next challenge sooner.) I cut the recipe into half of its original size and made sure that I had enough ingredients to make two batches in case the first one didn’t work out too well. The challenge was to make the potato bread and it was left to us to decide what to do with the bread. You could use the potato bread dough to make a loaf, buns, etc. I decided to go with the suggested focaccia bread. A focaccia is a flat bread with optional toppings baked on. I decided to go with a cheese topping. You really can’t go wrong with golden brown cheese baked on bread.
Making your own bread from scratch is surprisingly easy. It takes a bit of effort and it requires a bit of time but over all it is not too difficult. Everything went well and the focaccia turned out great the first time. I really enjoyed the aroma of the bread baking in my apartment. I started to eat the bread as soon as it was cool enough to do so. It was really good! It is hard to beat fresh, still warm from the oven bread! It was nice and moist; soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. I finished the entire focaccia over the course of the day!
Potato Bread Focaccia with Cheese
ingredients
- 2 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
directions
- Boil the potatoes in the water and salt until tender.
- Drain the potatoes, reserving the water.
- Mash the potatoes in a large bowl.
- Mix in 1 1/2 cups of the potato water and let cool until luke warm.
- Mix in the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Mix in 2 cups of flour and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Mix in the whole wheat flour, butter and salt.
- Dump onto a well floured surface and knead for 10 minutes adding flour as needed. When the dough is soft and not too sticky it is ready.
- Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 2 hours. The dough should rise to double its size.
- Knock the dough down.
- Knead the dough for a few minutes.
- Form the dough into a flattened circle on a baking sheet and cover with plastic.
- Let it rise for 20 minutes.
- Remove the plastic.
- Spread the olive oil over the top of the dough and sprinkle on the cheese.
- Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until golden brown on top, about 10-20 minutes.
Well done! It looks wonderful!
Cheers,
Rosa
Kevin, it looks wonderful and you’ve encouraged to try different breads.
cheese and bread are just the perfect combination!!
It looks delicious, Kevin – bread and cheese together?? Where do I sign? 🙂
I agree – cheese improves just about anything!
i just want to rip a piece off right now! this looks divine!
I made 2 versions, but the foccacia was my favorite. I’m glad you found it so easy – homemade bread is the best!!
Everything is better with cheese, for sure! Great job!
Oh my goodness this looks awesome. The cheese was definitely a good idea!
That looks gorgeous! Everything is that much better with cheese.
BB
buttabuns.wordpress.com
Cheese Bread….looks yummy!
Bravo! Looks really beautiful.
Great job on your challenge. I love all the crusty cheese on top of your bread!
Very nice. Agreed, hard to go wrong with cheese!
It is hard to beat, hot fresh dough.
Great job on your challenge.
It doesnt get better than fresh out of the oven homemade bread. Great job. The cheese bread looks fab!
Great job! I agree fresh bread is wonderful.
I love your bread. It must have been just delicious!
Julius from Occasional Baker
I think the smell of bread baking is one of the best things in the world!
that looks great
Wow Kevin! That focaccia looks wonderful – so fluffy and I bet it was soft and delcious inside!
Love the cheese on top, Kevin 🙂
You did a wonderful job on your bread!
Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
I am not surprised that you finished it in one day !
mmm cheese! I used feta, but it doesn’t have that same melty, gooey, yummy effect like your cheese did. That looks great. Good job, Kevin!
jen at use real butter
Well done Kevin!!!! You have “risen” to the challenge!!
Your bread looks great. Cheese must have been a great addition!
Great job! Your foccacia looks delish. I chose to do a foccacia too and it turned out to be my favorite.
Oh wow! You have completely outdone yourself this time!
Wow, that’s some happy bread! It looks wonderful!
That is one gorgeous fluffy focaccia! Well done on the challenge Kevin! Cheese makes the world go round!
Well if you needed to consume a Daring Baker project in one day, better a simple focaccia than a batch of cinnamon buns or thirty-dozen bostini! Congratulations on a successful contribution to November’s challenge.
oh my oh my, i’ve never seen a potato bread focaccia as lovely as this! it looks delicious..im not very good at baking but this post inspired me to try 🙂
Cheese and bread Yummm!!! Nice Kevin!!
Wow that looks good! Glad to be part of such a great group of bakers!
Hi Kevin,
Why didn’t I think of putting cheese! That bread looks wonderfully crusty on top and I betcha it was moist inside. yumm!
That’s one poofy, cheesy foccacia! Now you’re making me wish I had put some cheese on mine too!
Your focaccia looks stunning. Excellent job, Kevin!
Question: Where did you find your chestnuts? Around here they don’t start selling them until December (someone told me that), but I don’t know about the smaller gourmet stores.
Christina ~ She Runs, She Eats
MMMM … look at that cheese crust! Beautiful!
Kevin that is an understatement: cheese on bread is good. Your bread looks beautiful. So glad you enjoyed it.