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Potato Bread Focaccia with Cheese

[heart_this] · Nov 26, 2007 · 40 Comments

Potato Bread Focaccia with Cheese

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

Potato Bread Focaccia with Cheese

Prep Time: 3 hours 10 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes Servings: 6
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
  1. Boil the potatoes in the water and salt until tender.
  2. Drain the potatoes, reserving the water.
  3. Mash the potatoes in a large bowl.
  4. Mix in 1 1/2 cups of the potato water and let cool until luke warm.
  5. Mix in the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes.
  6. Mix in 2 cups of flour and let sit for 5 minutes.
  7. Mix in the whole wheat flour, butter and salt.
  8. 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.
  9. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 2 hours. The dough should rise to double its size.
  10. Knock the dough down.
  11. Knead the dough for a few minutes.
  12. Form the dough into a flattened circle on a baking sheet and cover with plastic.
  13. Let it rise for 20 minutes.
  14. Remove the plastic.
  15. Spread the olive oil over the top of the dough and sprinkle on the cheese.
  16. Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until golden brown on top, about 10-20 minutes.
Take a look at the other Daring Bakers.

Bread, Food, Recipe, Vegetarian

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    November 26, 2007 at 11:21 am

    Well done! It looks wonderful!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  2. Peter M says

    November 26, 2007 at 12:17 pm

    Kevin, it looks wonderful and you’ve encouraged to try different breads.

    Reply
  3. Mila says

    November 26, 2007 at 12:48 pm

    cheese and bread are just the perfect combination!!

    Reply
  4. Patricia Scarpin says

    November 26, 2007 at 2:06 pm

    It looks delicious, Kevin – bread and cheese together?? Where do I sign? 🙂

    Reply
  5. Annemarie says

    November 26, 2007 at 2:44 pm

    I agree – cheese improves just about anything!

    Reply
  6. Meghan says

    November 26, 2007 at 3:59 pm

    i just want to rip a piece off right now! this looks divine!

    Reply
  7. Deborah says

    November 26, 2007 at 4:20 pm

    I made 2 versions, but the foccacia was my favorite. I’m glad you found it so easy – homemade bread is the best!!

    Reply
  8. Shawnda says

    November 26, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    Everything is better with cheese, for sure! Great job!

    Reply
  9. javagirlkt's cookin' says

    November 26, 2007 at 5:44 pm

    Oh my goodness this looks awesome. The cheese was definitely a good idea!

    Reply
  10. Butta Buns says

    November 26, 2007 at 5:53 pm

    That looks gorgeous! Everything is that much better with cheese.

    BB
    buttabuns.wordpress.com

    Reply
  11. April says

    November 26, 2007 at 6:29 pm

    Cheese Bread….looks yummy!

    Reply
  12. CB says

    November 26, 2007 at 8:44 pm

    Bravo! Looks really beautiful.

    Reply
  13. breadchick says

    November 26, 2007 at 9:05 pm

    Great job on your challenge. I love all the crusty cheese on top of your bread!

    Reply
  14. Susan says

    November 26, 2007 at 9:45 pm

    Very nice. Agreed, hard to go wrong with cheese!

    Reply
  15. Peabody says

    November 26, 2007 at 10:31 pm

    It is hard to beat, hot fresh dough.
    Great job on your challenge.

    Reply
  16. slush says

    November 27, 2007 at 12:39 am

    It doesnt get better than fresh out of the oven homemade bread. Great job. The cheese bread looks fab!

    Reply
  17. Gigi says

    November 27, 2007 at 1:43 am

    Great job! I agree fresh bread is wonderful.

    Reply
  18. Julius says

    November 27, 2007 at 1:53 am

    I love your bread. It must have been just delicious!

    Julius from Occasional Baker

    Reply
  19. Brilynn says

    November 27, 2007 at 2:12 am

    I think the smell of bread baking is one of the best things in the world!

    Reply
  20. I(dot)J says

    November 27, 2007 at 4:38 am

    that looks great

    Reply
  21. JennDZ - The Leftover Queen says

    November 27, 2007 at 12:05 pm

    Wow Kevin! That focaccia looks wonderful – so fluffy and I bet it was soft and delcious inside!

    Reply
  22. Anonymous says

    November 27, 2007 at 1:22 pm

    Love the cheese on top, Kevin 🙂

    Reply
  23. Sheltie Girl says

    November 27, 2007 at 1:23 pm

    You did a wonderful job on your bread!

    Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

    Reply
  24. Foodie Froggy says

    November 27, 2007 at 1:43 pm

    I am not surprised that you finished it in one day !

    Reply
  25. Jen Yu says

    November 27, 2007 at 4:17 pm

    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

    Reply
  26. Bellini Valli says

    November 27, 2007 at 4:53 pm

    Well done Kevin!!!! You have “risen” to the challenge!!

    Reply
  27. Jenn says

    November 27, 2007 at 6:32 pm

    Your bread looks great. Cheese must have been a great addition!

    Reply
  28. Culinarily Obsessed says

    November 27, 2007 at 6:56 pm

    Great job! Your foccacia looks delish. I chose to do a foccacia too and it turned out to be my favorite.

    Reply
  29. Pam says

    November 27, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    Oh wow! You have completely outdone yourself this time!

    Reply
  30. Julie says

    November 27, 2007 at 11:58 pm

    Wow, that’s some happy bread! It looks wonderful!

    Reply
  31. Tartelette says

    November 28, 2007 at 2:35 am

    That is one gorgeous fluffy focaccia! Well done on the challenge Kevin! Cheese makes the world go round!

    Reply
  32. Dolores says

    November 28, 2007 at 5:15 am

    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.

    Reply
  33. Dhanggit says

    November 28, 2007 at 9:37 am

    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 🙂

    Reply
  34. Proud Italian Cook says

    November 28, 2007 at 3:36 pm

    Cheese and bread Yummm!!! Nice Kevin!!

    Reply
  35. chronicler says

    November 29, 2007 at 7:03 pm

    Wow that looks good! Glad to be part of such a great group of bakers!

    Reply
  36. Nora B. says

    November 29, 2007 at 9:11 pm

    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!

    Reply
  37. marias23 says

    November 30, 2007 at 6:00 pm

    That’s one poofy, cheesy foccacia! Now you’re making me wish I had put some cheese on mine too!

    Reply
  38. Christina says

    November 30, 2007 at 9:00 pm

    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

    Reply
  39. creampuff says

    December 2, 2007 at 4:29 pm

    MMMM … look at that cheese crust! Beautiful!

    Reply
  40. MyKitchenInHalfCups says

    December 28, 2007 at 10:33 am

    Kevin that is an understatement: cheese on bread is good. Your bread looks beautiful. So glad you enjoyed it.

    Reply

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