Potato Flake Sourdough Bread
This easy potato flake sourdough bread is a soft, delicious sandwich bread with a subtle tang and a hint of sweetness that is irresistible. Made with an easy to make potato flake sourdough starter. You won’t want to make any other bread after trying this!
Have you ever tried a potato flake sourdough starter? This is a different kind of starter that is made with instant mashed potato flakes, sugar, and instant yeast to kickstart fermentation. Using a potato flake starter produces a bread that has less sour “tang” than traditional sourdough and is a little sweeter, too. It is SO good!
Note: This is NOT the same thing as a Herman starter or an Amish friendship starter – those are both made with flour, sugar, and often milk.
This recipe makes an alternative to a sourdough sandwich loaf, so it is easy to slice and enjoy with butter and jam, but it also makes a great side to soups and stews.
I love a good potato flake sourdough because its easier than traditional sourdough, and it makes the best, most delicious bread! You have GOT to try it! You can also use this potato starter to make soft sourdough dinner rolls or sourdough cinnamon rolls. Just substitute the fed and bubbly starter!
How to make a sourdough starter with potato flakes
Making a potato flake starter is a lot easier than making a traditional sourdough starter and only takes 5 days!
- Stir the potato flakes, yeast, sugar and warm water together with a wooden spoon in a glass jar.
- Cover and leave on the counter for 5 days.
- On the 5th day, feed your potato water again (feeding ingredients are in the instructions), give it about two hours to become active, and take a cup out, and use that cup to make bread.
Note: You can use this potato flake starter in any of my sourdough discard recipes!
How to maintain a potato flake starter
To keep your potato flake starter going, you only need to do a little bit of maintenance each week.
- You will want to store it in the fridge.
- Once a week, take the starter out and feed it with 3 Tablespoons potato flakes, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and 1 cup of warm water. Stir well and give it two hours to become active and bubbly (it will look almost foamy). You can then pull some out to use, and then place the rest back in the fridge.
Note: This starter is very liquidy, and you will notice that the potato flakes tend to settle at the bottom of the jar during the week. Just give it a good stir before feeding.
Making sourdough bread with a potato flake starter
This recipe is very simple to make! Here is a brief overview of the recipe to give you an idea of how it works. For the full set of directions and measurements, please make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below!
Feed your potato flake starter
- About two hours before you start to make your bread, feed your starter with 3 Tablespoons of instant potato flakes, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and 1 cup of warm water. Stir, loosely cover, and wait for it to become active and bubbly.
Mix the dough
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, active potato starter, water, oil, granulated sugar, and salt until well combined.
- Knead until the flour is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic.
Bulk Fermentation
- Cover the mixing bowl and let it rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours, or until it doubles in size. You can also place it in the fridge overnight at this point.
Shaping the dough
- Gently punch the dough down to remove any air bubbles.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal portions.
- Shape each portion into a loaf by gently flattening each portion into a rectangle with the longest side perpendicular to you, and then folding in the sides so that the dough is as long as your pan. Then you will grab the section of dough farthest away from you and fold it into the dough about 1/3 of the way down. Use your fingers to kind of pinch and seal the bread together. Then continue rolling and pinching the bread dough down until you have formed a log.
- Place each loaf seam side down into a greased bread pan.
Final Proof
- Cover the loaf pans with plastic wrap and let them rise for another 30-60 minutes, until the dough rises above the rim of the pans.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- When the oven is hot, remove the plastic wrap from the loaves.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water to make an egg wash. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash over the top of the loaves.
- Place the loaves in the middle of the oven.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown on top.
- Allow the bread to cool in the pans for 10 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the pans and place them on a wire cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. You need to wait at least an hour or two before cutting them open to allow the bread to finish cooking and cooling all the way. Cutting them too early will cause the insides to become gummy.
Storage Information
To store this bread, make sure it is first completely cool.
You can then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days. Bread storage bags also work well.
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Potato Flake Sourdough Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Make the Potato Flake Starter:
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 Tablespoons instant potato flakes
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
Feed the Potato Flake Starter:
- 1 cup warm water
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons potato flakes
For Sourdough Potato Bread:
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- 1 cup active sourdough potato starter
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons sea salt (affiliate link)
- 1 egg
Instructions
Make the potato flake starter:
- Stir the potato flakes, yeast, sugar, and warm water together with a wooden spoon.
- Cover, and leave on the counter for 5 days.
Feed the potato flake starter:
- Stir in the potato flakes, sugar, and warm water into the starter.
- Allow the starter to rest for 2 hours until it becomes active and bubbly.
- Scoop out 1 cup of starter for your bread, cover the remainder of the starer, and place in your fridge until next week.
Make the bread:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, active sourdough starter, lukewarm water, oil, white granulated sugar, and salt, mixing until well combined.
- Knead the dough until the flour is fully incorporated, and the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Cover the mixing bowl with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours or in the fridge for an overnight rise until it doubles in size. This will be your first rise.
- After the dough has risen, gently punch it down to release any air bubbles.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into two equal portions using a bench scraper and shape each portion into a loaf.
- Place each of the loaves in a greased bread pan seam side down.
- For the 2nd rise, cover the loaf pans with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rise for another 30-60 minutes, or until the dough rises above the rim of the pans.
- Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 375°F and then remove the towel or plastic wrap.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with 1 teaspoon of water to create an egg wash.
- Brush the egg wash over the loaves and place the loaf pans in the preheated oven.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let the bread cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes.
- Then, transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
