Potato Bread

This Potato Bread is a simple, everyday loaf that's light and moist. It's great for sandwiches, but also awesome for dipping in soup or simply snacking on with butter and honey.

The more I learn about witchcraft and wellness, the more I appreciate the importance of basic grounding. Feeling safe and secure in the world is what gives you the freedom to have adventures and take risks. Without grounding, we're rootless and unstable. Grounding helps us hold our power with confidence.

Thankfully, grounding foods like bread and potatoes are easy enough to come by. This sold, starchy staples that make is feel satisfied and comforted do more than just provide energy for our bodies. They also settle our souls, connect us back to earth, and give us something safe to hold on to in this wild world.

What makes this Potato Bread so awesome?

I'm not an expert bread baker (or an expert bread slicer) so I prefer to keep things simple. A bit of measuring and mixing, a bit of kneading, whack it in a pan then let it bake up in the oven. But the reward has to be worth the effort, and this totally is. With a satisfying, slightly crunchy crust, and insides soft as a pillow, this potato bread is awesome.

You know I love to just snack on bread, so a thick slice with butter and honey is like dessert as far as I'm concerned. But this bread is also great for an everyday loaf for sandwiches and toast. Following up bread baking with soup making seems like a marriage made in heaven, so definitely use this bread to sop up some delicious liquid. You're gonna love it.

Magical Properties of Potatoes

Potatoes have seriously earthy, grounding energy. They're able to absorb harmful energies to act as a powerful protector, displaying their feminine or receptive duality. They're associated with the practical sign of Virgo and tied to the Sun, Moon, and Saturn. Aligned with the root energy center, potatoes can help you feel connect to your body when you've been in your head too long. You can also use them in spells for binding, healing, luck, and increased self-esteem.

For more on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this bread. The full details are in the recipe card below.

• Mashed potatoes - You can use instant but mashed potatoes, but actually make them up. If I have potatoes in the pantry, I'll just roughly chop one and boil it first thing in the morning, then used the cooled mash in the bread.
• Flour - You want white bread flour, aka strong flour
• Salt
• Yeast - This recipe is designed for rapid-rise or instant yeast
• Greek yogurt - or similar plain yogurt
• Warm water - You can reserve the water leftover from boiling your potatoes and use that or just use tap water.

I also use my stand mixer with the dough hook to make this bread, but you could certainly make it by hand. You'll also need a loaf pan.

Tips for making Potato Bread

There's nothing unusual about this bread recipe. We're simply using mashed potatoes in place of some of the flour to add moisture. Mix together all your dry ingredients, then work in the yogurt and water to form a shaggy dough. Knead it until smooth, and let it rise until doubled in size. How long that takes depends a lot on the temperature in your kitchen.

Then we punch it down, shape it, pop it in the loaf pan, and let it rise again. Then you simply bake it in a hot oven until it's got a gorgeous brown crust and gives you that hollow sound when tapped. Let it cool on a wire rack, but definitely have at least one piece while it's still warm from the oven. That's kind of the whole point of baking your own bread, as far as I'm concerned.

Wrap your loaf in foil and eat within 3 days.

Nothing keeps you grounded quite like a delicious slice fo potato bread, fresh from the oven. It's absolutely awesome.

Looking for more awesome bread recipes? Try this hearty Bloomer Bread or some adorable Tear & Share Flower Bread.

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Recipe adapted from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.