Peel and cube the potato. Add to a sauce pot and cover with water. Boil until potatoes are soft and tender.
1 medium russet potato
Drain potatoes, saving potato water for dough.
Mash potatoes with a fork or a potato masher. Allow to cool to warm. You need approximately 1 cup of mashed potatoes for the dough.
Dough
In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add warm milk, yeast and honey. Stir briefly and let sit for 5 minutes allowing yeast to proof.
1 ½ cups whole milk, 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 Tablespoon honey
Add potato water, mashed potatoes, oil and salt and 2 cups of flour. Stir until mixed together.
½ cup potato water, 2 Tablespoons canola oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 5 ½ - 6 cups all purpose flour
Continue adding flour 1 cup at a time, allowing all flour to be fully incorporated, until dough forms a ball and pulls away from the side of bowl. You might not need all the flour
Knead in mixer for 5-8 minutes.Remove from mixing bowl and form a ball
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap
.Allow dough to double - approximately 1 ½ - 2 hours
Shaping and Baking Bread
Gently push down dough to deflate dough.
Divide dough in half and working with each half at a time, gently flatten dough on a clean surface into a rectangle approximately 8 x 10 inches. Roll dough into an oval log. Pinch the seam and poke the ends into log.)
Place each loaf of dough into a greased bread pan. Cover until they double in size - 30 - 45 minutes
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.
Allow bread to cool for 5 - 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and continue cooling on a baking rack. Allow bread to fully cool before slicing.
Notes
Tips
Use a dough hook for mixing and kneading dough.
Amount of flour needed varies. Add flour gradually stopping once dough forms a ball. Continue mixing and add a bit more flour if the ball spreads apart and is no longer round.
Rise time varies depending on temperature of environment.
If you forget to save potato water, just use additional milk.
Warm your milk to a temperature between 105 and 115 degrees. Anything cooler won't activate the yeast and anything hotter can kill your yeast. If you don't have a thermometer, you can drizzle the milk on your wrist. It should feel warm, but not hot.