This easy no knead purple yam bread recipe is so tasty and beautiful. Mega crispy and chewy on the outside, and soft with hints of floral on the inside.
No knead and all-natural ingredients using purple yam and instant yeast.
In its most essential form, bread is just flour, water, salt, and yeast. And with these 4 ingredients, we can transform bread into a variety of flavours and textures.
But why go basic when we can jazz it up a bit! This purple yam bread recipe is so easy and so unique to make! It's the perfect beginner bread to make. The results of this recipe will inspire you to keep trying new bread recipes. This Artisan Purple Bread only asks for 5 ingredients.
All this bread recipe asks from you is to check on it once in a while to give it some stretch and fold. Once done, leave it overnight in the fridge to ferment. 90% of the work is very hands-off!
And the result you get is a crusty artisan bread filled with subtle flora aroma from the purple yam. The flavour is unreliably good! It's delicious, crispy on the outside, and mega soft bread on the inside.
This post is about the purple yam bread recipe.
Delicate Note to First-Time Baker
If this is your first time trying to make bread, I welcome you. You've come to the best place to get started!
Have you ever wanted to make delicious soft yet chewy bread? You go on Pinterest and you see all these 'no knead' artisan bread, and thought maybe you can make it one day. Well, that day is today!
This artisan easy no knead bread recipe is so easy no one will ever believe you’re a first-time baker. Besides taste, the bread is so beautiful to look at. When you break this bad boy open, please try not to drop your jaws. The first slice you cut into will pierce your heart with love and confidence.
Trust me, if you make this purple yam bread recipe, you will make it again and again. Once you realize how easy and effortless it is to make some real homemade bread, you'll find yourself wanting to bake another purple yam bread.
Why you'll love this recipe
- easy no knead bread recipe - no elbow grease here. Just some simple fold and stretch, with an overnight fermentation. That's it.
- only 5 ingredients - yup, only 5. And I'm sure you have most of them in your pantry.
- it's gorgeous to look at - it's an easy recipe with amazing results! It's so beautiful to look at you and a great confidence booster in the kitchen!
- flavourful taste - purple yam bread with a subtle floral taste. It's so different and unique. You just have to try it to understand what I am talking about!
- soft and chewy texture - chewy crispy crust and an unbelievably moist inside. The dream boat for bread.
Ingredients
Flour
The type of flour we are using is all-purpose flour. We are not going to be fancy and ask you to look for bread flour. We are sticking to what most pantry has to show you that this is truly the easiest bread recipe there is with unbelievable results.
However, if you do have bread flour lying around, use it for this recipe. Bread flour has a higher protein percentage meaning you will yield a chewier and heavy loaf of delicious bread.
My favourite brand of flour is King Arthur Flour. Love this brand. I see the difference between them and some large commercial flour companies. Their organic bread flour is a great option if you're looking for bread flour.
Water
Any drinkable water works here. I recommend adding a slightly warmer than room temperature water. Why? It will help the yeast work its magic better.
Salt
All good bread needs salt to have some great-tasting bread. Salt helps bring out the flavour of the flour and yam. I suggest to use sea salt instead of table salt. I find bread with table salt lack flavour.
The salt I love using is the Celtic Sea Salt. I like their Gourmet kosher salt because they are more course. I like adding it inside the bread and on top if I am adding some herbs and spices on top to make the bread more fancy.
Instant Yeast
Yeast is what will give the bread the air and rise of the dough. It is an essential ingredient to make bread. If you don't have instant yeast, active yeast also works well in this recipe as well. Yeast is more active when the dough is in a warmer temperature. Hence, the recipe calls for a slightly warmer temperature of the water.
I love all of Anthony's product on Amazon, and I really like their Instant Dry Yeast Packets. They come in smaller packages, 42 to be exact.
Purple Yam
Purple yam is a starchy root vegetable which is perfect for this recipe. You can find purple yam in Asian grocery stores, and maybe your local grocery store as well. The flavour of purple yam has a subtle floral taste, which is perfect for a loaf of bread. The purple yam gives the bread extra moisture that clings onto the bread so when it bakes, it doesn't quickly evaporate.
How I cook it for this recipe is by steaming. I steam the purple yam for 15 minutes in high heat. Then I let it cool by allowing it to sit on a plate. This also allows the yam to dry out the extra moisture while cooling down. Peel the skin of the yam, and using a fork I mash it until smooth with no big chunks of yam.
I've used other yams and potatoes to make the same recipe. They all work out well and tasted great, but my favourite is still the purple yam.
Professional Tips for a no-fail recipe
Pro Tip #1 - Read the FULL Recipe before you Begin
Trust me, read it all before you begin. Why? Mainly it is about the time. This is the kind of bread you put together before bed, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and baked the next day.
It doesn’t require a lot of time, nor elbow grease, but a bread that needs a lot of sitting around. Patience is a virtue, and this project will test you.
Pro Tip #2 - Stand Mixer is a Must
Remember how I said you don’t need to knead the bread? It’s right because your stand mixer is going to do all the work for you. If you don’t have one, I highly suggest you get one.
I love my Kitchenaid 7qt Professional ____ stand mixer. I use it very often to make cookies, cakes, bread, and all sorts of my other baking ventures. I’ve always been super happy with Kitchenaid's quality, and now they have so many different versions and styles that it's so hard not to buy them as collectables. A dangerous love affair I know is going to cost me many pretty pennies.
Pro Tip #3 - Measuring with a Scale
There are certain recipes I’m okay with using measuring spoons and cups. Some recipes are very forgiving if you’re a tablespoon of the exact recipe, but I find pasty and bread making to be different.
Exact measurements can mean either you make it or break it. I will lay out both measurements by cups and grams; however, I do hope you follow through with the recipe with the measurements with a scale. It is more precise and accurate to make a successful loaf of bread.
As I’ve mentioned, this is a bit of a two-day affair, I would hate you to spend all this time trying it only finding the end results unpleasant.
Pro Tip #4 - Use a Dutch Oven
When it comes to turning your bread into the oven, the vessel we will be using is the dutch oven pot. Why? because we don’t have a professional bread baking oven that will insert water vapour into the oven.
The dutch oven will help capture and trap the moisture, and in return leave a crispy beautiful crust. A Dutch oven is great at regulating heat and capturing moisture with its cast-iron body, so yeah, pretty important to have one of those bad boys for bread baking.
Pro Tip #5 - Temperature
Your house is going to warm up quickly with this bread. We require to bake the bread at 450F for 50 minutes in total. Do not try to bake the bread at is lesser temperature. This high heat is required if you want a crispy bread on the outside.
Pro Tip #6 - Stretch Fold Technique
It is a little hard to explain with words how we are going to stretch and fold the dough but it is necessary to stretch the dough one time before it goes into the fridge to sleep overnight. When the dough is ready, we are going to gently deflate the dough and roll it out on the countertop. What you’re left with is a floppy piece of dough and imagine it is a face.
You’re going to take the sides of the tough (the two ears of the face) stretch it out, and fold it where the nose is (the centre of the dough). Now you’re going to take the top and bottom (top of the head and the chin of the face) and fold it again to the centre of the dough (the nose). Flip it upside down (now the face is slapped onto the countertop), and roll the dough around.
You need to put some pressure on the bottom of the dough and pull the dough at the centre. You’re going to feel some pressure and stretching of the dough (it's honestly the best feeling when I do this part), and you’re going to do this a few times until the dough becomes a beautiful ball.
Rustic Purple Bread
Equipment
- stand mixer
Ingredients
- 400 g all purpose flour (3 cups of all purpose flour)
- 310 g Luke warm water (307ml of Luke warm water)
- 160 g steamed and cooked purple yam (3/4 cup of cooked purple yam)
- 10 g sea salt (1 1/2 tsp sea salt)
- 2 g instant yeast (1/2 tsp instant yeast)
Instructions
- Wash and peel the purple yam. Put it in your steamer and steam for about 20 minutes until soft. Test it by poking it with a fork. If it goes in without effort it is done. If it requires force, then give it another 5-10 minutes.
- In a stand mixer, attach the dough hook. Add the flour and water together and combine until a light crumble appears. Put a towel or plastic wrap over the top and let it rest for 30 minutes. This allow the flour to fully hydrate.
- Meanwhile, put the fork in another bowl and mash it. Make sure all the big clumps are broken into smaller pieces. Don't worry if its not smooth, once it is in the stand mixer, it will break and smooth everything together. I sometimes like small chunks showing and are in the dough, so when it is baked, you can also see the purple yam pieces in the bread.
- Remove the towel or plastic wrap from the bowl, and add the mashed purple yam, sea salt, and instant yeast. Adjust speed to medium low for 20 minutes. The dough afterwards will look sticky and very elastic like. Let it sit for 3 hours until it has tripled in size.
- Dust the clean counter top with some flour, and carefully remove the dough on to the table. Gently deflate the dough, and give the dough the fold and stretch method. You're going to take the sides of the dough (imagine the dough is a face and you're going to pull the two ears of the face) stretch it out, and fold it where the nose is (the centre of the dough). Don't over stretch where you see the dough is tearing. Now you're going to take the top and bottom (top of the head and the chin of the face) and fold it again to the centre of the dough (the nose). Do this 3 times. Now flip it outside down (now the face is slapped onto the counter top) seaside down, and roll the dough around. You need to put some pressure at the bottom of the dough and pull the dough at the centre. You're going to feel some pressure and stretching of the dough (its honestly the best feeling when I do this part), and you're going to do this a few times until the dough becomes a beautiful ball. Do this 3 times.
- Now you need to find a vessel to put the dough in the fridge. If you have a bread proofing basket - use it. If not, just a regular bowl but find one that fits the dough but also some space for it to grow slightly. Add a piece of parchment paper and pat it down to the shape of the bowl. Gently flour the bowl and place the dough seaside down (wrinkly face down). Put plastic wrap at the top of the bowl and let it sit in the fridge overnight: at least 12 hours.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 475F/245C with the rack at the lower third. Insert the dutch oven with the lid on while it preheats. When the oven reaches the desire temperature, let the dutch oven sit there for an additional 20 minutes.
- Gently lift the dough out of the bowl by lifting on the sides of the parchment paper, and place it on the counter top. Place another new parchment paper beside the dough, and gently flip the dough on to the new parchment paper. The seaside should be facing up now. The goal here is to preserve and not disturb the air gas that can been developing in the fridge for 12 hours. the Less movement we can create when we place the dough into the oven, the better gas bubbles you'll get when you bake the bread. When the dough has been sitting in the fridge, all the gas built up is at the bottom of the dough which is the seaside is located. When we flip the bread upside down, the gas is invertiley at the top, so when we bake it at a high temperature, it will expand and get the beautiful air bubbles in the bread.
- Carefully take the dutch oven out, and carefully by lifting the parchment paper place the dough inside the oven with the lid on top. Bake for 20 minutes.
- After the first 20 minutes finished, lift the lid off and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
- Lift the bread out and let it cool completely on a drying rack. You need complete air circulation around the bread, including the bottom. Let the bread cool off completely before indulging.
