Potato Pancakes

These soft, pillowy concoctions came about during a leftovers purge from the refrigerator! I had a small container with potato "guts" that had been scraped out I think when I made baked potato skins. So what do you do with baked potato meat... hmmm... For whatever reason potato pancakes popped into my head. It sounded like a fun way to use up the potato and something new I hadn't tried in ages. I did a quick search on AllRecipes to get some ideas. I found Cheesy Potato Pancakes, German Potato Pancakes, and Potato Pancakes (to name a few)! I wanted mine to be fairly simple and keep the ingredient list small, so I just blended a few things together until I got a consistency I thought would work, plopped them into a pre-heated cast iron skillet and voila! Little fluffy potato pancake bites! I am still not 100% sure what all I think would work well to serve these with. I have seen a lot of the other recipes suggest pretty much anything you would normally serve something like a baked or mashed potato with (pork, sausage, roast, etc.). Many of the other recipes include some form of milk or sour cream and baking powder as well - so I'm sure there are a lot of ways you could make these, just depending on the texture / flavor you'd like. This was a very simple version that worked well for me and I liked the pillowy texture that they had! Next time I make these, I definitely want to give the cheesy version a try (plus it has bacon in it... bacon makes everything better!)

Potato Pancakes
Makes 3 - 4 small pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup cooked potato (just the filling, no peels)
1/4 cup flour
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
1 TBS canola oil

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large non stick (or cast iron) skillet over medium heat on the stove.
2. Combine ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and blend on medium-high speed until smooth. Use a spoon or spatula to spread about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of potato mixture into preheated skillet. Cook until browned and golden on both sides, and set in the middle (about 2 minutes per side).

Lindsey (12 months) having fun in one of her b-day presents, a Disney princess ball pit from our wonderful friend and neighbor!