The holiday season is officially upon is. Chanuka is up first, followed by Christmas and Kwanzaa an
d I really wanted something that would resonate on EVEYONE's holiday table. Enter Spud Muffins-actually Crispy Potato Bites, but SPUD Muffins sounds so much cuter. These aren't potato pancakes/latkes and was not intended to be. Instead they are a great side dish/appetizer that is sure to please. The ingredients are few and the process is so simple. So let's get cooking
Ingredients
600 grams shredded potatoes (approx. 4 cups) I used bagged hash browns (you can shred if you want to but I honestly this saved me soooo much time)
1 TBSP +1 tsp. corn starch ( you can use potato starch or arrowroot)
1 small/medium sweet onion thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. minced garlic (or more if you like garlic)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt + some extra for the potatoes
1/8 -1/4 tsp. pepper (depending on your affinity for pepper)
a sprinkle of rosemary
2-3 tsp. olive oil for onions
1 TBSP Olive oil for potato mixture
Directions-Preheat oven to 350
Most important -if you are using frozen potatoes-you need to defrost them overnight. Before using them place them in a tea towel lined bowl to absorb all the liquid from the potatoes- you can even give the bottom a little squeeze to get rid of any extra liquid
If you are using freshly grated potatoes this step is even more important for crispy bites-you will most likely have way more liquid with fresh potatoes-make sure to squeeze them out trying to eliminate much of the water.
Saute the onion with the onion powder, salt, pepper, paprika, rosemary until they are translucent and soft. Remove pan from burner.
Place drained potato shreds in a large bowl.
Add 1 TBSP Oil, corn starch, extra salt and pepper and onions.
Mix all together until combined.
Generously grease muffin tins and fill about 2/3 of the way (we also tried this with minis but filled them to the top- we liked the minis)! Sprinkle some onion powder over the tops.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes- mini's will take less time-start checking them around 20 minutes until they are golden brown and crispy looking.
Take a sharp knife and in a circular motion ease some of the edges as they will harden and stick to the pan. Let them continue to cool.
Enjoy.
Notes-
Greasing the muffin tins is super important. I wouldn't use cooking spray as it tends to burn on the bottom of the tins. You can use olive oil or canola but grease the bottom (they tend to stick there the most) and the sides.
Do not use muffin liners. As you can see in our video the bites did not come out, they were mushy and did not get crispy at all.
Use care easing them out of the tins. They do tend to stick..
Feel free to season these any way you like. No judgement or rules. The seasoning I provided worked very well but if you like it southwestern or Far East then by all means experiment!
Check out how to make this recipe on our You Tube channel!
youtube.com/watch?v=s64O4_uj0Sc