Whenever my grandpa came over to eat, my mother served Potato Pancakes with applesauce. I remember her spending all afternoon grating potatoes for this special German delight, and my grandfather always said it reminded him of the old country. It was definitely a family favorite, and with a food processor the grating chore would now be much quicker, but it’s just something that I never made much until now.

Always looking for ways to cut a step or two, plus desiring to maximize my bulk cooking prowess, this new Potato Pancake adventure is something that I have mastered.

Whenever I bake up potatoes, I purposely make at least ten extras for hash browns the next day. I do a lot of potato and egg skillet breakfasts, and will even make up my own freezer bag hash brown “kits” for quick breakfasts, but they still require me to “man” the pan while they crisp up.

Since I had just made extra baked potatoes, I decided I wanted to try something new, a little twist on my mom’s old fashioned potato pancake recipe and this can be made with either left over mashed potatoes or baked potatoes that have been shredded/grated. I ran my potatoes through my 20 year old food processor and shredded them, but using left over mashed are delicious as well.

 The best part about this new process is that I can whip up the recipe so quickly, grease the pan with my “Grandma’s favorite ingredient,” push the ingredients down into my skillet and walk away.

Yes, that’s right. This is a no flip, potato pancake recipe and that is the key to its success. I don’t have to “man” it. It’s hands free.

I just made one ginormous Potato Pancake (well, one and then another, and another,) and then cut it into wedges.

Please note: to avoid a kitchen bedlam moment, do not underestimate the size of your plate when you do that inverted flip. Have no fear though, it still tastes delicious scooped up and eaten right off the clean counter. 😉

The first time I made it, I did a very basic, potato with a touch of cheese, only type of pancake. ( See picture above) That is completely exceptable and if you are a plain potato lover, then do not feel you have to add in the extras because it was so yummy just like this, but wow, the extras take it up just a notch.

I also played around with the number of eggs. After you make the base recipe for the first time, determine how “egg-y” vs “potato-y” you want it. If I want a bit more substance to it, I add more eggs, and a dash more flour, but if I want to serve the pancake as a side, I stick with two. By default, I have even had the egg ratio to just one, since I ran out and it was still delicious.  Based on the amount of veggies you want, play around with that ratio as well. You can barely mess this recipe up, well, unless you forget about it. Then it could burn, but I have faith in that kitchen timer. 😉

Enjoy, and let me know the “Extras” that your family loves!