I have now made mashed potatoes twice in my life. (Hey, there’s a reason this blog is about learning to cook! I’d never even boiled spaghetti noodles until right around the time I started this website.) The first time I made mashed potatoes, I just kind of winged it, and ended up with light and fluffy mashed potatoes with almost no flavor at all. The second time, I consulted an expert– The Pioneer Woman. I’m always drooling over her recipes and pictures, but with the exception of my first lasagna, I never actually get around to making the things I see.

Her Creamy Mashed Potatoes seemed like just the ticket though. I was right! They were fairly labor intensive, and even though I managed to mess them up, they were still delicious. I’m not sure how committed I am to using a potato masher rather than beaters in the future, but they definitely were good!

You’ll need:

5lbs of potatoes, softened butter, softened cream cheese, half and half, season salt, and pepper

Start by peeling 5lbs of potatoes. As you can see, I got lazy by the end of the bag of potatoes because I was tired of peeling, but it turned out fine. Rinse the potatoes, and cut them into halves or quarters so they’re all roughly the same size.

PW instructs that the potatoes should be added to a pot of simmering water, and boiled for at least 30 minutes… or until they’re fork tender. You stick a fork into the potato, and if it goes in without resistance, the potatoes are done.

Drain the potatoes, and return them to the pan over low heat. (Man, I’m not doing so well on the step by step pictures here am I?) Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes until they are mostly mashed and most of the steam has escaped. Then you get to add the good stuff.

First, slice in the butter that you’ve been softening. PW said she used 1 1/2 sticks for 5 lbs of butter, and I’m a good sheep, so that’s what I did too.

Then add 8 oz. of softened cream cheese. Sorry about the picture quality… I’m not sure where my flash went here.

Now, pretend like there is a picture here of me adding 1/2 cup of half and half and that I didn’t forget this step. It would have helped me out greatly, and probably would’ve helped the potatoes reach that super creamy consistency they were supposed to have but didn’t quite attain.

Mash in the butter, cream cheese, and half and half until it’s all incorporated.

Now it’s time to season… I started with 1/2 teaspoon of Lawry’s season salt and bumped it up to a full teaspoon.

Same thing with the pepper– started with 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and ended up with a teaspoon.

Stir or mash the seasoning in. When you’re satisfied with how it tastes…

Butter a casserole dish. This is my 2qt, 8×8 Pyrex dish and it was just barely large enough.

Squeeze all your potatoes into the casserole dish.

Slice some butter onto the top.

Cover with foil. And here’s the best part… at this point, you can stick it in the fridge and leave it there for a day or two! I used my mashed potatoes a little later the same day, but imagine how much it would come in handy to have these ready to go in the oven and reheat for holiday gatherings rather than trying to mash them while you’re getting everything else ready.

When you’re ready to use them, they go in the oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until they’re heated through. If they’ve been in the fridge a couple days, PW suggests taking them out of the fridge about an hour before you want to put them in the oven so the middle isn’t quite as cold.

I still have several recipes waiting to be posted about… a couple of them cookies from *gasp* CHRISTMAS! But I made these brownies for my Easter gatherings this year, and I just can’t wait any longer to share them with you. Partly because of the fun new kitchen toys I got to use to make them, and partly because they are just that good. This was the first time I’d made brownies without using a box mix, so I made sure to tell everyone I shared them with that they were Brownies! From Scratch! I found the recipe at The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch.

They got pretty good reviews from everyone who tried them. My nephew seemed mostly interested in picking the “CANDY!” off the top, and then he was ready to put them back in the container. And pick a new one to pick the candy off of.

Here’s what you’ll need to make them for yourself:

Butter, sugar, vanilla extract, 4 eggs, flour, cocoa, salt, mini peanut butter cups, mini Reeses Pieces

First I chopped up my 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter cups and set those aside. And just so you know, the whole purpose of this picture is to show you the first of my new kitchen toys– my new knife.

Next you’ll need one cup of melted butter in a large bowl. This is the second of my new kitchen toys– a set of mixing bowls, the purchase of which I blame entirely on The Pioneer Woman

Add 3 cups of white sugar.

And one tablespoon of vanilla extract.

Then mix it all together.

Next, beat in your four eggs, one at a time.

Mix well after each egg, until it’s all thoroughly blended together.

In a separate bowl, add 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

Also add 1 teaspoon of salt.

Mix them all together. By the way, this is my idea of sifting ingredients together. Not only am I lazy, but I don’t own a sifter anyways. So this works for me.

Next you’re going to add your pseudo-sifted flour mixture to the rest of your ingredients. Stir it in gradually… this is probably about halfway through the flour mixture.

Keep going until all of your flour mixture has been added, and blended into the batter.

Add the 1 1/2 cups of chopped peanut butter cups we set aside in step one.

Stir those into the batter. Then you can pour the batter into a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish. Unless you’re like me, and you have a new toy.

Then you’re going to lightly coat your new Bite Sized Brownie Pan with some cooking spray and use a cookie scoop to portion out the batter. Sprinkle the tops with mini Reeses Pieces. I didn’t get any pictures of this step… probably because my hands were messy and I was still wondering if they were going to turn out at all.

But I baked them at 350 for about 35 minutes, and they turned out wonderfully!

Little perfectly portioned brownie bites that were delicious! Even if the pan is decidedly difficult and time consuming to wash.

Fair warning– there may be plenty of brownie recipes coming up in the future. I’ve been looking them up and bookmarking recipes left and right, so you might see quite a few. At least until the novelty of my bite sized pans wears off!

Da Bombe Brownies Peanut Butter Style
1 cup butter, melted
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups chopped mini peanut butter cups
1/2 cup mini Reeses pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the rest of the batter until blended. Stir in the chopped peanut butter cups. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with mini Reeses pieces

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.