Homemade Baked Tater Tots

I have slightly been on a baking drought lately. You see we went to Disneyland last week. Disneyland is wonderful and magical, but for some reason they wouldn't let me down into their magical kitchens to let me create things of my own. Strange I know. The day we got back from Disney I came down with a nasty cold. It is very hard for me to cook when I can't smell, taste, or really stand for long periods of time. Today I'm finally feeling a little better and I can taste so what do I do? Of course make some new creations!

I decided I wanted to try and make these at about 4:30 this morning. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep and the only things I could think of were the things I wanted to make. This one being in the forefront of my mind. I kept thinking of how I was going to make them, and what spices i wanted in it. I eventually did fall back to sleep, but as soon as I woke up I knew what I needed to do! This was a fun experiment that turned out quite yummy! The unhealthy side of me would still have to admit that I slightly prefer the deep fried kind, but the healthy side of me often tries to suppress the unhealthy side and occasionally wins! Luckily with these bad boys both sides were pleasantly satisfied with them.

Homemade Baked Tater Tots

Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 30 minutes
Makes about 30 mini tater tots

Ingredients:
4 medium sized potatoes
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tbs oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Directions:
Wash and skin potatoes. Using a food processor with the shredding disk attached shred all four potatoes. You can shred them by hand if you don't have a food processor, but it is much faster with the food processor. With your hands scoop the shredded potatoes out of the food processing bowl and transfer to a medium sized bowl slightly squeezing with your hands to removed some of the excess juice from the potatoes. Add the salt, smoked paprika, pepper, egg, and oil to the shredded potatoes. Mix with a fork until well combined. Add flour and mix again with a fork.

Prepare a mini muffin pan by lightly spraying with cooking spray. You can also use a regular muffing pan if you don't have a mini one, your tots will just be bigger. Scoop about 1/2 tbs of potato mixture into each mini muffin tin. Pressing down slightly with the back of measuring spoon to make the potato mixture as flat as possible. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. I flipped all of mine half way through the baking time just to make sure they would be crispy on all sides. I wanted mine a little on the crispy side so when they were about done I turned on the broiler and let them crisp up for just a few minutes. If you do this watch them carefully as to not let them burn. Remove from oven and place tots in a bowl and sprinkle a little extra salt on them. Serve plain or with whatever sauce you would like.