Creamy Mashed Potatoes

 Only the BEST mashed potatoes around! These are from the Pioneer Woman and we’ve made them once and I was hooked! It’s more work than I put into our usual mashed potatoes but it’s worth it. Her recipe makes a LOT so if you’re not feeding a baseball team maybe half it. I will be halving it for our family of 6 the next time we make these. We never really use leftover mashed potatoes so they end up in the trash. If you’ve got any great ideas for left overs I’d love to hear them!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

5 lb. russet or Yukon Gold potatoes

3/4 c. butter

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. (to 3/4 cups) half-and-half

1/2 tsp. (to 1 teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1/2 tsp. (to 1 teaspoon) black pepper

Directions

-Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

-Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

-Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

-Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.