Recipe: Cheese-Filled Tater Tots

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, I hate wasting kitchen space with single use appliances. So when I get a new toy for my kitchen, I have to come up with at least five new ways to use it (other than its intended use). And since my amazing friend Brenda gave me an electric cake pops maker for Christmas, I've been busily coming up with new and fun ways to use it. Today, I perfected the process for making delicious cheese filled tater tots in my cake pops maker.

You will need:

1 pound shredded potatoes

24 quarter inch cubes of cheese (any variety - you can even use vegan cheese, if you want to make these vegan-friendly!)

Nonstick cooking spray

Salt

Electric cake pops maker

In a large bowl, sprinkle a little bit of salt (and any other seasonings you desire)* onto the shredded potatoes. Microwave on high for 3 to 4 minutes, until potato shreds just start to stick together. Stir.

Allow potatoes to cool slightly. 

Take a pinch of the partially cooked potato shreds in your hand.  

Place cheese in the center. 

Press potatoes around the cheese and form into a tight ball, approximately the size of the holes in your cake pops maker. You want the balls to be big enough that they will come into contact with all of the cooking surfaces when the appliance is closed, but not so big that it's difficult to close the lid.

Place potato balls in preheated cake pops maker that is been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Close and let bake for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Let sit for an additional minute before removing from the cake pops maker. Serve warm.

*note: It is important to season the potatoes before forming into tater tots. The crust on the outside of the tots will keep the seasoning sprinkled on at the end from penetrating to the middle, giving you bland and flavorless tots.

Variation: omit the cheese entirely for simple, giant tater tots with essentially zero fat. (Without the cheese, these tots can fit vegan diets as well.)

This was my third attempt at making the tater tots in my cake pop maker. The first time, I tried doing it with raw shredded potatoes. They were delicious, but didn't hold together in tater tot form. Next, I tried cooking the potatoes before shredding them. They held the shape well but the texture was off. (More like crispy mashed potato balls.) It appears that the secret is shredding the potatoes first and then partially cooking them for maximum effect.