These potatoes are like having all of your potato dreams come true at once: the crispy edges of your favorite french fries, but with middles as creamy as mashed potatoes.  And if you really need another reason to make them tonight, despite their fancy appearance, they take no more time and only a little more effort than your average foil-wrapped baked potato.

Make just a few for a family dinner or a whole pan full for a large dinner party, the recipe is easy to increase. If you are serving potatoes, try these for a change. You may never go back to regular baked potatoes again.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 60 Min
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
4 medium Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes
4 TBL olive oil or melted vegan butter, divided
salt
pepper

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.

2.  Wash and scrub potatoes. Thoroughly dry.

3.  Thinly slice potatoes ALMOST all the way through, stopping just before you cut through so that the slices stay connected at the bottom of the potato. TIP: place a wooden spoon on either side of the potato as a guide to keep from slicing all the way through. Or you can rest the potato in a large serving spoon and use that as a guide for when to stop slicing — slice straight down and when your knife hits the edge of the spoon, stop slicing. Slices should be no more than 1/8 inch apart. Thinner is better here.

4.  Place potatoes on baking sheet. Brush all over, including the bottom, with half the oil.

5.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.

6. Bake the potatoes for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and brush the potatoes again with more oil — you can nudge the layers apart if they’re still sticking together. Make sure some of the oil gets down into the space between the slices.

7. Bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are crispy on the edges and easily pieced in the middles with a paring knife.  Average total baking time is 60 minutes. If your potatoes or bigger or smaller, adjust the time accordingly.

8.  Serve immediately while the edges are nice and crispy and they are still warm!

Variations:

For a nice garlic flavor, add thinly sliced garlic every 2 or 3 slits when you are basting with more oil after 30 minutes.  You can also use some garlic powder along with the salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with fresh herbs during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking:  woody herbs like rosemary, thyme and oregano are great.