Potato Sticks

This post could have been called "Who Knew Something So Very Ugly Could Taste That Good?" Wait, don't leave! I found this recipe in the book "Beyond Burlap" from the Junior League of Boise. It was full of ways to use potatoes, fresh or frozen. I wanted to try something different so I tried this twist on a breadstick. Unfortunately, however, I didn't realize that kneading the dough by hand would take so long and we had an unexpected visitor in the middle of making them so I didn't have enough time to do them well. I mixed them up as well as I could (the hashbrowns mix into the dough completely eventually) and quickly formed the shapes. I had hoped that they would kinda fix themselves in the oven, but as you can see, they didn't. They are ugly. And I had to pull them out of the oven before they were done completely. The bottoms were lightly browned, but next time I'll let them bake longer.

Even with all that, I liked the unique texture and the taste. I did sprinkle garlic powder and regular table salt on top of all of them and poppy seeds on some before I baked them. I thought they might be bland without the garlic powder and it really made a difference! It has so much butter that I was only planning on tasting a part of one of them, but they were so good I had to eat a couple. Maybe one of my readers will make these the right way and share their pretty photo with us. Or I can update this the next time I make them.

Potato Sticks
10 oz. frozen grated hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 ¼ c. butter, softened
2 ½ c. flour
1 t. salt
2 egg yolks
½ c. half-and-half
Coarse salt, poppy seeds or caraway seeds to taste

Preheat oven to 400º. Mix the potatoes, butter and flour in a bowl. Sir in the salt. Knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth. Roll 2 tablespoons at a time into the shape of a breadstick. Make shallow diagonal slits in the tops of the sticks. Beat the egg yolks and half-and-half in a bowl. Brush over each potato stick. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Place the potato sticks on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.