I sure wish I could get my camera to do justice to these heavenly, delicious, meal-on-the-go muffins, but they look all bumpy because I use home-mashed potatoes (I live in Idaho–using instant potatoes is a felony here!). Those of you who do use instant potatoes will find that your muffins have a much smoother shape and texture–not the rocky surfaces seen here: 

I invented this super-scrumptious muffin so that I could have some sort of grab-n-go lunches in my freezer for days when I was going to be running errands or working, and didn’t want to rely on fast food for me or my kids. I always bake these as a mini muffin to help save on calories per serving, because they do have cheese and bacon in them, but I leave the skins on my potatoes and use wheat flour, so they are still healthier than any restaurant version.

Oh yeah–they taste better, too!  Here’s the recipe:

Loaded Baked Potato Muffins

2 egg yolks

3 cups mashed potatoes (or 3 cups grated raw potatoes, squeezed dry in a dish towel)

1/4 cup grated onion

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 stiffly beaten egg whites

1 cup crumbled cooked bacon

3/4 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup sliced chives (optional)

Stir the egg yolks into the potatoes and onion. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to potato mixture, then fold in the oil and beaten egg whites. Stir in bacon bits and cheese (along with chives, if using them). Spray mini-muffin tins with canola cooking spray, then drop muffins into tins using a regular-sized ice cream scoop. Batter must fill cups because muffins won’t rise much. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until edged are dark brown and crisp, insides resemble dry mashed potatoes. Garnish tops with extra shredded cheese and bake another couple of minutes.

Refrigerate in air-tight container within 2 hours of baking.