Mashed potatoes are my favorite part of the Thanksgiving spread. However, I don’t really like making mashed potatoes. It stresses me out. I never know how much butter to add, how much milk. I’m always worried about overboiling my potatoes and ending up with a water-logged mash. So, for this recipe — to avoid as much stress as possible during an already chaotic season — I decided to bake the potatoes instead of boiling them, and to ease my worry about the fat, I simply opted to add a lot.
If the amount of butter in these mashed potatoes scares you, just know that on my first recipe test, I added double the amount of butter and all of my test subjects ate them quite happily. It is also your right as the cook to not disclose how much butter you used.
I like baking the potatoes not only because it avoids the risk of overboiling, but also because it leaves you with Pure, Unadulterated Potato Flavor. Make sure to rice or mill the potatoes while they are still quite hot, and be careful not to overmix the potatoes when you add the butter and milk, as overworked potatoes can quickly become gummy and unpleasant.
