Cheesy Mashed-Potato Burger Buns!

Burger buns have evolved quite a bit these days. No longer just bread, you see other variations being done more and more often now, such as the use of Donuts for buns!

When I saw the potato challenge pop up, I thought - why not have a little fun with potato variations of burger buns that weren't the regular bread versions. So I created these Cheesy Mashed Potato Burger Buns. I hope you enjoy and have fun with these.

There are two versions in this Instructable -

Cheddar Stuffed Panko Crusted and Cheddar Stuffed Gluten-Free Quinoa Crusted.

Yield: 4 Bun Sets - Though this will depend on the size you go with. Mine were larger.

Mashed Potatoes

3 Pounds Gold Potatoes

8 Oz. Block of Cheese (2 Oz. Will be shredded and put into potatoes, other 6 Oz. will be sliced and used as filling)

1/2 Stick of Butter

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Tsp. Pepper

1/2 Tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp. Parsley

1 Egg

1/4 Flour (1/4 Cup Corn Starch for Gluten Free Option)

Breading

2 Cups Panko (2 Cups of Quinoa for Gluten Free Breading Option)

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Tsp. Pepper

To start, peel and dice your potatoes. Place them in a pot of water and put on stove on medium-high heat and boil until soften enough that you can smash with a fork.

While my potatoes were boiling, I took the time to prep the cheese.

I cut my block in half and proceeded to sliced one half of it.

I then took the other portion of my block and sliced it in half one more time. I grated one of the halves - 2 ounces of it - to put into the mashed potato mixture and sliced the rest of the second half to fill the top bun with.

See photos for reference.

Once the potatoes are fully cooked, I moved them over into a mixing bowl.

Add your grated cheese, egg, butter, flour (or corn starch if Gluten Free option), and seasoning and mix together until combined.

**You want to end up with a thicker than normal mash - which is why I left the usual milk out as well. That way it holds up better as a bun. **

I used a circle cutter, wax paper and a sharpie to create the size bun I wanted. I drew the template on the underside of the wax paper so that when I flipped it over the sharpie drawing would be on the bottom and not effect the potatoes.

After prepping up the template, scoop the potatoes into a large piping bag and cut out a large tip.

Use your template as a guide and pipe out the potato. About a 1/2 inch in height.

The potatoes aren't the easiest to pipe so it comes out a bit messy. I just pressed out the piping lines to give it a smooth finish and a better even surface to apply the breading easier.

To create the cheese filled top half of the bun, add the previously slices cheese to each of the top buns. Then piped one more layer of potato to cover up and seal in the cheese.

I once again pressed down the potato to give it a smooth, even surface so that it is easier to bread later on. After you have finished piping and smoothing out the mashed potato buns, stick tray in the freezer.

Freeze until solid and you are able to pick up without smashing.

**I prepped these up the night before so they stayed in the freezer overnight and were completely solid.**

Once your mashed potato buns have frozen and are ready to work with, prep up your breading mixture and eggs for coating. The last photo is of the Gluten Free Quinoa Mixture.

Coat the buns in egg, then breading. Repeat as many times as you would like for coating. I did it twice. The last photo is of the Gluten Free Quinoa Mixture.

While coating the mashed potato patties, have your oil heating in your pan of choice. 2 - 3 Inches in depth.

Pictured are fully coated Panko patties and Gluten Free Quinoa patties.

Carefully place the patties in the oil and fry until a nice golden brown. Careful to remember that there will be a little carry over cooking where they will continue to darken a little more after being removed.

The last photo is of the Gluten Free Quinoa Option.

Place the fried patties on a sheet tray lined with paper towels to absorb some of that excess oil.

You also want to let them rest and cool a bit. The more you let them cool the better they will hold up to use as actual buns as the butter and cheese will solidify again making them easier to handle.

I learned this from experience. I tried to use one right away freshly fried and warm and it was squishy and fell apart after the first bite. Still delicious though!

After the buns have rested and solidified back up a bit (though they will remain softer than a normal bread bun as they are made of mashed potatoes!) build your burger and serve! Yum!

See last photo for the Gluten-Free Quinoa Mashed Potato Buns.

Notes: I have to admit, that while both options were delicious, the Quinoa Crusted Buns held up much better than the Panko Crusted Buns as they stayed crispier longer and held their shape much better, even a bit while still warm unlike the Panko that had to cool down a bit before use or it fell apart easier. Like I said though, being made from mashed they just are more delicate messy buns in general, but it was fun and everyone enjoyed them, I hope you will too!