Latkes (potato pancakes) are the food of choice for Hanukkah.  That’s because they’re typically cooked in oil and oil is an important symbol for Hanukkah.  The problem is that cooking latkes in all that oil is very unhealthy.  It’s also time consuming to deep-fry them individually.  This year I was determined to come up with a way of baking latkes to avoid so much oil and hassle. Yet they still had to taste yummy.  I’m happy to say, they did!

Here’s the recipe for how I made the latkes by baking them.

Recipe for Baked Latkes

Preheat oven to 425 F

2 to 2 1/2 pounds Potatoes
1 – 2 Yellow Onions (optional, but recommended)
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup Flour or Matzoh Meal
1 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Salt (more or less to taste)
Pepper to taste

1. Grease 2 or 3 cookie sheets with canola oil.  Darker metal baking pans seem to make the latkes crispier.  Glass made them more moist.  You can choose which pans you use based on the end taste you like.

2. Clean the potatoes and cut off any imperfections.

Peel the onions.  Grate potatoes and onions. (If your eyes can’t take grating the onions, you can finely chop them.)  I grated it all in a food processor. 

2.  Put the grated onion and potato into a colander in the sink. Strain out all the liquid, pressing down with a clean towel or squeeze it with your hands.

3.  Place the potato-onion mixture in a bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients.

4.  Put a heaping tablespoonful of the mixture onto the cookie sheet and press down the mound with the back of the spoon to flatten.  Make about 12 patties per cookie sheet, not letting them touch.  (NOTE: Bigger patties will be moister and thinner, smaller patties will be crispier.) 

5.  Bake for about 12 – 15 minutes till golden brown. Some pans will cook the patties quicker so you’ll need to keep an eye them.  When they’re a nice golden color (see photo below), flip them.  Then cook for another 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown on the other side.

The two bowls below show how differently the latkes can turn out depending on the thickness, size and cooking time.  Note also that adding more onions can make them moister and cook more slowly.

Most of us in my family liked the moist ones in the top bowl better.  My son preferred the crunchy ones pictured at bottom.  The trick is to try different ways to see what your family likes.

I must say, these were all very tasty and MUCH easier to make.  So try ’em, you might like ’em!

Enjoy!

Happy Chanukah!

Mama Lisa